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TKR Woohoo! Now I've got two!!

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Me confuse you? Surely you jest! :angel: I am an angel after all! :rotfl:

Ok, here in my not a doctor but will give it a shot, could it be that it is getting overworked from the walking and then doing heel slides? When you say heel slides are you doing them gently, or pulling as if you are trying to pull a piece of taffy apart? :whistle:

I think I will "ask an expert" Orthodoc. He might be able to give you a lot more insight besides taffy pulling! :happydance:
 
Hey, Angel...

If I am sitting or on my side, it's not painful trying to work on my ROM. That only happens when I am doing the slides properly, while on my back. Yes, I do them gently, though I do also gently try to increase range by putting foot in a loop and pulling gently on the rope/belt/sash, something I did in PT with knee 1. (note: I used "gently" three times.)

Tomorrow I will definitely take it a lot easier. I think I am panicking about being able to go back to work - in several weeks - but all this is doing is causing more anxiety, cuz I sure don't feel ready right now. I have time, so why am I rushing it like this? Feeling lousy.
 
Can you just mentally put work on the back burner and work on just getting better. Since you have the experience of having the other knee done..do you remember when you just woke up one day and thought..gee, I can see how I am moving along.

I know Judy that this one has been has been especially tough for you. Do you have to return to work on a specific date? Can you possibly get an extension?
 
I have a very generous long-term leave plan. (Or I did until recently.) For knee1 I took a whole semester, on advice of the surgeon. Nothing went wrong, it just went very slowly. Then there were the two months of summer holiday. My tentative return date is November 12, which will be three months post-op, 10months since I was last in the classroom. If the doctor feels I am not ready, that can be extended. I miss the students and the work itself. I dread returning to my actual workplace. That aside, there's so much walking and standing and stair climbing and dashing between places, that I am really worried. I know last knee, I was nowhere near ready at three months.

I do know I'm making good progress. Just a bad day, I guess. Thanks.
 
Just a bad day, I guess.>> We all have them. Remember what we all tell eachother..the knee is the boss. And if you took more time, think of all the Christmas craft projects you could get done.

Seriously, I am not making light of this. So sorry that you are not having a happy day.
 
Well Judy,

I believe I have an answer to your problem! It came to me while I was procrastinating (still) over writing my paper so you should feel honored I was expending my brain power! :happydance:

Now that I am finished with patting myself on the back, :heehee: I guess I should tell you the solution! I was in a BIG hurry if you will remember correctly to get well! I could already see myself running at 4 weeks! Well our knees have a way of humbling us. If you choose to go for a walk, forgo the heel slides. I PROMISE you you will continue to gain ROM. We hadn't been doing any heel slides in therapy until recently because of my kneecap. Remember mine is a hinged knee and some people "say" that if you get to 120 you will be lucky. Well, when they measured, I pulled it up without a belt hands or anything and it was at 115! When I am using a belt it is already at 125, and truth be told I could have made more effort on the 115 but we celebrated anyway. So as your leg continues to heal from the inside out, you will notice a difference! I should know! I have been through this rodeo 4 times and won them all! :iagree: :yahoo:
 
Jebsw....you have it right....in your mind. Now you just need to get your body to follow what you know is right! Slow down! You're pushing too hard. My gosh, you are only 6 short weeks out from this surgery!!! You're doing too much with all this running around. Of course you're going to hurt and be so tired that you drop.

Your ROM is great for this stage of recovery. Relax and go with it. Do LOTS of that rest, ice and elevate stuff. If you hurt, take something for the pain. If you can't sleep, go ahead and take those meds. Being on them a few weeks won't be a problem for you and you need the rest to heal.

Also, if you are limping at all, use a cane or whatever walking aid you need so as not to limp. Your other TKR knee is hurting and clunking because you are forcing it to pull extra duty making up for your new TKR on these outings. If you slow down some and relax at home or on SHORT jaunts out, you'll see an improvement in your pain levels.
 
