Bilateral TKR XKV8R's BTKR recovery thread

[XKV8R]

Just a quick update, from my own desktop computer. (My walker is in front of me, while I sit on a barstool. Not comfortable, but a really easy spot to get back up from.)

I'm doing well, by any standard.

The funeral was physically demanding, just in terms of having to get in and out of the car four times, and riding for a couple or three hours, all told. My best friend was there to push the wheelchair for me, which was good, since I'd estimate we covered three or four hundred yards between one thing and another.

For the luncheon afterwards, I elected to go it alone and use the walker, which probably was close to a hundred yards, from the car to the table and back. All that, and all the un-elevated leg time sure made that recliner and ice back home feel good.

Between that and the holiday, the outpatient PT schedule has been compressed a bit. Someone has been here both yesterday and today, and one will come tomorrow as well.

OT was here today, and said she doesn't see a need to come back.

Yesterday was the first time I'd been asked to do any sort of leg raises, and I absolutely needed just that little bit of assistance the PT gave. Today, we were in the middle of a conversation when I started, and I raised the left one without even thinking of it.

I was like, "Look at that!"

ROM incrementally better than before. I started out at 90/85 the day I left the hospital, and today was 93/89, a degree or two better than yesterday. If you throw out the two days of the funeral, that feels like continual progress. Let's hope it continues...

 

[KarriB]

Sounds like you did ok with everything, but I can't even imagine how exhausted you must be. ROM sounds good, especially considering what you've had to do. Again, so sorry for your loss.

 

[Bubbles]

Good to hear from you. In and out of the car is the worst early on. Sounds like your doing well being able to do all that walking with the walker at the luncheon. 100 yards is a lot. Take it easy.

Your ROM sounds great! I've noticed that the first time I do a new exercise, leg lifts for example, it's very difficult. Then the next day it's much easier. It seems a little strange. I worked out a couple times a week before my knee replacements including lots of leg lifts so I was surprised they were difficult at first. I'm thinking we just need to remind some of those muscles--not retrain them. Quads, for me, are much more difficult. They've been weak for decades. Now it seems they are finally getting a workout and it doesn't hurt my knees! My quads are sore but knees are good.

 

[XKV8R]

Thank you, Karri.

Energy wise, I think I'm pretty well caught up from Sunday and Monday's demands. Now I'm just back to 9 days BTKR post-op perky.

In and out of the car is the worst early on.

I came home from the hospital in my truck, and that extra few inches of height was a big help. We decided to use the car for the funeral, and once I figured out the formula it wasn't terrible. Of course, if I were 6" shorter, it would've been a whole lot easier. The biggest challenge was in not being able to draw my feet in close enough to swing them easily through the door opening.

For the PT, the short quad sets, where you put something under the knee, and try to raise just the lower leg, seem to be more of a challenge than the other stuff.

 

[Celle]

For the PT, the short quad sets, where you put something under the knee, and try to raise just the lower leg, seem to be more of a challenge than the other stuff.

Don't worry. It will happen when your knees are ready.

 

[GratefulNana]

You've survived a difficult adventure with amazing resilience! Congratulations! I am still waiting to reach the "other side." It is fast approaching. Got my call from the anesthesiologist and surgery scheduler today--Monday, December 28 at 11:20 a.m. We got back yesterday from our first annual Christmas Trip to Disneyland. Very crowded, but we had a great time with our family. It is so much fun to experience magic with a five year old! I am feeling the results of walking 7.5 miles each day, plus the stairs and getting on and off the rides. Today I am certainly aware that my knees are shot. The upside is that my PCP gave me a prescription for baclofen 10mg tablets (a muscle relaxant) that I cut in half to take for a migraine that I developed while finishing up my Christmas sewing projects. I have been suffering nightly with severe muscle cramps/spasms in my thighs, legs, ankles and feet for the last four years. I am up about every two hours all night long trying to walk off the cramps and applying hot compresses. It has been very difficult being told by several different doctors that they have no idea what is causing this. The good news is that the baclofen has completely stopped the problem. I actually slept all night long these past few nights with no cramping/spasms even with all the walking. I asked the anesthesiologist to put a note in my file for the doctor in case I need the baclofen after the surgery. What a gift! Keep up the good work, and I hope all of your future progress is forward! I wish you and your family a peaceful holiday season.


BTKR Scheduled for 12/28/2015

 

[newlybionic]

It sounds like you are doing very well. I hope you keep progressing smoothly. Have a happy holiday.

 

[XKV8R]

It's past due for an update.

I hope you keep progressing smoothly.

Yeah, well, there was one little bump in the road...

