First Anniversary for LEFT KNEE!!!🙌😁😊🙌

Posted , 17 users are following.

Well folks, it is ONE WHOLE YEAR since I had my Total Knee Replacement on my first knee!

It sure has been QUITE the learning experience!

Since then, my right knee joined the party, and I have had TWO "good knees" since last October.

I must say that for me, the surgeries changed my life. For five years previously I was headed down Pain Road with NO CHANCE of relief unless I jumped on the surgery bandwagon and just went for it.

I am VERY happy that I got on that wagon...TWICE!

Today is not only the first anniversary of LEFT KNEE; it is the 40th wedding anniversary for my husband and me. (Yes, we spent our 39th anniversary last year "celebrating" in the recovery room and hospital room following my TKR!)

TODAY is NO recovery room, NO hospital room, NO IV pole or medication, NO nausea, NO tourniquet "Steak Knife" pain, and NO first standing up after surgery!????????

Today IS breakfast together at Scrambler Marie's, a ride to Erie, Pennsylvania to WALK along the walkway and beaches of Presque Isle, a nice dinner, and seeing Independence Day at the movies. Ahhhh! Looking forward to walking along the beautiful shores of Lake Erie with no KNEE PAIN! ????

Here's to ALL of us in various stages of recovery from the operation that brought us all together here on this forum! ??????????

Wishing us all continued good recovery and many happy pain-free days! ??

6 likes, 40 replies

40 Replies

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  • Posted

    Well that was a cheery read! Thanks it's always good to know that the end is out there. I already feel the release from years of disablement and even with the other need still to be done my confidence has gone up notches and what you are experiencing looks in sight for me too Enjoy Lake Erie it sounds wonderful Cheers 

    • Posted

      Glad to hear that you are feeling that great feeling of being released from years of suffering, too! Getting the second replacement knee on board helps SO MUCH because then there are two good knees that are both able to literally pull their weight!

      I know what you mean about confidence! It's a nice feeling to have confidence again!

      The lake was great! The beaches there are so nice, and the walkway is a peninsula out into Lake Erie. Every view is a pretty one!

      It DEFINITELY is in sight for you to be able to go do what makes you happy! It just takes TIME and lots of patience. You WILL get there!????????

  • Posted

    Cheryl.....you have done good........you and I are a few days apart on the one year....yours the 1st, mine the 11th. So happy for you that the 1 year Mark has lived up to its reputation......you own it and it doesn't own you. I had my 1st annual lookover by my surgeon and he is thrilled that I can bend it furthur than he had expected and that I'm walking without assistive devices, even a cane.

    How is your husband getting along with his health issues and is he as excited you about the walking

    • Posted

      SO happy to hear that your most recent surgery is progressing so well! I have been SO eager to hear that! You sure have been through it for so long!

      Your balance must be much improved since you can now go it alone without the walker or cane. CONGRATULATIONS! What a difference it makes not having to drag a walker or cane around. They ARE helpful but also get in the way. I kept forgetting mine then having to go FIND it!

      My husband's feet actually felt BETTER doing the walking yesterday! He was surprised, and so was I because his pheriphial neuropathy can truly halt him in his tracks some days. Each day brings different issues. Sometimes I think just getting out and MOVING is the key for him. Thanks for asking!??

  • Posted

    Congratulations Cheryl! Oh I look forward to my 1st anniversary after TKR! I hope I follow in your footsteps (wink wink) and heal well ! Happy Anniversary to you and your husband. Have a great day! cheesygrin

    • Posted

      Thanks so much!??

      I think healing is a very complicated process! It takes awhile to accomplish, and we humans aren't all that patient. It is a definite challenge!

      I keep a journal to remind myself how far I have come . Reading over those early days after surgery shows me how CONSUMED I was with MY KNEES! It was like they were ROYAL GUESTS! It wasn't until many weeks later that they became just parts of my body and not MY SOLE FOCUS!

      Listen to your body, and take good care of your needs. You will get there!????????

  • Posted

    Many Many Congratualations !! I can understand that what you felt that time when you heard about to knee replacement. But you seems very happy. Enjoy the life & your anniversary smile 

    Party Time biggrin

    • Posted

      Thanks very much!😊 It DOES seem like Party Time again after such a long recovery and years of PAIN before that!