Jamie and Sonja,
Message received. Slowing down. Attempting to be smarter about this.
(both knees sore and swollen this morning, sending the same message.)
Thank you.
Judy
 
Sorry I haven't been around in a few days, distracted by life....

Hang in there Jebsw, you will get through. And guess what, it's okay to have bad days here and there, we all do. I think you are being a little to tough on yourself. We all want to walk when we can only crawl, and want to run when we can only walk. That's all part of recovery and regaining our lost ability. As you know with knee 1, it's time in, not timing.

I have always done the trial and error method in recovery. I try to push myself a little farther, and if it works, great, but if it doesn't, I try again in a few days. Always remember that the support to help you over the rough spots is a mere few clicks away! And of course, we want to celebrate your victories as well!

For now, try not to worry too much about work. Focus on the what is, stay in the moment. Two new knees are trying to figure out how to dance together, but one has had a few months more to train than the other. Eventually they will catch up with one another and it will come together. You have such a great outlook and positive attitude, I know only good things are waiting for you.

Please take care my friend,

Dawn
 
I thought this was funny. I seldom even glance at my horoscope, but here's what it says for today:
Recent events are likely to have drained you of energy, so you need to slow down and take life at a more sedate pace for a while.
 
It looks like your getting a lot of good advice. Alittle time and patience should help these problems.

Good luck.

Orthodoc
 
Judy, I know what you mean about the pain at the base of the knee cap, I have experienced that as well. I just noticed since you mentioned it that it has been less painful this past week so I guess it's healing more inside.
As for the clunking in the knee I do get that as well and my OS told me to expect it. He also said for some it eventually goes away when the muscle and ligaments strenghten, and for others it just is there but they get so use to it that they eventually don't notice it. But, for me I can honestly say that my knee caps clunked before I had my TKRs but there was a lot of pain that came with it. Now I just think of it as, I'm walking with my own clunking band!!:heehee:
 
Well now Jacky, "adding the clunking to the beat". No fair! All of the Chippendales will want to "dance with you!" :rotfl:
 
Well, I've done practically nothing for two days as I tried to follow everyone's advice and give my knee-babies a bit of time to recover from my pushing them too hard. The rest of me was pretty pooped too! Around noon, I could finally feel things start to ease up a tad. Tomorrow I will start back doing stuff, but not as much. Doing nothing, sitting alone in the house or on the porch, is no fun at all, rather depressing.
 
Well Judy it may not be fun but I take your boring weekend and raise you with a leg that twists backwards, a tummy ache from eating fried food on my last free night, and one funny but loving hubby! :wink:
 
Felt good this morning so thought I could do a small errand to a store out in the country. I decided to make the shopping trip my walk and quite enjoyed that. On the drive home my knee and thigh started twitching, which was both disconcerting and amusing.

Last night I was doing some sorting, the type of thing I always sit on the floor to do. So I sat on the floor and didn't think about getting up til I was down! Oops. But when it came time, I decided not to overthink and just go for it. It was so easy and I was so surprised!
 
Woohoo Judy, on the floor and getting up? You young chicky you! :thumb: Twitchy thigh, muscles waking up, I think. One night I was sitting in my recliner and I looked down and my right thigh was twitching so bad I felt like I had an alien in there. In short while he moved on.
I'm so glad you felt better today. :friends:
 
It is like when you are pregnant and you belly watch when it is kicking and rolling. Maybe, just maybe you guys got babies in your legs. You know as we age everything sags, so your uterus could have dropped down to your thighs...:heehee:
 
Hold on there nelly (Deb), Fo me anyway, I know things are sagging (and thanks for the reminder, since I didn't notice when I took my bra off), but if my uterus sagged to my legs I really need to revisit my OBGYN since that was removed 25 yrs. ago, so if she hid it in my legs, she's got some esplaining to do! :what: :heehee:
 
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