So I realize everyone's journey is different, but after scouring websites and listening to my physical therapist, the consensus seems to be I should be walking several blocks with no walking aids at this point. And after 4 weeks I should be walking a half mile. I use a cane everywhere I go, which at this point is a very short walk to the mailbox each day and to PT twice a week. Yes I walk around my 900 square foot apartment, and I do have 15 stairs to climb going in and out of my 2nd floor apartment. But there is no way I could do a block, let alone a half mile. After showering, getting dressed, putting shoes on, going down the stairs, walking out to the mailbox, back up the stairs and taking off my shoes, I'm literally exhausted. I grab my ice pack and collapse on the couch with my feet up as high as possible. After 30 minutes I get up from the couch and my knee is so stiff I can barely move.
I'm faithfullly doing my prescibed PT home exercises twice a day. I elevate my feet above my nose at least twice a day, apply ice at least 4-5 times a day for 30 minutes and slowly weening off pain meds. If I try to walk without my cane I'm still limping. My knee is so stiff it takes me 5 minutes to get out of bed in the morning.
I'd love to hear about everyone's experiences with timeframes on being able to walk with no aids and distances.
You are right where you need to be doing exactly what you should be doing. You are trying and your body is responding to your limits. Very well written post too!
Hi lovee. I was still using a stick up to 3 months ago. I am 15 months post op both knees replaced.I have balance issues which are slowly improving. Rest is just as important as exercise. Walk as much as you feel you can do and put your feet up. This is not a race. Some folks give advice from textbooks. If one has not been a victim of knee surgery then one does not know how awful one can feel. 25 days post op I was still a mess.Hobbling around the kitchen, doing as much as I could. I wore myself out keeping up with stupid expectations. Do your PT exercises. Walk as little or as much as you can manage. Ride a stationery bike, walk in a warm water pool when scar is healed, then rest, eat clean, hydrate, manage your weight and try to laugh about all the crap you've been through. Hugs from here. x
Good to hear you are doing so well. As you have stated, by the time you complete your daily routine your body is saying "enough". Thats one very strong message. Go with it. Its still very early days and as for whats "normal" in terms of distance and reliance on aids, everyones different. Your journey is exactly that-your journey. Comparisons can often bring us unstuck. Stick with what you are doing. On the days you feel like extending, do so but be mindful-small steps each day will lead to a much smoother journey. I was still using an aid when walking distances at twelve weeks. At that stage I was lucky to make half a mile. Now at twenty one weeks, I comfortably walk two mile, three times a week-unaided. Every little while I stop, stretch the calf muscles, proceeding while being conscious of correcting my gait. After ten years of limping Im learning to walk again. How your recovery pans out will depend on how long your pre existing condition extended along with age, other health issues, mental outlook etc. By the sounds of it, you are doing well-take care and above all, be kind to yourself.
Thanks Lyn! Your reply made me feel better. I can't imagine how you managed to have have both knees done at the same time. I feel queasy just thinking about it. I do use an elliptical bike at outpatient PT but otherwise don't have access to one, and no place to even put one in my small apartment. I've heard using a warm water pool is excellent threrapy but again I have no access to a pool and definitely can't afford a gym membership. After our heat wave is over in a few days (93F, 34C) I will make myself walk further than the mailbox. No excuses! LOL!
Oh my goodness Sue! 10 years of limping? Were you going for a world record? 20 months of pain and limping was more than I could bare. Sounds like you are doing very well now. I would love to be walking 2 miles comfortably in another 4 months. I'm 56 but my body has felt more like 76 over the last couple years. Thanks for your story as it gives me encouragement, motivation but reasonable expectations.
Hi again terise. You have a great attitude dearie. You are going to be mighty fine in time. It is the hardest thing (and I was silly to have both done because I was impatient!) I have ever undergone and to come out of it better than prior is a big achievement by all of us and the amazing surgical teams we engaged. Be kind to yourself. You are all you have! x
Hey Chico! No, I don't have those expectations. Just seems to be what I'm finding when I do research and talk with my PT. And yeah, I like to know where I land on the bell curve. I'm always looking at statistics, no matter what the subject is. One of my guilty pleasures in life....LOL! Thanks for the links to your posts. I've read them all and found them very helpful.