This is Wednesday. Saturday, or so, I started feeling some pain, in the left side of my back, down low. I've had kidney stones in the past, and I thought, no matter how inopportune the timing, this might be another. The pain came and went, and varied in intensity. By Sunday though, it had kind of migrated from my lower back to my butt cheek. Far enough away that I was pretty sure that it wasn't pain in my hip, but also somewhere a kidney stone has never bothered me. It got bad enough that I resorted to taking Percoset, which gave some relief. The thing was that it wasn't reliable. The first few times, it took effect within half an hour or so, and lasted the better part of the day. On Sunday night, I took a couple, and they didn't do anything, at least for the first hour and a half. I'd been using some heat on the painful area, and decided to try ice. That helped, and the pain pretty much went away.

Monday was pretty much the same story, except that by early in the evening it was getting to me enough that I told my wife to call the home care nurse so we could get some advice. We reached their answering service. "Is it an emergency?" "Well, if I don't get to talk to someone, I'm considering a trip to the ER." "Is it urgent?" "Well, it's urgent enough to pick up the phone and call. Is "Urgent" the magic word? If so, yes, it's urgent."

I had an appointment scheduled with the doctor on Tuesday morning to get my staples out anyway, and by the time a nurse called back I was feeling some relief. She suggested staying ahead of the pain with the Percoset, and asking the doctor about it in the morning, but after a thorough discussion, left me feeling reassured that it wasn't a sign of anything serious.

Got the staples out, and told the doctor about the back pain. He suggested it might be a pinched nerve, and prescribed some oral cortisone stuff. I did take a couple of Percoset around lunchtime, but haven't taken anything for pain since then, and this morning I'm feeling pretty good.

Also, doc said it's time to start outpatient PT, and end the home visits. He didn't measure, but just looking, said my ROM appeared to be in the 100 range on both sides. I'm also walking around home here, carrying the walker just above the floor, many steps at a time, rather than leaning on it.

 

[hawk2go]

I'm also walking around home here, carrying the walker just above the floor, many steps at a time, rather than leaning on it.

That's great news. It sounds like your progress is stellar, 2 weeks out, wow!

My doctor never measured my ROM, just eyeballed it. It was the PTs who obsessed over the numbers and sometimes made me obsess with them. @Celle reminded me that the numbers are not the important measure, your ever growing capabilities are a better measure. Once I focused on what I could do, the numbers became irrelevant and the ROM continued to improve.

 

[Clipless]

It sounds like you are doing well, but I'm sorry about your back pain. If you recall what triggered the problem you can take care not to re-injure yourself. I have lumbar scoliosis that flares if I don't modify certain exercises and movements. In fact I plan to refuse redcord therapy at PT tomorrow because my back doesn't approve.

 

[KarriB]

I found I had lots of different aches/pains and figured they were due to sitting in the same position for so long as well as using muscles I hadn't used in a while.
I agree with @hawk2go , I have no idea what my rom measurement was at my last pt. My OS probably does from the pt notes, but my OS would bend my knee back/forth and sideways. He was always pleased, but never gave a number.
Be careful with out patient pt. After my TKR I went to a group that is popular in our area. They used heat on my knee, wanted me to do squats and had pushed on my dad's knee to get it straight. I watched them like a hawk because I didn't want anyone pushing down on my knee. After my infection surgery I went to the group affliated with my ortho group and in the same offices. No one pushed, no one wanted squats, just gentle stretches, massages, biking gait analysis and later on strength exercises. My leg was very weak from the imbolizer.
I hope you continue to feel good!

 

[XKV8R]

Just an update...

This is Thursday, so I'm three weeks and three days out.

I'm waiting right now for the last visit from the home PT. Outpatient PT will begin on Monday. I'm told I'm doing well, although I keep getting reminded to swing my knees through as I walk. I haven't touched the walker in better than a week, and the past two days, I haven't even bothered with the cane here around the house. (I might consider taking it along if I decide to go out anywhere.)

Last Sunday, I got in my truck and just moved it back and forth in the driveway. I'm confident that if need be, I can slam on the brakes, so getting back to driving is just a matter of feeling like there's someplace I want to go, which I haven't yet. Maybe tomorrow?

The nurses and the PT have always seemed surprised when I tell them my pain level in my knees is just about zero. Yes, they'll get a little stiff after doing the PT stuff, but in general, it's not my knees that are hurting.

The thing that does hurt is the pain in my butt. It certainly sounds like Sciatica, from what I've learned about that, here and elsewhere. The medication helped it for a few days, but since I've finished with that, it's come back again and again. The past two nights it's kept me from sleeping until I took a couple of Percosets. I'm spending more time with an ice pack on my behind than on my knees.

