8 months post op!
Posted , 12 users are following.
I hope this serves as encouragement for those earlier along that bumpy, wiggly, up and downy line!
At 8 months...
After a day gallavanting around London in a completely limitless manner...
Still amazed at the wonder of being able to move, walk, and experience life to the full...
On getting home, I realised I had a worry!
A big worry!
A confusing worry!
It popped into my head with an anxious expression on its face!
WHY, after all I had done in the day, did my knee NOT ache?
😁😃😄
I am very concerned, any advice welcome!
😀
Please if you are struggling right now, hold yourself kindly and patiently, and know for the vast majority of people this surgery reaps marvellous rewards.
We all took a risk in having it done...any surgical procedure is a step of Faith and not guaranteed, however, with patience and persistence, it will come good!
My outcome is better than I was able to imagine. Outcomes do of course vary...some are disappointed, or have less than they expected. Yes, but decide to decide when you get to the ONE, ( or even two year, if yours is particularly complex), mark how you feel.
Bear in mind the stress, depression, and anxiety you most likely felt BEFORE you even had the operation, due to the pain and disability you experienced,
This colours your senses and clouds a long term vision I think. You may not have been able to look forward for a very long time, because a more mobile, or even fully mobile life was steadily burning away before your eyes.
POTENTIAL.
Now you have that.
Keep it and bear the current time in the light of it.
Any pain you have is not the same as what you had before!
It WAS deterioration.
Now, while respecting your knee, you can gently nudge things along, allow healing to happen, (which it will) at its own pace, exercise, rest, and know that you may well look back on this time with fondness....yes, really!
The pain IS gain..
Even though then pain is also a pain!
I don't personally subscribe to the motto "no pain no gain", and pain is a rather subjective matter, varying an lot from person to person in how it is experienced. I chose to not push through pain, only to it, and also took any pain relief I needed without hesitation if I felt that the pain was becoming unmanageable. We all have our own philosophy and approach, and people pick what they feel is right for them.
But one thing is for sure, a positive mental attitude and expectation is essential for TKR recovery!
Make it about you, putting yourself first as much as is possible in your circumstances.
As so many people on here have said, it will get BETTER.
How much better will vary, of course.
But take it into your hands and somehow make the most of this time.
The only tear I shed now in respect to my TKR is a grateful one!
I do need to hold onto the handrail when walking down steps, with the hand on the opposite side to my TKR, because of the weakness in the unoperated leg. But that is all.
I HAVE MY LIFE BACK!
And your new lease of life is coming your way...
You may not have quite met yet...
But you will.
Hang on in there!
Your mobile future is waiting too!
2 likes, 16 replies
Snoozy69 jenny80029
Posted
Really pleased for you Jenny I can't wait to get to this point X
cheryl90571 jenny80029
Posted
Amen!😄
Great post!??
Yes, it IS so great FINALLY seeing a future once again when at one point there didn't seem to be much of one!
Persistence! A lot can be said of just carrying on, walking a bit more, trying to do a task that you haven't done in awhile and succeeding with it.
My two knee replacements put me back into my life. Without them I would be a bystander to my life.
Here's to ALL of us at all the various stages of recovery! May we continue to improve and support one another on our individual journeys!??
Anonymous111 jenny80029
Posted
Its lovely to hear a success story about these operations.
jenny80029 Anonymous111
Posted
I think there are many many more, but often folk choose not to stick around and tell their story from a longer distance perspective. In order to help balance out the suffering, 😢😠😕😣😮 i think if folk are willing and able to, posting further on in the process helps give people who are considering a TKR a more balanced perspective.
And as said, can be helpful to those in the midst! ?
victoria11426 jenny80029
Posted
So nice to hear you'r story jenny and gives us all hope,i had my TKRin Feb this year manipulation July so im still struggling along trying to get bend but saying that i'm so glad i done all of it as i dont have much pain back at work full time on feet all day
i'm thinking as i'v had set back it will just take bit more time for me i get physio every two weeks which i'm grateful for and see surgeon next Monday so fingers crossed he's happy with how thing's are going although i'm wee bit worried i must admit,but this forum a great help for everyone going through this and yourself and many others give great advice so thank you and keep up the good work.
