6 weeks post op tomorrow

Oh do not get me wrong...my husband as been my biggest cheerleader and a saint for putting up with me!  I just was being sarcastic!  He ke ps telling me will be better and remember how it felt before the surgery.  I am just a very impatient person and very hard for me to not do anything!  I see surgeon tomorrow, we shall see what he says.  I have not used a walker or cane since 3rd day, but the swelling (bought a cryo machine and use very often) behind knee is so painful I want to cry.

I'll put this gently...

IT'S ONLY BEEN SIX WEEKS!!!!!!!!

I was still drooling on my pajamas!!!  Again, this takes a full year.  First the PT to get 0 / +120 ROM and then the muscle rebuild for your dead quads, glutes and core.  This will enable you to walk correctly, regain your balance and do stairs again like a "normal" person.  Gotta do the strength exercises.  Finally, the stairs work will finish off the muscle rebuild.  I have discussions posted on all these topics.

Glad that you do have your husband's support.  Some people aren't that lucky or live alone.  That's tough.  We try to keep everyone positive but REALISTIC.  Gotta give up all your expectations of timetables and pain.  The recovery takes three things: time for the knee to heal; the work required for the ROM and muscles, and finally patience to let it all happen when it's meant to.  The knee will teach you patience...it will not and cannot be rushed.

Chico - you keep saying this but I'm not sure where you get these numbers from - "First the PT to get 0 / +120 ROM and then the muscle rebuild for your dead quads, glutes and core." This may work for you but everyone will be different and you are pushing an unreal expectation on some. As I have said before it will depend to a large extent on your pre-operative ROM. You should expect to get that back and see anything more as a bonus. If you have not had more than 90 degrees or less for 20 years don't expect that exercises will give you 120 degrees! It is most unlikely and my surgeon explained to me why.

Dave

Hate to disagree but Chico is correct, if your knee was put in correctly not misaligned etc.during the surgery the surgeon will check to make sure you will be able to bend your knee. If you were not able to bend your knee past 90 prior to surgery something was wrong the idea behind the surgery is to get everything back to normal or as close as they can. If you cannot bend your knee to the 120 + or - mark you will be limited in what you can do later on. As of right now the 18th was the 6th revision by rights my ROM should stink due to all the surgeries I have had but with effort I got to 105. The therapist told me pretty much the same thing Chico wrote to you. I realize not everyone is the same but if you cannot get past 90 its not the implants fault and I am not implying its your fault either but if you want get better you have to push and work for it this is one surgery that as a patient you have to do your part as well if not things will only get worse. If your only bending 90 it effects your walk going up and down stairs pretty much everything you do. I have been thru this 6 times I have had a total of 18 surgeries on my L knee I have been to hell and back and here I am again dealing with recovery ROM its not easy it never was but it has to done for a better quality of life. I hope I am not upsetting you and I apologize for being in disagreement but I have never heard that from any surgeon  and I have had my share of surgeons

I meant to write I got to 105 with effort today and my surgery was last Monday

Oh my sympathies! 1 time surgery is enough fo me, and I feel terrible for complaining at my 6 week mark.  God bless you and I hope all goes well this time.

No problem at all and no offence taken. I'm afraid all of the medical profession themselves have differing views. If you go on the other excellent website "Bonesmart" the experts for example tell you not to exercise much in the first few weeks as it aggravates your swelling and stops your bodies natural healing mechanisms. In my own case (I am in the UK) I had degenerative osteoarthritis from the age of 30 following ligament damage and medial cartilage removal, (Technology for torn cartilage in the 70's was remove it and a week in hospital with your leg heavily strapped and not moved). It was good for many years but over a period of 35 years the bend decreased to less than 90 and they would not straighten. I also became very bandy as the bone on bone meant sideways distortion caused by bone spurs. Unbelievably this was only really painful during activity and immediately after. 24 hours rest would ease the pain and I never got swelling. Anyway in my mid fifties I had a private consultation with an eminent surgeon at the London Wellington Knee clinic which is the country's leading hospital and where professional cricketers and footballers are often sent. (It's adjacent to Lord's Cricket ground". He told me I was a prime candidate for knee replacement and that he should be able to straighten them and improve the bend but thought it was unlikely I could get a full bend as my tendons and ligaments would be shrunk over that period of time. Any way, I had my first TKR at the age of 66 with another leading surgeon who has done research and written papers and he said pretty much the same. As a former multi-sport person I did the exercises religiously for up to a year after. The result is fantastic. Zero pain, straight, can walk well but no bend past 90. The latest one which is now 7 weeks is slightly better as it started at 9o not 80 degrees. I've now got it to 95 degrees with hard work and am hoping for a bit more. Additionally I have seen three different private physios and two in the NHS hospital where I have had it done and every single one has said the same about my potential bend. When you force it the ligaments stop it as much as a wege wood in the hinge of a door. The joint itself is perfect.

So my view is that before anybody has an expectation of their rom ask them what was before the op and for how long. Age is also a factor in terms of flexibility. You will be surprised at the answer from others in a similar position to me. Once again I am not challenging per say what your  and Chico are saying for the majority of cases but other ROMS are available, as they say.  

It seems like this is another exception to the rule!! From what you wrote it seems like you can write a book on knee issues as well. I have also found out some Dr.s are not as good as they think they are either which to me is wrong Dr.s get paid very well and with all their training there should not be as many different opinions on care. When I started having issues after 5th rev. the Dr. absolutely refused to re-exam my knee no tests nothing he felt the pain was in my head. Long story short got fed up found a better Dr. did a bone scan saw I had lots of issues.

My view is that I would rather take the medical opinion of my individual professionals who have seen me throughout than people's views on me on internet forums (and I include myself in that!). That doesn't preclude the usefulness on seeing how other people get on, the empathy and all sorts of other useful generic information on here..

As many times as I have been thru this I have never been told not to walk on it and really if it hurts really bad why would you?? When I was at the hospital they wanted me to use a walker but that was impossible how do use a walker and walk with an IV pole as well? Now that I am home I use my forearm crutches the majority of the time but I will also walk without them as well but for only very short distances example being I am finished with my cup of coffee and want another cup.I can tell easily when I am getting ready to go to far. It has been mentioned by others as well forget about distance your not going to improve things by increasing how far you walk it just won't happen you need to think about how far you walked before it started hurting once it starts to hurt turn around and go back it you continue to go farther and farther distance wise you will end up being quite miserable. Its better to walk shorter distances w/o being in pain then push yourself into agony. Now of course I have a tendency to over do it as well so this time around my goal is to try and do things the right way the pain is bad enough without overdoing it. 

they had me up night of surgery and putting weight on my surgery leg....that was the easy part.