      We had a GREAT time yesterday! The best part was CELEBRATING my knees but not needing to have all the PAIN that I had prior to surgery so that we could focus on our ANNIVERSARY instead of the pain.

  • Posted

    Congratulations on 1 year and happy anniversary to you and your husband! I love your spirit! You have brought me out of dark days more than once. And thank you for sharing this up lifting post!!!♡
    • Posted

      Awwww! Thanks! 😳 It is so good to hear that I was able to help you! These are challenging days, this recovery thing, and I think we all need to support one another.

      How are you doing?

    • Posted

      I'm doing well. Went back to work today half days. I have a desk job and have 24 stairs to get to my office! Still in pt. Bob is happy with my motion. He's working on strengthening right now. He told me when I had the mua my muscles really pd the price. I'm getting there. Not much swelling anymore. But still get stiff. . And still doing the exercises you gave me! Have a great evening! ?

    • Posted

      Glad to hear you are progressing so well!????????Oooooooooo! TWENTY-FOUR steps!!! That is A LOT! Good that you are still in PT. I got SO MUCH out of physical therapy, and I REALLY loved how specific exercises targeted EXACTLY what I needed to strengthen.

      Are you working on balance? My therapist had me do quite a bit with balance. I never realized how bad my balance had gotten prior to surgery. The balance work REALLY added so much to my confidence after surgery!

      I get stiff, too. I hear it is part of the EVIL called "Arthritis" and particularly is a speciality of Osteoarthritis. Bad, Bad disease!??

      Good to hear that swelling has left. I know it is a part of the TKR Experience, but it surely is an unwelcome part! Strange how it comes and goes, sometimes for no apparent reason!

      Try to find excuses to get up and walk around a bit during work. My neighbor uses an exercise ball to sit on during work time. She can stretch her hips and legs while typing or on the phone. She said her back aches are much less now, too. Just a thought!

      Keep us up on how things go, OK?

      Wishing you continued success!??

    • Posted

      We started working on balance more last week. Standing on rubbery things that makes me very wobbly. I'm still doing the one stand in front of something to hold onto if needed and stand on one leg hold. Then the other. That has helped me. I didn't realize how bad my balance was prior to surgery. I haven't been able to walk the " normal" way up and down stairs in 8 yrs!

    • Posted

      It's good to be in a place now that I don't freak that my knee may freeze up again. And mua will need to be done. It could happen but I have come to the point that I know my knee. What it can and can't do. I still have discomfort. And it I really over do it it's close to being painful. But a motrin takes care of that. Prior to surgery I only had pain going up and down stairs. Or hiking up and down a hill or mt. I haven't done much of either yet so the advantages of my tkr hasn't been felt...yet. I know patience!

    • Posted

      Hi Linlee. So have you had mua done? I'm 4 months post op and my knee refuses to bend past a certain point. I'm scared I may have to get that done. Tell me the truth...is it as bad as people say? I've watched a video of it on youtube and thought that poor person must have been in agony when she woke up! frown So be honest with me! How bad is it?? Thanks.

    • Posted

      Good that you are working on balance! At first I wasn't sure of how important balance was. I just knew I wasn't very good at it! THEN, I discovered that, since my balance practice at PT and in practice throughout the week at home, I actually was able to recover TWO times that I tripped, not falling either time!???? SO GLAD I WORKED ON BALANCE!

      I have been working on weeding flower beds this week. It is really hot, so I keep the hose handy and regularly spray myself to cool off. Ahhhhh! It also creates MUD which is slippery. My balance practice helps me when I am walking around in muddy flower beds, too!

      BONUS!!!??

      I am continuing to work on feeling confident walking normally down stairs. I do well on our son's 14 step staircase in his condo BECAUSE it has railings on both sides of the stairway. I do less well on the six steps down to our family room and on the six steps up to the bedrooms from our first floor because there is a railing on just one side of each staircase. Going UP is fine. I hang on for dear life going up or down because the LAST THING I want to do is fall down steps!

      There's ALWAYS stuff to work on!

      Keep going! It is ALL very worth it!????????

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