 

[Bubbles]

You're doing great @XKV8R! Wish I could walk around the house unassisted, I'm scared. I big chicken. Decades of dislocations causing bad pain has taught me to be overly cautious. My PT has me doing things to help but it will take time.

I've been driving for weeks because I need to get out. Getting in and out of the car was tough at first but it's easy now--getting to it is another story. I didn't do any in home PT. I'm driving myself there twice a week.

My husband has problems with sciatica and swears by message. Maybe ask your PT about it. Hope it clears up soon.

 

[KarriB]

Great report!

 

[newlybionic]

Way to go!!

 

[kneeper]

The thing that does hurt is the pain in my butt. It certainly sounds like Sciatica, from what I've learned about that, here and elsewhere.

Could it be this?
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/piriformis-syndrome-a-pain-in-the-butt.9837/

You are early days and some of us get other pains in the back, hip etc early on after surgery. So it's fairly common--not that that helps you. ;) Sometimes heat or switching off between heat and ice helps.

 

[GratefulNana]

You are doing great! I hope that your back pain gets resolved soon. I have been having pain in my tailbone area. Upon doing research, I found that it is most likely where the anesthesiologist placed the epidural catheter during surgery. It has been painful since I came out of surgery. I had the home health nurse check the site today when she came to check my incisions. No redness, which is a good thing. I just have to be patient. Being able to sleep would be nice. ...smiley face. In spite of getting off to a rough start, I am told that I am healing at the front of the pack. I have been off pain meds due to breathing issues for a week now. OS does not want me to use Tylenol with Codeine, but he is only the surgeon, not my regular doctor who knows my history. I will probably have to have my doctor call him. From what I understand, outpatient PT can cause pain.


BTKR Scheduled for 12/28/2015

 

[KarriB]

Just checking in to see how you're doing. Hope you're comfortable!

 

[XKV8R]

Thanks, @KarriB, for asking. I've been here reading often, but just haven't felt like thinking hard enough to write a post.

I'm doing well.

The back/butt pain hasn't bothered me too much in the past week or so. Prior to that, I discovered that heat was the better remedy, and I stole my wife's heating pad and parked myself on it for hours at a time. I haven't needed it lately.

I finished week two of outpatient PT yesterday morning. They say I'm doing well. I did WAY overdo it on Monday though. I was feeling pretty good, so I did more than they'd asked of me, and Monday afternoon and Tuesday my knees let me know they weren't happy. When I went in on Wednesday, I told them how I felt, and that it was my intention to slack off, and they didn't give me a hard time at all. Things felt a whole lot better Thursday and Friday.

Two weeks ago today (Saturday), I told my wife I needed "some Construction Therapy." My friend is building a garage, and had his guys working with him getting it started. I threw a folding chair in the back of the truck, and drove on over. (First time I'd driven on the road since surgery.) The weather was unseasonably nice, for January in Pittsburgh. I just hung out, sat in my chair and held the dumb end of the tape measure a few times, and helped with the thinking parts of the project. I stayed about 2 1/2 hours. It was good to get out, but it showed me just how far I had yet to come back. The last thing I did before coming home was to consider climbing up into the seat of the mini-excavator that was there. I put one foot up on the track and decided it was a really bad idea to go any further. The strength and stamina clearly weren't there, and they still aren't, but it's getting better every day.

I'd been considering a post to the Depression/Post op blues thread.

While I won't go as far as labeling it "depression", I've been feeling bored, and limited, and generally not pleased with my place in the world. I can get up and down the steps to do a load of laundry, or rouse the kids out of bed in the morning. I've cooked a few meals, for the family, not just myself, but have definitely been ready to sit down at the table by the time things are done. I get myself to PT, and if I need to, around the grocery store or hardware store on the way home, but I know I'm moving around like someone 30 years older than I am. I'm getting tired of feeling that way, and I'm still waiting for the day when I feel like I'm in better shape than the day I walked into the hospital. It seems like it's a long way off yet...

 

[jarabas]

Hi @XKV8R,

I just read all your posts. To me it sounds like you are doing a great job of recovering, but I kinda know how you feel--the being bored and limited and generally not pleased. I'm ready to be done with resting. I want to get back to work. My leg has taught me that if I try to do too much I will be exhausted and in pain because of it. Construction therapy sounds good. I need to find something like that. My sister is involved in one of the presidential candidates campaign. I've been thinking maybe I can sign up too and make phone calls. Not sure if I really want to do this, but talking to Sis about the issues has brought me out of my little recovery bubble and made me feel more myself. Anyway, hang in there. Hopefully in a few more weeks we will get over the next hump in the road.