I've been thinking hard about this...I had a TKR 3 months ago, as many of you know. BUT...I don't realy think I have come to terms with the 'is it really part of me?' syndrome.
I don't really 'trust' it, like I would have the original knee (even thought hat was duff)....And I have to be honest, doesn't actually feel like it's part of me...
Am I going nuts or do other people feel this way?
hello peter
yes I totally agree - I could come to terms with a big chunk of plastic in my body- that is why I have gone down the injection route first to to if I can get away without having a TNR
I have two friends who have had TNR and they still feel the same as you do but maybe as time passes it my become a thing in your distant past memory.
I wish you all the best anyway
jude
Thank you Jude....I was secretly worried about it not being part of 'me' before the op, but kind of dismissed it.
I think if the pain and discomfort and lack of 'normality' as added to this feeling. Had it been a few weeks of discomfort and being back to 'normal' would have been fine, but it's dragging on now, and very frustrating...
As you know, I am 6 weeks or so behind you. I know exactly what you mean lol. It just doesn't feel the same or quite as though it's me .it still hurts less than the old one did .
and I really want to see an X-ray of it , to make it seem part of me . Guess we are both nuts lol how are doing, any better?
No, you're not going mad. Only today, I described my new knee as 'an alien being' to my Physio. She said it would take at least a year for it to feel part of me.
It is, after all, a piece of plastic and metal. Whole new meaning to having 'implants'!
Just managed to get in the bath for the first time in 9 weeks. Getting in OK. Getting out not a pretty sight!
Lynn, I was thinking the other night, I wonder if this alien in my body is stopping me sleeping .lol
Hi Pete,
It's funny you should bring this up, or say it "out loud" what people think but feel they are the only ones who think that.
I'm in week 5 of my TKR, much earlier than you, but I still have times when I just can't wrap my head around the fact I have metal & plastic in my knee. I also feel a sense of loss, like a part of me was removed & replaced with this foreign material. I too, feel it's not a part of me.
Hopefully in time we will start to embrace our new knee, especially if it enables us to do things we used to do, without agonizing pain.
Thanks for bringing up thoughts like that. It's always nice to know we are not alone in our weird thinking 
BTW I really enjoyed reading your blog. You are a great writer with a wonderful sense of humor. Do you write for a living?
Betty
Hi Pam...I'm back at work now, and thank goodness not in a physically demanding job....I'm still having a nightmare sleeping....Last night I woke with discomfort and pain at 2:00am...and didn't go back to sleep...Off to work at 8:00am for an 8 hour day....So it's not brilliant...
As I said, it doesn't feel part of 'me'...and I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that, that notion is part of the problem.
I have a picture of my knee taken the day after the operation...I don't suppose yours will be any different...it's on my 'blog' if you've seen it. I can't post the address publically, but if you private message me I'll send you the link (click the little envelope thingy just below my name on here)
Oh, I'm pleased yu dot a bath...isn't it 'bliss'???.....Yeah I know it's a struggle to get in and out, but worth it...
Yes, I did see it, but that's yours not mine lol, I see my surgeon next week, so I will ask to see mine . That's when decisions need to be made about having the next one
Awwwwww.that's a really nice post Betty...thank you...No I don't write for a living....But I do enjoy writing (secretly)....I never really have a 'plan' for writing, I just sort of 'wing it'...whatever comes into my mind flows out...Dunno how it works really....I wrote a short thing about making beds a while back...it sounds boring, but would have you in stitches...I just know it....
Hi Pete,
Your post did make me laugh!!
Iam 5months TKR, and i still call my knee 'it', it doesnt feel weird anymore but i know im am concious of it everyday!! I understand the trust thing though, i constantly have a fear of falling over when i walk, almost as if it will give way or come loose, but i know its a hangup i have. I work in procurement in a hospital and prosethesis are part of what we stock, and i know how robust they are but i still have that feeling about them, i have no pain like before in my knee i just have this 'false' feeling!!
PS i read your diary on your blog, could understand some it as i went through the same, i could of had spinal but refused point blank, and am so glad i did, my recovery was ok albeit probably longer than you, but at thr time i didnt care how long i would be in hospital for just as long as i couldnt hear anything.
Pegs
Would love to read it! Is this about making beds after TKR??
Hi Pam,
Incidentally, you said you were going to ask the surgeon if you can see the x-ray. I found I had to be quite firm about asking (I suppose it depends on who you see, and what sort of rapport you have with them), but I found they're a bit reluctant to say the least, especially as I wanted to take a picture of it with my phone. Just a 'heads up' (hate that phrase )
I can only ask .. I just did the ice bucket challenge so feeling good about myself lol
Did you retain some of the ice for your knee?...hahaha
Incidentally, I sent you a Private Message on here
Yes, still have some ice, I only wanted cold water but my grandson insisted that would not be fair so in went the ice lol. I haven't seen a private message , or I don't know where to look
ooops...my apologies, I sent it to Betty, and not you...She wanted to read the bedmaking story I wrote....
You find the messages at the top right of the screen...just click where it says 'messages'....
Send it to me too
I would but I can't send it on here...I'd need to email you...That's why I Private messaged betty, to give her my email address...I'll PM you with my details