I've been through rehab 5 times an d fortunately was never told to walk to the point of feeling comfortable.
I happen to enjoy growing flowers. I've always had problems getting a couple varieties to grow and bloom all summ. A couple years ago a very nice lady with a beautiful garden told me a little secret..I was over watering. Personally, I think many PT's are overwatering their patients with PT. They give you a printed outline of a schedule then they start the insurance company justification program. They have to show validation for progress. No progress and you are out the door. You are an individual....an entity of one. You will heal like your body allows, not like the person that was operated on before or after you. Do the exercises properly, rest and that means sleep, Whenever you can. Hydrate, the body will not heal properly or quickly without water...
Lots of water. Stay on meds as long as you need them. You can't excercise properly when you are hurting.
At 4 weeks you are just starting this journey. I dnt know If your dr was honest but it takes a year. Don't make yourself feel like you are doing something wrong because someone says you shouldn't be using some form of assistive device.
Go slow. Walk properly: heel, ball, toe and bend. When you are comfortable you'll start leaving the cane set in the corner.
Yes terise, ten years!!but not by choice. A bad fall at the age of fifty three left me with one knee hampered by a string of issues. Too young for a knee replacement they said so I learnt to live with the consequences. Another fall late last year (caused by same knee giving way) lead to my current status. Now its onwards and upwards. Everyday more positive than the last.
You will not know where you fell under the curve until you are done with the rehab (ROM, strength training, stair climbing, no pain, no walking aids, etc.)...in other words, virtually normal again. I'm at 15 months and can do two stairs at a time, zero pain, no meds, cane, etc. I fell right in the middle...it took a year to feel close to "normal" again. Now I don't even think of it...well, except when it "clunks" or I kneel on it. Other than having to complete the strengthening of quads, glutes and core, I came through it OK...though it did NOT seem that way at the beginning. People need to expect that it will take that year to complete everything. If you are done sooner than that, then you're one of the lucky ones. Just remember to give yourself time to heal...in your body's own time. The head doesn't matter...Jedi mind tricks. Take it slow. Too fast and the knee swells up...typical reaction to overwork. Be your own best friend and listen to your knee...
Your absolutely right everyone's journey is different. I think you sound like your pushing yourself to exactly what your capable of at the moment. What on earth is the point in walking a couple of blocks and then not being able to move due to extreme exhaustion? I would say do what you are doing but add that extra couple of steps until u are completely comfortable with that process yourself then add a few more. When you do this in your head treat it as a mini victory "to you personally" that boost will then give you the determination to carry on. I'm now 11 days out on meds 2 sticks and can now walk to the end of my road. If you had asked me to do this a week ago I would have said you were mad so treat every day as a new day
Gosh, at three weeks I could manage a ten minute walk, with two crutches! I decided I wanted to lessen the pressure on the joint and my physio encouraged use of two crutches to ensure no bad gait habits. I neverI limped once. My quads didnt come into action for several weeks so keeping the support was helpful and important in my case i think. It certainly reduced pain and pressure. It was stressed to me that range of motion was more important than walking in the early weeks. Until muscles supporting the joint have improved. Gradually I increased my walking but always with two crutches and then walking poles, apart from in the house, where I did start to come off supports gradually at around six weeks.
How much walking you should be able to do is a very personal thing. I wonder how much you were walking before the operation . . In my case, not much at all. By six weeks I was walking about 2 kms a day, but still using sticks, as my surgeon said to use them for the full six weeks, and concentrate on getting the walking movement right, after a long time walking with no bend at all . . Please don't worry about the expectations of PT's and doctors. You are an individual with individual problems and strengths. Just keep doing what is comfortable, and a little bit more, and you'll be fine.
Oh, and by the way I said I was doing 2 kms at six weeks, which is true, because I had miscalculated and thought I was only doing one kilimetre. I wondered why it took me so long! anyway, when I went back for the six week appointment with the surgeon he said it was too much, and to reduce it! Being lazy by nature, i did as I was told!