13 weeks post TKR

I write this as an encouragement to those at earlier stages of recovery. I now have turned a corner with this process..it was a corner I didn't see coming! If things are hard, take heart, live your knee be kind to yourself and keep up the work with gentle exercises and stretches, because you will reap the rewards in time. I know often there are complications ans set backs, and sometimes people have particularly rough rides, but for most people TKR really is a wonderful surgery which can potentially give you your life back. I have just finished my formal physiotherapy and though exceptionally tired, and very much still in recovery, I walked more quickly on a treadmill today than I have walked for two years. My range of motion is 0 extension and 130 flexion. I only ever did passive physiotherapy, I never caused myself any pain, only discomfort, and I never let anyone else cause me pain either (except for the surgeon, by doing the op!). I did my exercises, and will continue to do so. I still have some soreness, sometimes. But I can walk. I don't limp anymore. I can start to think about the things I can do and open doors which were previously swinging back in my face. The timescale is different for everyone, and I have been fortunate. I have gone from having what was a doubly deformed limb, to one which has now the ability to move properly and take me the places I want to go. I may well have set backs...I may well need it revised as I am only 52, But now I have a life which opens up before me and the earlier pain, low feelings, despair, anxiety, sleeplessness, tension, worry, fear, discouragement, etc now all of that feels worth it. I had decided in my head that I would not decide if it was worth it until the one year point. We just don't know how long the struggles we have in life will go on for. For me its fallen into place quite early, that's a blessing, because the two years leading up to surgery were a struggle. But however long it takes, for the majority of people, this difficult time is an investment that they will reap the reward for. So please read this and take it as an encouragement. Sometimes we just don't know when we will suddenly turn that corner and its so easy to not believe it will ever happen. Use your mind in the process, and trust that however long it takes, you will get to a point where the current which carries you along does reach a still and peaceful place. You will look back, and see how far you have come. Things don't always work out...that is true, but for most people if does work out in the end. It works out well, and the current troubles are left behind, I could not of imagined being where I am now. It makes me quite tearful thinking about it but in a good way. I cannot quite believe how wonderful it is.If I live long enough, I am not looking forward to having it redone, but I have changed as a person through this experience and am all the better for it in so many ways. So keep on, even though the limitations are so great. Know that your world will open up before you, and know that you can use this challenging experience.. the powerlessness is hard to bear, but legs do get stronger with time. And after all these words, i hope i dont suddenly fall over and crack my nice new knee, get an infection, or get run over by a bus. I have now taken to nipping across the roads when the lights are still green, because I am so excited about how I can walk. I used to not make it across the crossing in time, even when pressing the button...you know that number countdown made me sad. I still use my walking poles sometimes, and may well continue to need support at times. I couldn't walk very well at all just a couple of weeks back. Then things did just fall into place. Wow. And TKR still suffers from the curse of being called "a procedure of limited clinical value" here in the uk. Dont believe it. I must also add that though i am certainly in the gentle physiotherapy camp, I do recognise that for some different approaches do work well. As we often comment on here, we really are all different. Different knees, different kinds of support different challenges. But this is 13 weeks for me!

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