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5wks post TKR bend

Posted , 12 users are following.

chrishappy
chrishappy

ive just come home from knee club at physio dept and hoped for at least 90 deg bend but only got 85. I feel so very frustrated as there were older folks than me who had a better bend, I'm doing my exercises and am moving around a lot, but the back of my knee is still quite swollen and seems to be impeding my bend. I'm icing and elevating 3 times a day, should I be doing more? It all just makes me feel so low and disappointed in myself, I feel like I'm letting myself down somehow 

 

2 likes, 49 replies

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  • cheryl90571
    cheryl90571 chrishappy

    Posted

    Please DO NOT get down on yourself for FIVE DEGREES OF BEND!!!

    We have all dealt with LOTS of trauma to our tissues, and each of us is an individual who is MUCH MORE than just a set of NUMBERS of degrees of bend or straightening!!!

    I, for one REFUSE to be defined by those numbers! Nobody lives in my body but ME! NOBODY but YOU lives in YOUR body but YOU!

    I am just four weeks out from surgery and am learning as I go along, but I CAN tell you that a POSITIVE, CONFIDENT attitude will take you farther than any amount of bend number or degrees of straightening!

    Swelling alters EVERYTHING when it comes to achieving the numbers the PTs are hell-bent to dwell on. They are all about the numbers because they are a MEASUREMENT, a way of EVALUATING progress. There are MANY OTHER WAYS of EVALUATING progress, too.

    Here are my personal ones that I wrote down and shared with my PT:

    1) Compression bandages bring down my swelling if I wear them from late evening to morning. My swelling has been much lessctge last FOUR DAYS thanks to this.

    2) I walk using my CANE when my legs feel tight. This helps me incorporate a lot of my exercises throughout the day.

    3) I can now lift my leg from a standing OR seated position without assistance and without pain. That is NEW this week!

    4) I often forget it is time to take pain meds because my overall pain is much less.

    5) I polished my toenails which gave me incentive to KEEP DOING stretches given to me as exercises. Exercises HELPED ME achivecmy toenail polishing goal!

    6) I no longer need help getting in and out of bed.

    7) I have never complained about working hard to get this knee thing accomplished!

    8) I have remained POSITIVE, focusing on each and every accomplishment because I KNOW how important each little accomplishment really is.

    9) I have remembered to thank God for helping me to do my best in each moment.

    10) I graduated from walker to cane this week and am feeling more in balance.

    • chrishappy
      chrishappy cheryl90571

      Posted

      hi Cheryl, your so right , I really need to give myself a good talking too. I'm going to set myself some simple realistic goals to benefit me mentally , as my thinking is way off beam. Thank you and take care
    • debbie02705
      debbie02705 cheryl90571

      Posted

      well done smile , your right with every thing , im 17 months on one knee and 12 months on the other ,and still find improvement , i went back to work 12 weeks after knee 2 and found it hard work but all this time later i can say yes it was worth it and the time has gone so fast and improvement all the way smile

       

  • donna4434
    donna4434 chrishappy

    Posted

    Hi Chris, a lot of good advise in the responses to your note. I know 100% what you're talking about. I, too, am at 5 wks and seem to have tostart over every session to get 90 degrees...we work for 20 minutes with traction and at the end achieve the 90 (yesterday I think he might have got me to 91) .... this morning couldn't do more than 85 again...and so it goes. I try to stay positive and do notice small positive changes in the knee...like it seems to be gradually "thawing"...meaning I seem to be less numb around the knee cap and lower quad. This seems to be a good thing as I have more feeling in the quad which has been an issue with strength. I lifted the ever-lovin' foot on the weekend for the first time! At least I feel some small forward progress.. I still seem to hold my breath everyday evaluating..is this better than yesterday? Or can I bend it more or can I do stairs today....really a roller coaster ride. Sending you good thoughts
    • lou1982
      lou1982 donna4434

