WHAT are you going to do with it?

[zjrog]

With so many obsessed with ROM, and so many seeming to be concerned with it, I posed a simple question in another thread. One that I feel bears its own thread.

So, what are you going to do with the ROM we all so eagerly have sought or seek?

Personally, I spent a lot of time on my knees before the replacement. Working on my vehicles, working on things at work. Playing with my dogs. Cycling, I can play racquetball again, I don't feel limited anymore...

What are you going to do with it?

 

[FrogFeathers]

I had good ROM before my surgery, so it wasn't lack of ROM that kept me back. It was the bone-on-bone pain.

And I'm doing it- I'm a ren faire nerd. And this year, I got a season pass. It started July 9th and goes through September 5th. In October, there's a small, two-day faire in Illinois, so I go to that too. There's a mid-winter faire, but I usually can't make it to that one (its indoors, which seems odd to me).

I figure by the time the end of the big faire comes in September, I'll be back to walking for exercise. And, hopefully, I'll be back to doing my yoga too (I don't like how it feels when I kneel. It doesn't hurt, it just feels weird. My doctor said that I'm perfectly okay not kneeling if I choose to. I choose not to kneel!).

 

[tarheel]

Roger,

My tongue-in-cheek response on the other thread notwithstanding, here is what I'm really looking for:

1) Avoid the MUA.
2) Be able to take long walks.
3) Use the elliptical
4) Avoid the MUA.
5) Play some light doubles tennis.
6) Be able to coach my basketball and tennis teams pain-free.
7) Take long bike rides.
8) Teach my classes without having to sit down all the time.
9) Not have an MUA

What I'm prepared to give up in order to make the replacement last:

1) Real tennis
2) Real basketball
3) Running

I feel like it's a fair tradeoff. We'll see if Mother Nature agrees. :rolleyespink:

 

[mkmn]

What a hope-filled thread! I am only one week post surgery but I want to keep positive goals ahead of me.

I compete in AKC obedience with my two dogs. I can't wait to get back to that, doing obedience and rally. Before my surgery, I could barely do a heeling pattern because of the pain. By fall I hope to be training them again and maybe even competing in the winter or next spring!

:doggieshmooze::doggieshmooze:

 

[Bees Knees]

I am walking without falling and limping,going shopping without hanging on the shopping cart in pain, dancing with my husband at weddings,going to Aqua Zumba and Jazzercise,going to get a new dog soon,gardening(even pulling weeds),so many wonderful days ahead enjoying life. I did not know how much pain I was in until I now see all the things that I had stopped doing due to pain.:flowerysmile:

 

[carousel66]

kmgraxy
I also show my dogs,
in the past - Herding and tracking, more recently obedience/rally and conformation, have also taken my dogs out for the new akc all breed lure coursing test.
I took my first obedience lesson 6 weeks after my TKR - I had to stop working dogs for about the 2 yrs prior to my TKR it has been awesome to be able to do things again!

 

[referee54]

I gave up reffing college hoops because my knees hurt too much---too much running to go back to that---I also gave up reffing football---there are some aspects that I miss about it, but it takes up way too much time, so it is time for me to move on.

As for my ROM, the baseball diamonds, the classroom, the produce farm, and the trees that must be cut down to heat our home are calling my name right now. Pain-free is the way to be! Cycling is also on my agenda several times this weekend!

I also take my three dogs up to my high school with me at times. The football and soccer practice fields are about nine acres and all fenced in---we have an acre here and I walk with them here, but they enjoy chasing each other over the nine acres---I just watch them have fun.

 

[Doug]

I'm 3yrs7months post TKR.
What do I do with it?
Anything I want to.
I even crawl on my knees without thinking about it now.
A few weeks ago, I hit 12miles in 2 hours on the elliptical.
I chased my 17 yr old lacrosse playing son......surprised the heck out of him..didn't catch him though.
Just keep working at it. Be patient and good things will come.

 

[zjrog]

DOUG! That's exactly the answer I was looking for!

 

[referee54]

Work at it and you will be very happy with your replacement.

One movie that I always show in my Contemporary Cinema class is The Bridge on the River Kwai. We discuss Sessue Hayakawa's line (as Colonel Saito), "Be happy in your work."

The kids love to analyze the battle of wits between Colonels Saito and Nicholson.

There is indeed something great about working hard and being happy doing it, too.

 

[jerseychick]

Great thread! I plan to use my newly gained ROM when I go to Miraval Spa in Arizona next week.

