OMG This has been SO hard!

Sorry to hear that things are so tough. i am very surprised you have to wait so long for physio. i first saw my physio ten says post op.

if you look at CHICO MARX comments on TKR he has a lot of very good advise.

i iced much more than you are. i was fully weight bearing straight away. crutches used just to steady me.

You need to be strengthening muscles around your knee and your glutes.

what bend and straighten do you have?

i took zapain (codeine and paracetemol) 4 x a day when i first had op. plus volterol or ibuprofen.

im in UK. i had physio from ten days post op, back at work (desk job) 4 weeks post op. hindsight this was too soon. i should have had at least another two weeks off.

Dont give up, everyone recovers at different rates.

one day at a time. do you do your bend exercises and strengthening ones?

please look at chicos advise. it certainly helped me. im 11 months post op now and doing well.

i promise you it gets better but ONLY if you participate in your physical therapy. I cant stress that enough. For me, getting back in the pool was what helped the most. It allowed me to stretch n get my knee bending again. If you're in an area where you don't have access to a pool, just do what your PT tells you to do. Massage therapy was beneficial too. It's been 2 years and i have no regrets

My surgeon did the muscle sparing technique where the prosthesis is inserted under the muscle. That made recuperating much easier then the traditional knee replacement but even so, use a walker and walk, walk, walk. I am an RN and ive taken care of alot of patients after surgery. Take your pain meds because you need your rest and pain stresses the body. It's rough at 1st but it'll get better. I used a belt and put it around my foot so i could gently pull up to try and bend. IT HURTS but you must try and bend. I developed scar tissue like right away and had to go back and he broke that up and it helped considerably. My PT was the day after. Slow and easy but the goal is to keep it moving and work on bending.

Hi mary, i know its hard...think thats why drs dont go into too much on the pain during recovery but i will say -take the time to search for CHICO MARX he has excellent advice and not sure if i read you correctly but i did my exercises at least 3x a day - never missed i had pt come to my house 3x a week for the first 3weeks starting on day 4 this was how my ortho did things it was my only focus for that first month : rest, elevate leg, ice and exercise i'm 3 years out with no problems but it took me 8 weeks to feel somewhat normal you will get better but i know at this time, that doesn't seem possible - hang in there and nothing wrong with crying-i cried at least once a day

Hi Mary,

I think we have all been where you are!

it took me 3.5 months to reduce strong painkillers and 6 moths to feel an improvement in mobility of new knee and to be able to sleep for longer!

Now I am 10 months down the line and on the waiting list for the other knee! My new knee is now the lead leg as the pain I get in the other is crippling!

Hang on in take it a day at a time you will notice an improvement however small each week!

Hi Ho MARY - I am a year post op with interim surgery in JULY for a cement leak repair with new kneecap again and all is ok now. i can only agree with people who have mentioned CHICO and all his invaluable advice! He was such a great help to me xxx

Dear moderators - please sort this keyboard problem again.....re CAP etc.....you no sooner repair one problem and a new or even old one appears/ reappears.....system has been a nightmare for ages and we are all long suffering enough with our medical problems to keep putting up with your programming problems........thank you x

Hello Mary. I had my surgery the same day you did. I am a bit confused about why no MD follow up for so long? Didn't he need to remove staples or anything from the incision a couple weeks post op? As others have said, PT is so crucial for recovery. Another important thing is weight bearing. As others have said, check out Chico's previous posts for some great guidance. I am still taking some pain meds at this point, but much less than at the start. Hang in there and keep plugging away but do see if you can get into PT as soon as possible. This is my second TKR so I promise things will get better if you keep working. As a RN I strongly recommend that you do NOT use a swimming pool, hot tub or even bath tub soak until at least 6 weeks post op Way too high of a risk for infection before then, which I am sure you do not want to deal with. Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing. 😃