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Will new knees be good enough?

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Well, today was a PT day. Yesterday I did nothing. No walk, nothing. Just didn't feel like it. Took no meds all day. First day w/o pain meds.

Today went to PT, ask them to lower seat on bike a notch to see if my flex has improved enough to get over the top. No sweat, piece of cake. Even got rpm up high enough to break a sweat, felt real good to feel the heart and lungs have to work some.

No measurement today but I really felt like rom is improving daily.Got home and usually don't do much after PT, but I decided it was time to try the road bike again. Last week I tried and could not get pedals around. Today got on bike and it was no problem. Right over the top, no pain, no strain, no grind, no clicking or clacking.

Rode 2 miles and stopped because the only pain was from not wearing my padded shorts. Just as well, 2 miles was probably a good, prudent number. Especially after PT.

Very emotional milestone. 24 days post TKR and I am lucky enough to get back to one of the activities I enjoy.

Maybe I will make that reservation for the Vermont fully supported Bike Tour on July 4th week. I will do rides the next two or three days and see how I progress, but it seems to me that it is not even a knee issue anymore. It is more about stamina, cardio-vascular training and some strength work. Not looking to race, just getting to see more of this beautiful country from the saddle of a bike.

I can't even explain how much of a milestone this is. It represents progress and hope for years to come instead of only looking forward to a more and more restricted and painful life without TKR.
 
You don't have to explain - we know it all too well!

 
Gene, I remember that when I rested more I made greater progress on the bike. I also noticed that my muscle memory kicked in from the get go and was pleasantly surprised at how well I came back from my surgery. And you will too! However, I did plateau and would get unusually stiff and my flexibility would diminish. But after a week or so it would improve and I would feel pretty good again. So don't be surprised if it's not going well some weeks. :sigh:

I was able to ride a couple days in a row on my bike but I also still fatigue fairly quickly off the bike. I'm good for about 5 hours of activity and usually lay down about 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon to rest. :sleepz:
 
Sunflower,
Thanks, sounds like good advise and will provide me with resonable expectations. I will try to listen to my body, not just my knee, but my general fatigue level as well.

I promise to remember rest days as critical to improvement.

Good training and good rehab have much in common. I think training regimens get a bad name sometimes because many times people overtrain. They then become bad example of training programs.
 
BigGene said:
I think training regimens get a bad name sometimes because many times people overtrain.
Click to expand...

I'm bad about trying to get to my goal faster. And then I end up having to take off more time to rest because of overtraining. :DOH: Needless to say I got that look from my OS when I told him what all I'd been doing on the bike. Bad, bad sunflower.
 
Hi Gene!

It's great that you are making such wonderful progress!:biggrin:
I am rooting for you to get ready for that trip!:dancy:


 
Wonderful report Gene. I knew you would get on that bike quickly. But please remember to rest as well. Still very early out for you - but well done!
 
Gene.....I know you were just beside yourself with joy! I think it's amazing to hear you are at this point so soon in your recovery. You're going at it just right, though....slow and steady. Here's hoping for a lot more of those joyous moments in recovery!
 
Congrats! Take it easy, enjoy your conquests, and keep your eyes on the prize, my friend.

Take it SLOWLY. Trying to get there quicker will only slow you down; I learned that a few times. (OK, so I was a really slow learner!)
 
Great to see you're doing so well, Gene. :yay:
 
Way to go Gene - you have a great attitude and knowlege on training. Go out and enjoy your time on the bike. It sounds to me like you know how to listen to the feedback and adjust.

With the nicer weather I have been able to go out on more rides and the benefit for your head is as great, or greater, than for your body. The cardio and endourence will come along too. I have a goal for the end of May - a ride in the Adirondacks with a fast group - 64 miles with 5500 feet of climbing. I haven't missed this group ride in 11 years. I am up to doing 30 to 40 mile rides 3 times a week with good hills, but my pace is in the 15 to 16 MPH range and this group averages around 17 to 18 for that ride. So, I may not be able to make my goal - but going out and working towards it and listening to my body is as much as a thrill as making the goal.
 
ruppbike,
If the group rides paceline, won't you pick up the exra speed. Assuming they put up with you not be able to take a turn up front.
Sounds to me like you are close.
 
Here is what has happened since I posted my girst bike ride(2 mile) on Friday. My Mom(87 yrs old) has been in the hospital and rehab for a couple weeks and obviously there was not much I could do other than talking by phone.

So I decided I would drive the 120 miles to Philly. Now at not quite 4 weeks since RTKR I have not yet been driving. Well, except for going to groceries and PT, both lless than a 1 mile drive in a rural area.

I figured that since I am clear of narcotics and if I stop and walk around the car every 1/2 half hour or so that I could do it. (After all she is alone and it is Mother's Day).

Saturday am I got up and decided to follow-up on Fridays bike ride with a morning ride. OK, 4 miles, no problem clearly had more in me by more than Friday.

Then I got in the car for vthe drive. I even designed a system to ice while driving and refreshing the ice at each stop as needed.