1. Mountain Bike
2. Zumba
3. Hike and go on fitness walks
4. Spinning class
5. Try out a bunch of classes and activities that I would not have been able to do
6. Play volleyball
7. Squat down with BOTH legs bent

I could go on and on. Most of all I have a stable knee that doesn't hurt and I can do ANYTHING that I want to do!

 

[karmigirl]

Hi,

Never thought I would meet so may dog showers on the TKR list. I also breed and Show Great Danes in confirmation. I lost my 11 year old boy shortly before my surgery. We are really lost without him. So I am going to use my ROM to chase around a new puppy soon I hope.(need a little more healing though).

Right now my 125 is to show my OS I could do it by 5 wks post-op. He is a real fitness nut and expects his patients to be also.

Rose Madej
RTKR 6-6-11

 

[zjrog]

I love Danes!!! We came close to adopting one from Gentle Giants Rescue. Because we already had an Akita they wanted us to bring him to meet other dogs. We wound up getting an English Mastiff puppy elsewhere for a number of reasons. But she has been a joy. A 205# joy!

 

[PhoenixS]

This is a fabulous thread, especially for me being out for so long and now smacked down by my back.
Like Patty, I had good ROM before my surgery and regained it within about 8 weeks. I also love Ren Faires and am looking foreward to ours in September.
Lets see:
Despite the pain (which I blamed on my knee but is really from my spine) I have: climbed mountains, gone ice climbing, biked, kayaked, jumped off a 40 foot cliff into a (deep) river, swung off a rope swing over same river, backpacked....
Now not doing anything, but it isn't because of my knee (well, I am having some knee issues but thowe will be addressed sometime soon).
HAVE HOPE.
Sandy

 

[Josephine]

I'm with Doug - anything I want to! Including digging in the garden!

 

[crazycatlady 6-20-2011]

So neat to see others who show dogs! I also compete in obedience. I use to cringe when the judge would say fast during the heeling portion. I would bite my tongue and try to run without looking too awkward. I'm only 5 wks out from my patella femoral replacement, but looking forward to showing next summer again and teaching beg obed classes with a smile on my face!

 

[Surfsister]

I use my ROM, which is probably between 115 and 120, to
1. surf
2. skateboard
3. lift weights
4. ride my bike (as I used to cycle competitively)
5. speedskate
6. run around and play with kids when necessary
7. crawl around on the floor when necessary (bothering my dog)
8. swim breaststroke again (which I'd stopped prior to surgery)
9. load and unload an SUV at work (as I often jump in the back)

I don't need to be able to touch my heel to my butt. I haven't been able to do that since I had my original knee injury, the one that lead to the TKR. With respect to ROM, you make due with what you've got. I'm just glad I'm no longer in pain.

 

[kneeworn]

This is an awesome thread. It helps me have hope after my MUA. It tells me just keep trying to learn to do the things I want to do. At 5'4" I'm achieving 118 on my own and it can be pushed to 132.

I had more ROM preop and like Frogfeathers what stopped me was the bone on bone pain. That stabbing pain is gone. So I now do not dread going out for errands. I spent 4 hours at a quilt show last weekend and loved it. I ride my stationary recumbent bike with the seat scooted all the way up. I'm working on going down steps without looking odd.

I plan to get to where I can take my kayak out. I plan to hike. I'm intrigued by yoga and may try that. I plan to go go go like I used to do.

Donna
LTKR 12/06/2010
Left knee manipulated 05/13/2011

 

[chuck172]

I love to bow hunt. I live to shoot my recurve bow. I heat my house 100% with firewood.
I need two good knees.

 

[Jeansnewknee]

Great thread, Roger!

I'm so looking forward to our belated honeymoon this Fall! Last fall we decided what's the point spending money and traveling on a honeymoon when I'd be in bone-on-bone pain just walking from the rental car to the hotel? Forget about traversing Europe and cobblestones, etc., etc., etc. So I'm praying by October I'll be fit as a fiddle and ready to go. We've decided to finally explore out West--either Sedona or Sante Fe. So looking forward to being able to explore, without LIMPING, SWELLING, PAIN, and having to sit down, holding my husband back from anything fun!

I'm looking forward to playing tennis again, buying a kayak, evening walks, gardening....so hopeful for the second half of my life back.

Oh, and good sleeping...but I guess that's not ROM related.

-----------------
Jean
LTKR June 2, 2011
Legion Oxinium