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20wks and still problems

Posted , 9 users are following.

suzidownunder
suzidownunder

Hi i am 20wks. Post TKR. Thoroughly fed up

leg is still not totally straight but i have been walking more than 12000 steps a day - about 5 miles. Stairs are ok. But yesterday the tightness above my knee that had previously eased increased to unbearable. I tried heat and ice but neither helped.

I slept all night with it elevated but had to get up to take pain killers. As it woke me several times.

There's a sharp real pain above the knee and I'm wondering - tendinitis? My whole thigh hurts too - i have to work today but if it doesn't improve i will need to see my gp.

My next surgeon appt is in 4 weeks.

Anyone else had this?

1 like, 18 replies

18 Replies

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  • Annodoremouse
    Annodoremouse suzidownunder

    Posted

    5 miles is probably too much. Try concentrating on strengthening the quads and straightening the leg which is as important as the bend. Dont forget to have rest days
  • martinarvelo
    martinarvelo suzidownunder

    Posted

    I was thinking. . you say your leg is not straight yet (neither is mins!) but that does put rather a strain on the muscles above the knee and maybe those five miles are doing more harm than good.  Maybe spending more time on exercises to get the knee straight would be more helpful?  Just a thought. . I'm trying to get mine straight, but it's harder than getting the bend I think!  I use two kilos weight on it to try to stretch it, go to the hydrotherapy pool and stretch . . but I see very little progress . . Hope yours clears up soon . . 
    • suzidownunder
      suzidownunder martinarvelo

      Posted

      Thanks you could be right! I bus to work but get off early and walk 3k in every morning - same at night plus a long walk at lunch.

      I thought i was doing the right thing. Just treating it as normal. I mean how long do i have to go on treating it like a baby! But I'll try what youre suggesting. I'll go back to doing a bit of physio on it. I'm so impatient to be back to normal I'm still not sure I'm glad i had it done rolleyes

    • Tucks
      Tucks Annodoremouse

      Posted

      You are so right the leg is like a naughty baby, and it has to be taught to behave. Rest and not too much strain is as essential as excersising. At 8months my knee can still be a brat at times.
    • veronica91735
      veronica91735 Tucks

      Posted

      Hello again Tucks - you seem to be plodding on a little better than when we last "spoke". I'm now 21 weeks, & finally found out what was causing all my pain. I see the consultant again on Monday, despite asking for another consultant, I'm still seeing the same one who did it. I've had a round of x-rays, ultrasounds & consultations - it's a relief that they finally listened - now they tell me that 1 in 10 have the patella in the wrong place. Most gradually settle after swelling subsides, but mine is trapping soft tissue to the extent I am back on Oxycodone, & have now been told not to do excercise or take my dogs for a walk (I couldn't without pain as it was). My options are being given to me on Monday, but it looks highly likely it will be "revision" under a general, with the same scar being opened up. I presume that large tendon - now presumably healed, will also be cut again, along with other bits I'm getting too scared to even think about. And I said I'd never let anyone near my knees with a knife again - only to find myself begging for them to "do something about it". Almost half a year lost to pain (worse than bone on bone pain) - so down at the moment. Lifes too short to wish it away, but I am longing for a full nights sleep, & a leg that will let me walk our two gorgeous adopted dalmatians. - Veronica
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo veronica91735

      Posted

      So sorry to hear you are facing the probability of a revision surgery, and hope that it will be successful without causing too much pain and trauma again!  Good luck . . 
    • jennifer86104
      jennifer86104 veronica91735

      Posted

      That must be an awful prospect yet if you're in pain, as you say, you want it done. I'm sure they'll take care to get it right 2nd time round. Hope you don't have to wait too long.