      Posted

      I feel the same each morning,the leg/knee is as stiff as a board and difficult to bend,and these past few days im only getting 85 and its driving me nuts and i get angry with myself,then i calm down and say to myself that im still only 4 weeks post op..so im not doing so bad,can now finally manage to lift the leg with no help,which made my day,all we can do is exercise,drink plenty and keep up the fight...everyone on this page is so amazing,and i dont know what i would of done without it x
    • chrishappy
      chrishappy donna4434

      Posted

      hi Donna, im exactly where your at!!! I think this whole recovery has come as a bit of a shock, I never realised what a long road it would be,the last 2days I've felt a thawing of sorts and a bit more flexibility so I suppose I thought a bit more bend would be easy. Let's do this journey keeping in touch  thanks for your support 😀
    • donna4434
      donna4434 lou1982

      Posted

      Exactly. ?.I drive my husband crazy too with the "does this look swollen or does this look better to you?" We have two dogs which are really 'mine' so that is a bit of added stress and incentive. Stress because my husband hates walking them..he thinks he signed up for 6 weeks and it's gonna be longer than that...and incentive as I love to take them out on the trails. I'm in Canada so we only get a limited summer and I want to be back to normal before the freakin' snow flies wink

    • kirk47842
      kirk47842 donna4434

      Posted

      Yeaha I thought I was going to get this done 4weeks maybe 6weeks and good as new. Boy was I wrong!!!
    • chrishappy
      chrishappy donna4434

      Posted

      I'm in North west England and we don't get much summer here, at the moment it rain all the way. Difficult to get out for a walk. I think our partners have had a bit of a rude awakening too, my husband has been fantastic but I think the sooner I'm back to normal the happier he will be 
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo chrishappy

      Posted

      Indeed!  Mine was great for the first month or so, but once I started being a bit independent he seems to think I can do it all!  Ladders are still a bit dodgy though . . .cry
    • Oldfatguy1
      Oldfatguy1 martinarvelo

      Posted

      Ladders???? Ladders are for 20 yr olds. Not people who have had knee surgery unless they are wanting repeats.
    • lou1982
      lou1982 kirk47842

      Posted

      I too thought it would be a walk in the park to recover from,but i now know very different..its the hardest thing ive ever had to do,and i feel no one warned me about how hard it would be after the surgery x
    • donna4434
      donna4434 martinarvelo

      Posted

      Ladder...my ladder days are over for sure...given I almost killed myself on a 3 degree slope with my walker yesterday lol..I made my husband back down the slope while he held the walker in place. He snickered but a quick punch to the arm stopped that wink
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      I was only referring to step ladder . . up three steps, to put the winter weight quilt in the top of the wardrobe!  Still difficult though . . . but I did get there in the end!

       

    • Oldfatguy1
      Oldfatguy1 martinarvelo

      Posted

      That's still a long way after knee surgery. Back about 4 surgeries ago I finally go g home from rehab after 3 weeks plus week in hospital. Middle of the night the carbon monoxide/ smoke detector outside our bedroom door starts chirping. This was the surgery where I had the revision and then fell and broke the femur. Damn thing was driving me nuts so it d either me or a slide with Parkinson's that has trouble standing getting the small ladder out a d taking it down. I'm thinking the battery is shot......no such luck. At 1:30 a.m. I'm reading the instruction book to find those things are only good for 7 years. It had been up 7 yrs, and 8 days. They are relentless in their desire to let you know they are gone. I finally had to take it to the big trash can in the garage and the next day finish it off with a hammer. Guess I should have read a little further where it said something about cutting a wife.

    • Oldfatguy1
      Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      Should have said cutting a wire.....wire dammit I'm not a complete madman. Someday I'm going to shut the auto correct off
    • debbie02705
      debbie02705 chrishappy

      Posted

      lol chris me too where did you have your op ? this op is one tough cookie to crack but well worth it smile

       

    • chrishappy
      chrishappy debbie02705

      Posted

      Had my op at clatterbridge hospital on the Wirral, North west England. I never realised how tough it would be, I'm only just starting to feel human again!!!!! 
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