I think you've been given some of the recovery articles several times over! I hope you've read them by now.
I've lost some ROM since leaving the hospital. I could go past 90 sitting on the side of the bed and placing weight on the leg before leaving the hospital. Now I can only get to about 80.
This is perfectly normal. To start with you've been topped up with lots of pain meds and still have the residue of the anaesthetic, spinal and blocks to keep things sweet. And you're relaxed in the care of the hospital staff. When you get hope, the meds are all wearing off and you're anxious so everything tightens up. Don't fret, things will settle down.
my therapist said I needed to emphasize the movements that focus on ROM even if it hurts. I've read all the stuff on here about that kind of statement.
As others have said - pure rubbish and positively the very worst thing you can do.
two week follow up with the doctor Thursday and I'm not making progress.
You'll not make any progress in two weeks. Good grief, you've just had mega-major surgery - your body feels like it's been run over by a mack truck! Let it settle down and recover!
I'm afraid if I take it that easy my leg will only stiffen more.
It may well at first but it doesn't mean anything in the long haul. Think of it this way: your ROM is all there, every bit of it, all cooped up and just waiting to let go! A bit like a seed in the garden. You plant it, water it a bit and then leave it alone and eventually, the flower springs forth! So your ROM will blossom forth if it's given a chance and not held back by making the leg/knee swell and be painful. I'll tell you more about this later ...
So the knee feels ok as far as pain is concerned this morning but is very tight in the front just below the knee cap. I don't recall seeing any discussion on this site about scar tissue.
Yes of course it will feel like that because that's where the surgeon cut through the tissues to put in your new knee. That all has to heal and it will react by swelling, being painful/sore and sometimes hot. All normal. It's nothing to do with scar tissue or adhesions which actually aren't that common. But some PTs do keep wittering on about it and applying massages and exercises in order to beat this mythical, imaginary dragon! Don't be fooled by them.
My doctor and physical therapist keep saying that we have a narrow window of a few weeks to get the rom back or the scar tissue sets in
Well you've read what everyone else has to say about that - nonsense!
So how do I know about this 'secret' in TKR recovery? Because I had a new knee about 10 weeks ago and I did absolutely NO exercises at all. I just rest my knee, iced it and took pain meds regularly at the start and later as required. By week three I had a ROM of 115 and in week four it was 120. Extension was good as well. I'm now in week 9 and it's 125! I'm telling you this to show how wrong these myths are and how they actually cause more harm than good. Revolutionary talk, I'll admit but we have to speak up about it sometime!