I've just found this chat room... thank goodness.. I thought I should be walking normal by now.. do my exercises , go to PT twice weekly, and ice regularly. Nobody prepared me for a long recovery, or I just didn't believe it...I'm still lurching around the house, tired and quite often in pain..
The real problem is I keep thinking I should be doing better.. such a relief to read how others are handling all this.. and I will have quite a few questions at my next doctors appointment!!!
Yep tiny steps is my experience.
Need to be persistent with exercises and reduced expectations.
Improvements will come slowly
Found TKR operation most demanding surgical procedure that I have had to date.
Good luck
"I thought I should be walking normal by now..." Really? At three weeks? When almost all of us are unconscious or writhing in pain? You need to level-set your expectations...honestly. THIS TAKES A YEAR!!!
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-tkr-recovery-bell-curve--563756
If you're lucky enough to be on the far left side of the curve then you lucked out. Yes, we had a guy who was back to mountain climbing at 13 weeks but he's probably dead. You're tired because all the energy in your body is being directed to healing the knee. You will be exhausted for some time to come.
"The real problem is I keep thinking I should be doing better." You have to stop thinking like that. There are no calendars, timers or EXPECTATIONS!!! You have to commit to your own personal recovery no matter how long that takes. Everything else is a Jedi Mind Trick!!! Be Zen: "I'll be better when I'm better."
It's really tough to give up a mind set but this recovery demands it. There's no other option. You take it slow and easy because if you don't, the knee swells up and you're back in bed. At 5 weeks, I did 8,200+ steps one day on my FitBit...that night the knee looked like a hot-air balloon. Never made that mistake again. Always tracked my steps every day.
Wrote this a while back...still applies...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-tkr-experience-or-wish-i-had-another-kidney-stone--524499
I'm at 14 months, age 69 and I'm still not done. Spine surgery interrupted my recovery so now it's back to the gym to finish it once and for all. We all have our challenges. Let go of your expectations and experience your recovery. It will make you stronger...
Well done! A lot of sadness is caused by thinking you should be doing better! Ban the word "should" as much as possible. Your knee will be the one telling you when out it is ready, and bed kind to it and listen!
Hi dqlynn!
I kept a journal and recorded all my thoughts, my progress, my concerns, and my feelings each day from the day of surgery onward. It was a HUGE help to read previous entries and to actually realize how far I had come!
It became somewhat of a report card for me, allowing me to measure my physical and emotional condition and sense of humour as well!
I would encourage myself regularly and TRY to remember that I was the caretaker of a body that had gone through a very traumatic experience.
Like you I was surprised at how long everything was taking to get back to normal. EVERYTHING required thought and preparation in the early stages of recovery!
We need to learn how to walk all over again. Physical therapists are good at breaking down a process into tiny steps so that we can relearn things like walking and balancing that we haven't had to practice since we were about a year old and learning those skills for the first time!
Patience is not a trait we humans seem to have. We want everything to happen just as we picture it in our minds. It gets frustrating when thought and reality isn't a match. Believe me, you are right on in expecting one thing and getting another when it comes to knee replacement recovery!
Yes, it DOES take quite awhile. That's because there is so much that needs to heal. Bones, muscles, nerves, skin...LOTS to deal with for sure!
Go at your own pace.
Work hard at the physical therapy sessions.
Give yourself permission to rest when you are tired.
Pat yourself on the back for each and every bit of progress.
Be patient.
Soon you will be walking like a champ, sleeping better, feeling more like yourself, and enjoying being free of that awful pain you probably had prior to surgery.
We are here in solidarity with you. Glad to have you with us!❤️
TKRs June and October 2015
Hi, still such early days. I don't think I'm the only one that felt a huge difference at 6 weeks post op. Everything seemed to be a lot better, pain, weepy days and positive attitude.
Keep doing your physio, little but often did it for me. Don't push yourself until you feel excruciating pain but just to the feeling of a pull.
I'm now 14 weeks post TKR tomorrow and most days, and I say most as some are still not good, are a lot better. I still have swelling especially if I stand or sit for too long. My knee is still hot but apparently both are normal until for as long as 12 months so try and be patient.
I know that just knowing everything is normal made me feel so much better mentally, so this forum is just what I needed.
We all heal at different rates so just do what your body can manage and remember that you've had probably the most painful and invasive surgery there is so everything takes time to heal .... sleep when your body tells you to!
It's helpful to read your perspectives, as you are 14 weeks and I am 7 weeks! I know we are all different but it still helps!😊
My goodness, you were optimistic LOL! I thought I was an optimist, but never hoped recovery would be that fast LOL! I was told by the hospital that at three weeks I'd go from crutches to sticks LOL! I managed it just before then and very quickly went from two sticks to one, to none but my recovery was VERY fast compared to most. I think you might just be pushing it too much. Just read on here and you'll see how well you're doing!:-)))) But we all recover at our own pace, so everything is normal:-)))
Yep we all thought we'd be moving about, bit of time off work, a rest & back to normal in no time! I thought I'd be back at work at 6 weeks. Lol
Nobody really prepares you for TKR surgery, you just have to get through it! With humour & patience & all the hard work in terms of exercise, icing & elevating & resting! You will!