)
jenny80029 victoria11426
Posted
arlene94040 jenny80029
Posted
amy1447 jenny80029
Posted
Thank you for this Jenny! At 3.5 weeks in I definitely need to know this is all going to be worth it in the end! Encouragement and hope is a great thing! 😊
Congratulations on your wonderful results! 😀
jean04276 jenny80029
Posted
NZJENNI jenny80029
Posted
I had this recently at an event when I realised I had been casually standing around socialising for four hours !
I am one year out from a right knee TKR and have just enjoyed a 5 week overseas holiday involving 24 hour travel across the globe with no repercussions whatever. I am 64 and injured my knee at age 14 so have lived with knee issues all that time. The TKR was the third operation to the knee over these years and by far the most successful I now walk most mornings up and down hills and steps and feel fitter and healthier than I have for years - as well as loosing some extra weight which is a good thing to do with dodgy knees lol.
THis last year has not been easy by any means. It is a procedure not to be taken lightly and the initial months were very challenging and very painful and very frustrating - I could go on here !!!
I stuck to the plan and I am loving the outcome - we are so very lucky to have solutions in this world we live in.
All the best to you all at whatever stage you are at - perseverance pays dividends.
Oh I still dont have a fabulous range of motion - the leg is pretty straight but the bend only about 115 - so be it as it is not holding me back one bit.
jenny80029 NZJENNI
Posted
Yep! Congratulations!
Have you kicked anyone yet with it?
I feel like tryin it out sometimes! 😀😊
NZJENNI jenny80029
Posted
John5006 jenny80029
Posted
Good one Jenny, good one.
?On 6 Nov 2015, aged 71 I had a partial knee replacement (right knee, medial compartment). Best thing ever. I live in Cornwall, UK and was operated on by a brilliant guy as a NHS patient in a private hospital - just brilliant. I only had three expectations, to get my life back, walk again and be totally pain free (from osteoarthritis). At the 8 week mark as soon I was given the OK to come off crutches and drive again I was out walking the rugged and at times tortuous South West Coastal Path. At 11 weeks I was back at work driving a bus again.
Job done.
However, to my delight I got an incredible bonus, for at least all of the 15 years my right knee had been bone on bone ( my cartilage having been removed decades before) and this had the long term impact of skewing my right side skeletal alignment right out of true. It was stuffed, and gave me incredible pain from lower back and my right sacrililiac joint (Si joint). Yeah sure, I still get twinges from both areas, but I'm pain free at last from all this pain. So basically, my surgeon got all his geometry calculations right on and has given me back a perfectly aligned geometry as far as my skeletal structure is concerned. My bus driving is in the tourist industry and so handling large cases of passengers baggage is part of the job and I have no problems at all. Most of the passengers baggage is 15 kgs or heavier. My knee is fixed as is lower back pain as is my right Si joint pain.
As I said .... job done.
?John
jenny80029 John5006
Posted
Fantastic! That's a fantastic account of the positive results orthopaedic surgery!
Let's hope the NHS gets the cash it needs to give more people their lives back!
lisa11951 jenny80029
Posted
Hi Jenny, I haven't posted for a few months I need rotator cuff surgery so am struggling with pain at the moment but your post made me realise I should in order to give others who are maybe feeling a bit down and in pain the knowledge that things do get better. I'm almost 7 months post op. I've had ups and downs but on the whole feel great. I had a hip replacement a year ago as well and I've got my life back. I went to Rome last month for my anniversary and walked between 8 and 10 miles a day with no side effects apart from the usual tiredness. This time last year I was in a wheelchair and now you can't keep me in. I'm not saying the early weeks and months aren't tough but for most of us there is light at the end of the tunnel just make sure you keep
positive and keep up with your exercises. I still struggle some days as I have other medical issues as well and like you I still hold the handrail when I'm walking up and downstairs but on the whole I've got my life back and this is what this operation can do for you It just takes time. Take care.
jenny80029 lisa11951
Posted
Sorry to hear about your current pain, I do hope it improves rapidly! What an amazing testimony you have, thank you so much for sharing it!
It is an amazing feeling of liberty for sure!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈
Congratulations!