Scars are getting less red, with LEFT one clearly ahead of RIGHT one.
Sleeping well, walking well, forgetting about my knees which I thought would never happen.
Icing not needed. Swelling very minimal.
Taking Ibuprofen as needed. Noticed I had forgotten to take any for 13 hours the other day!
Weather effects arthritis in OTHER parts of my body. I find that my knees are two joints that DON'T HURT while other joints are causing pain. Are they just seeking attention????!!!!
Can shop, shovel the driveway, be on my feet baking and cooking, and feel normal again without terrible pain and aches.
Require more sleep than in the past. The body still healing? Trying to play catch-up after YEARS of interrupted sleep?
Legs still get stiff if in one position too long. I still need to keep moving to stay flexible.
Very very glad I had my two TKRs. Looking forward to spring when I am going to try to resume walking in my neighborhood again, gradually building up my distance as I did MANY YEARS AGO before all my knee pain sidetracked me!
Very grateful for this site! I have gotten so many wonderful tips and learned what to expect from so many here!
To those in the early stages following surgery...keep at it. Be confident. Listen to your body. It gets easier.
So good tohear from you with all the positive stuff. I remem we when you questioned wheather you would ever walk again. What the hell are you doing shoveling walks. ? A slip and fall at this stage could be devastating. Be positive but done over do it
Glad to hear it and it sounds familiar to me although I have TKR pending on the other knee. I am looking forward to getting to where you are now. I am dreading going back to the start but I hope that in another 6 or 7 months i will be where you are now.
I don't doubt that all being well I will follow the same route as I did with the first knee. I will probably not see a physio and I will do a few exercises twice a day and gently work on bending and stretching throughout the day where possible and I'll take a walk everyday. I won't beat myself up about degrees of knee bend and I won't expect to be over it in a month!
Hi Cheryl, it's great that you are now doing so well and your comments are such a joy to all of us at various stages of recovery. I wish you continued good health and carry on the good work. Well done. Kind regards Jannette
True, I COULD fall shoveling, but I usually have been the one to shovel these last 40 years, so I just DID IT! My neighbor, Phyllis, also does HER driveway. She had her knees replaced for the second time five years ago. Her husband had a heart attack ten years ago, so she took over then. My husband has issues with pheriphial neuropathy and vertigo, so it is much easier for me to get going on the driveway.
Each thing that I can do successfully that I had trouble doing before is SUCH a victory!
Yes, I thank God every day that I can walk! I DO remember wondering if I WOULD be able to ever do many of the things I can now do again.
I promise that I will be careful. Thank you for being concerned!
How have you been feeling with these storm systems popping in and out of the Midwest? Achy days for my shoulders, HIPS, lower back, fingers, elbows, but MY KNEES are GREAT!😊
Tell your wife "Hello" for me, and tell her I said that she's one lucky woman to have you by her side!
Hi Tracey!
Yes, once you know what's coming, it is a bit daunting to jump into it for a second time! For me, though, I was in such pain I focused on how much better I was GOING TO BE once that bad knee was made new again.
Also, once my first was done, it was my "GOOD Leg", and my other one was my " BAD" leg! My second one was holding my newly-surgical-knee back and making me want success with BOTH knees.
I focused on all the positives and on progress made. Keeping a journal has been helpful because I can see where # 1 was after a week and compare it with # 2. It is like a little competition, and honestly, #2 is even doing better than #1 was doing at the same time post surgery.
It REALLY feels good not to be in such agony, and I wish that for everyone here!
You will do great! You have a good attitude on things, and you will be pleased you took care of business with your # 2!
Thanks so much, Jeannette! This site is all about people helping people, and especially people INFORMING people!
Hearing other's stories of surgery, recovery, treatments, products, and exercise regimens has taught me SO MUCH!
It is interesting to hear what's happening with everyone from pre-surgery all the way to years post-surgery.
What a ride we all are on!😮
In just three months it will be A YEAR focusing on the PAIN, x-rays, doctor visits and eventual surgery then NEXT surgery! I had no idea how consuming two knees could be!
Wishing you success with YOUR story and the joy of less pain!
Thanks Cheryl, My other knee was always the worst one anyway. It is badly bent and after 7 months of taking the strain it is really painful. I am so tired of lumbering along with a limp.
Just want to get in there now and get it over with and get the healing started. Fingers crossed it goes as well as the first one. That was a good 5/6 months before i really began to believe it was a good thing but i think lots of us on here have been through that and some of us are still struggling. The surgeon i saw recently said that 18 months or so was a more realistic expectation for recovery so I hope that gives some hope to those of you who are still in the "what have done!" phase of recovery.
My second knee was my worst knee. I expected lots of trouble from it after surgery. I was VERY pleasantly surprised that right out of the gate it moved better, felt better and out- performed #1 even in the recovery room! Maybe you will experience this as well.