Do not compare yourself to ANYONE else, do not EXPECT to be recovered in a length of time! For you now time is irrelevant, you'll be better when you're better!
Good luck
Marilyn
XX
I still use two crutches when walking outside as ny quadricep muscles are weak and sometimes give way. I use one crutch for short distances and have just started to walkvaroubd house without any support. I got very down when I started to feel I was "behind" what I should be, but I have realised that as long as moving in the right direction, it really doesn't matter.
Absolutely right. As long as it's all improving, then the speed doesn't matter! It's not a race, and you need to do as much as you can when you're ready to do it. Just enjoy those improvements and give yourself a pat on the back (and some chocolate if you're not on a diet like I am at the moment!). I really treated myself freely in those early days but didn't gain a huge amount of weight but then as I got on the exercise stuff again, it pretty much fell off, what I had gained. Just got 2lb to lose before I see the surgeon and team for the next knee for the pre-op on 15th May, when they'll weigh me and I'll be about the same, or maybe quite a bit less than when they weighed me for the last one!
As others will tell you.....rest is the key ingredient to recovery and hydration another. Surgeons and therapists talk mechanics but your body and brain talks reality. I've been through 11 surgeries and 30 rounds of radiation. I have had to go through 5 complete rehabs and have learned much. When a therapist tells you to push yourself into pain and exhaustion he's talking from his education...when you finally tell them to shove it you're talking from the heart. At 3 weeks you should still be resting several times a day. You should have just gotten the stitches out and the soft tissue is just beginning to heal...nerves and damaged bone are way behind. If you were like most, you bled a lot and the body has to rebuild that loss. The anasthesia, no matter what form they used, will take time to exit the body. Scroll through or look for the brilliant, straightforward remarks from Chico Marx. The man speaks with the wisdom one gains from experience.
This is a great forum. Everyone has been through it so they are truly in a league of their own...now you are one of us and we'll push, carry or drag you to the finish line. Remember The words on the recovery room wall.....this is a .marathon, not a sprint. You'll find out things here that Dr's don't bother to tell you. Good luck and be slow and steady....6 months from normal will be in view...that is if carting a 3 pound hunk of foreign material around in you body can be classified as normal.
I am hoping when I get more active again to lose some more weight. If you don't lose the 2lb have they said they won't do it?😮
Yes Chico is right, this takes a year. Sorry if this seems an awfully long time to you at the moment but better to be realistic.
This does not mean you have to give up and let it get you down.
You should have been told how long recovery would tke before yu had the operation.
Yes ofcourse you will have quite a few questions to ask your doctor.
Make a list of them and take it with you so yu do not forget to ask them.
Take care and keep in touch
Sarah
Oh, no. I'm not close to any weight restrictions that some hospitals put on. The 2lb is purely my own goal, to get back to at least what I was when they weighed me for the first knee op. I don't want them to think I've been lazy since that one:-)))) I want to make a good impression LOL! I've a feeling by the 15th May I'll be a couple of lb under what I was before, even with a heavier knee LOL! I'm really getting into the exercise more now. My husband was gobsmacked to hear I'd been on his cross trainer while he was out LOL! He keeps telling me not to overdo it and wear out the new knee, but the stuff I'm doing isn't jolting it, but it's developing the muscles to support it.
With these good exercise habits we will have lighter bodies to go with our lighter hearts!
Absolutely!:-))))
I am 3 weeks tmrw too. I thinks exactly as you do, I should be doing better but this forum is teaching me not to compare myself to others. I have my second PT session tmrw and dreading it. My issue is swelling. I ice and elevate but as soon as I do my exercises it swells like a balloon. I think the knee length stockings are making it worse. Does anyone else have knee length? Mine come to just below knee and so swelling starts at knee. Someone has suggested asking for thigh length stockings. Any thoughts? Also is it worth buying a second hand exercise bike?
I just corresponded with a guy getting his TKR in two weeks. His doc told him that he'd be back at work in three months. Was he surprised by reality!!! Told him to get the doc's guarantee in writing for the inevitable lawsuit.
People just don't understand how long and painful this is. Yes, there are the lucky few who sail right through it...but most of us have to take it slow and easy.
And just think...I still have one more knee to go!!!! Maybe I'll get hit by a bus before I really need to do it...
Here's your post-PT exercise plan to rebuild all that leg and core strength...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/post-tkr-exercising-565527
A freebie from my daughter...the Pro...