      Jen 

    • Tucks
      Tucks veronica91735

      Posted

      Oh you poor thing, you don't need these sort of problems. I think your body has been telling you for some time that something was not right with you. And you have had wasted months when you should have been healing.hope you get some positive options when Monday comes round, they don't seem to listen do they, its just a job to them but for you it's a big, big, problem. Bet your beautiful dogs are wondering what they have done wrong. I do feel for you. I am 8 months this week, and yes I'm much brighter, I still have my bad days but they get less and less. Good luck for Monday x from tucks
    • veronica91735
      veronica91735 Tucks

      Posted

      Had a copy of the letter my consultant has sent my GP today. Love the way he writes "she underwent an ultrasound & was informed by the consultant radiologist that the anterolateral aspect of the femoral componant is 6mm away from the cortical aspect & she feels this is the cause of the pain" (err......I most certainly do - the radiologist told me it constantly trapped soft tissue on movement!  He goes on to say "on analysing the x-rays there is some lift-off at the anterolateral aspect of the femoral implant. The tibial tray also has an increased posterior slope which may be predispostioning to mid flexion instability". He also adds "on clinical examination, there is an obvious mid flexion click with some MCL(?) laxity noted predominantly in mid flexion and in extension too so I am considering her symptoms may be coming from some instability"

      I have looked up "instability" & it seems that is the word they use re a revision. I have also looked up what a revision involves, & it does seem a much longer operation that the 1st TKR. Even as a lay-woman, I can read in the letter that there are problems!! Still, I have the 2nd opinion on the 23rd April, but to me, there is no easy answer. Has anyone had a revision within 6 months of a TKR?

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo veronica91735

      Posted

      MCL medial collateral ligament . . .it's all very technical isn't it. . but it seems that the bottom line is . . .it's misaligned, and that's causing the poor woman agonisaing pain!  
  • Mikefen
    Mikefen suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hi

    I am just over 8 weeks post TKR op and was doing very well I thought, as at 6 weeks I was walking well and getting a good bend and up and down stairs quite well !

    I then made the mistake of going back to work which is a 140 mile round trip and can mean 5 hours a day in the car and then 8 or 9 hours at my desk. I have been doing about 3 days each week for the last 2 weeks and have neglected the exercises that I should be doing as it's difficult at work. I am a Sales Director so travel all over the UK but mainly to the office these days, I can work from home but did feel that I needed to get out and about.. At 47 I'm young for the full TKR and I did think that recovery would be quite quick for me as I have had a half knee 6 years back and did know what to expect.

    I can honestly say that driving so quickly after the op for long periods is a very bad idea. Maybe like your 5 mile walks too much too soon. I also don't have full straightness and after getting out of the car it takes ages to losen up and I feel like and old man ! I have taken a backward step I think but I intend to do something about it even if it means changing jobs. As the saying goes "work to live don't live to work" if that is the right way around. My MD just had an op on his spine and he cannt drive either so perhaps I may get some degree of understanding.

    I also have pains that I think are muscular around my knee and thigh and at the back of the knee. My back and side ache a bit too !

    I am gutted that I have not listened to my body sooner!

    Keep at it and I am sure things will improve ! perhaps walk just 2 miles and do more stretches ! I have no room to talk at the moment as I have not been doing it, but I will !

    Mike

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo Mikefen

      Posted

      Hi Mike . . Not easy to change your lifestyle,  but in your case, so much travelling at such an early stage of recovery has to be a bad thing!  I do the driving in our household, and find that the day after spending time driving is always a bad day . .  and I don't have to use the operated leg as it's an automatic car, thank heavens. . . Hope you can find a solution . .I knew there had to be some advantages to being over retirement age!  You are so young to be going through all this. . . . 
    • Mikefen
      Mikefen martinarvelo

      Posted

      Hi Martina,

      I also have automatic but I think it may be worse as my left leg is just sat there not really moving.

      It is very frustrating at my age and I hate to moan as there are inspiring people going through much worse.

      I have not posted for 2 weeks as I have been so busy and tired but it really helps when I do.

      Hope things improve for you.

      Best wishes.

      Mike

    • Tucks
      Tucks Mikefen

      Posted

      Hi there, I think we all try to do too much to soon. The body needs to heal at its own pace and driving all those miles was probably a step to far. You are obviously a hard working man, but you are so right about work. Perhaps you need a little more time to rest and evaluate. Wish you well.
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