Now remember, although I have reported some pretty "agressive walks and with the bike rides, I basically do nothing other than PT, some home walking/riding and then either sleeping(mostly in the daytime) and sitting in my recliner with my leg elevated and iced. Really, I do very little and am verticle very little.

So here I am bike ride, 2-3 hour car ride through Philly with the usual heavy traffic areas and construction slow downs. Arrive at Mom's and she has plans, I rest for a ccouple hours, but not really elevated as I normally would, off to the store.

Walking the aisles with a 87 year old using the cart as a walker, readingg labels and shopping for birthday cards. I am standing and standing and standing and waiting.

I started to get hot, then old, then dizzy, then flaky, yucky and I guess just exhausted. She was using up her stamina as well but seemed to have one more thing to find for ages.

We survived the check-out. I got the car and managed to get mom and the shopping loaded.But I was a mess. Pulled into a spot in the back of the lot and parked with the air conditioner running on high trying to cooldown and get the fog to leave my head.

Finally left and luckily survived the urban drive back to her apartment, unloaded the car and got both Mom ,me and the groceries upstairs. Wow, I am tired just remembering.

I wnt to bed and woke up three hours later at 7:30 pm.

Not much good sleep, got up this am for a Mom's day breakfast outing and then try to drive home. Still feeling "punk" but...

Got on the road. Multiple stops, ice, home, unload and bed, bed..4 hours later is now. No I am not going to ride the bike as was my plan. I am back in the reciner and elevated.

Wow, what a weekend. My knee seems fine. The rest of me is exhausted. I never imagined the loss of energy and de-conditioning resulting from this surgery and recovery period would be this extensive.

I feel really crappy, so I will listen now not just to the knee but to my entire body system.

Lesson learned.
 
Gene, you are a week behind me in recovery. I am 5 weeks out of my TKR. What happened to you in the grocery store happened to me yesterday in Walmart, to a lesser degree. I had to sit down and wait for my meds....45 minutes. I started to feel like I had the flu. That was a huge undertaking, the drive, and the shopping. Wow! Our bodies are tired after surgery and PT and everything else we do saps or energy I guess. You did the right thing resting when you got home! Take care of yourself, Gene!
 
Your body takes a big hit from this surgery. I was (I thought) in decent shape prior to my surgery, and I was just nailed for about 3 MONTHS!!!!

I'll give you my timeline, taking into account that I had a sloooow recovery, which continues to be slow.

Keep up with the bike. It was the first activity I could do without pain, and so that is what I did.
I had my knee in March, and by July was riding 15-30 miles on my road bike. I did require narcotics after all that biking, and I still take some (I have other issues), but I was thrilled that my knee DID NOT SWELL.
Strange for me in that my knee had a large amount of fluid for at least 10 years, which my Rheumatologist kept siphoning off.

I also made some rough trail rides on my mountain bike in late August. What a blast!!!!
Once the mud resolves, I'm wanting to get out on some fun stuff. I'm planning on getting on the road bike, but I am a sissy and do not like the cold (It is still too cold here in New England. I did say I am a SISSY).

What I really want to do is hike. This is my first love and I had to essentially give it up. I did a few hikes in late September, I love hiking in the fall in the mountains.

I got out to ice climb this past January and February. Steep slippery approaches, and then kicking footholds on vertical ice. I survived, and was very proud that I did get out within a year of my new knee.

Make your plans, TRY to meet them, but don't sweat it if you don't quite hit your mark, You will eventually.
Best,
Sandy
 
IT was ambitions and generous of you to help your mom---now it is time to help yourself. I would take it as easy as possible the next few days and ice and elevate. WOW--you did much more than I could ever have thought about doing at that stage!

Remember, it is not just your knee that is recovering---it is your entire body---not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, as well.

Give yourself a few days and I am sure that you will be able to deal with the bike again. Great job!
 
Sandy, Thanks for sharing your timeline and advice. You will meet your goals.

Tim, The full body de-conditioning really surprized me. I will adapt and pay attention.

Tough night, I am sitting here thinking - I HATE NIGHT. sleeping at night has noy been good. Sleeping in the daytime just makes sleeping at night worse. This needs a solution.

I will be seeing my primary are don Monday, I am going to ask for something to help. Right now I am using pain pills as sleeping pills and they are not working.
 
Gene,

Driving early on after surgery on top of all of the other things you did will wipe you out!:wink1: Your body is still trying to recover and it "tells" you, not the other way around when it has had enough!:snork:

I have had mine tell me several times and I tried to ignore it, but then I paid for it!:th_heehee:


 
Yup - the surgery wipes you out. I did very little the first month and sleep at night came very hard. I wound up walking around the house a night like a stiff zombie every 1 or 2 until morning. Then I would sleep for hours in the recliner during the day. From what your trip to Phily sounded like, you should be whipped for days. Don't be afraid to sleep during the day - take it when you can get it. Rest ==> heal.
 
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