My surgeon told my husband after surgery that he could tell that I "had been in a world of pain" with that second knee. Maybe ANYTHING felt better than it HAD been! Either way, I was pleasantly surprised that something so painful for so many years could feel better right after surgery.
I hope you experience this, too!
Hi Chery,
very good to hear that all is positive so well done. I also have had two TKr's right knee in Feb 14 and left Sept 16 I now know that it is the best thing I have done even though the recovery is long and hard to be pain free is such a blessing! I first came on this site a few months back, when I was upset and frustrated because I couldn't walk without a stick! But now I realise how weak my core was and needed much improved strength before I could return to my former self, running marathons etc! Actually it was the running that ruined my knees, the constant impact of running on streets rather than grass. Well those days are long gone ( I'm 68) and now just long to be able to walk my two beautiful Italian spin ones again.
i really want to thank everyone on this amazing site for their support during my down time!
it seems from reading the different posts that every tkr is different , with different problems occurring .
I now have a personal trainer three times a week thanks to my wonderful dad who passed away and left me some money. I think doing all the hard work in the gym has helped me no end and it's still ongoing. At least now I can walk without a stick but for short periods of time, I drive do the shopping
and do most things I want to do, my knees now give me no pain at all but I greatly respect them and fully appreciate the NHS for giving me my knees!
so I wish every single person going through the trauma of recovery to take each day at a time and I think it was the wonderful old guy? That said Patience is what you have to have and accept and boy is he right!
take care everyone Lin xx
Very positive Cheryl & well done. I'm almost 4 months post revision - off meds completely now, can walk a mile before the stiffness comes in (then I straight leg back!) - sleep is better - stiffness when sitting etc etc - got on the floor to sort some CD's out for charity & couldn't get up yesterday....but overall a success (at last). I expect it to get better now month by month.....but after what I have been through for the past 16 months - I will hold on to my right knee a while longer!! You were very brave having them both done so close together! - Veronica, Cornwall UK
Hi Cheryl,
It's great news to hear you are doing so well. It gives us all hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The advice on this forum has been so helpful and to realise you are not alone.
My ROM hasn't improved, still stuck at about 78, so had a very down week. I sleep well, I've built the strength up in the leg doing lots of exercises but something is blocking the bend. Hopefully it will improve.
It's so encouraging to read your story, thank you.
So glad to hear that the personal trainer is a part of your recovery!
Yes, it IS so wonderful to have gotten rid of all the pain!
Wishing you continued progress!
Nice going, Veronica! Sleep, if you can get it, works wonders! Glad you have been able to get some sleep.
I actually couldn't WAIT to get # 2 done! I was in such agony from that not-yet-surgical knee that it was holding back my SURGICAL KNEE!
When it is time for #2, you will know it. Until then, enjoy your success with your new knee!
Hi Patricia!
Thanks so much for the kind words!
You mentioned your bend. How are you doing with your straightening? I continually work on bend and straightening, but I DO find that my practice straightening is what helps me the most to walk normally.
Apparently, for YEARS I was walking strangely due to compensating for my very painful knees. It was gradual enough that it just seemed normal. It was NOT normal!
My physical therapist spent a lot of time reminding me that I had been walking differently for a number of years, that it wasn't just a process of coming back from surgery. I was undoing YEARS of WALKING in a bent and compensating way. It all takes time.
Swelling interferes with bend. Also scar tissue development causes the knee to feel tight. Try easing into a stretch while having one foot on a step. This works because you have the railing right there to hold onto. Hold the stretch and release. Do this several times throughout the day. It helped me, and, since the steps are always there, there is no set-up to have to prepare.
Thank you Cheryl. I don't have a problem with straightening the leg but I do constantly stretch the quads if I'm sitting and when I'm in bed. I walk with a limp because it won't bend but I try to do the heel and toe walking.
The knee is still quite swollen and if I sit for more than half an hour it goes stiff. I took your advice to elevate it above the heart. I spend a lot of time stretching on the stairs and doing 'step ups' on the bottom step.
I know I've become a lot fitter and lost weight!
Thanks....I'll give her your mind thoughts. True, the storms have been coming and going but seems we are.sort of right in the middle and things have been a little more stable here than even a 100 miles one way or another. Everything is going pretty well.as far as the leg. I'm still in therapy once a week and finally got with the pain management dr. He put me on high dosage of gabepentin for the nerve pain in my lower leg and gave me a spinal injection for the hippain. Suddenly I picked up another 5 degrees so now at 115/0. Best ive been since the onset of the staph over 2 years ago. Leg is still weak but like my surgeon says, I'm fortunate to be walkng so I'll still be working to get stronger for a couple of years. I had to take a little time away to have my eyes defuzzed. Cataract surgery is absolutely the most amazing thing I've ever been through as far a quick results. In 10 days I'll get a new prescription for some minor correction and I'll be able to see like a youngster again. Right now I am using a cheap pair of over the counter glasses that she (the opthomllogist) have me and they are almost perfect as far as correction.. No doubt aboutit, we are living at the right time in history as far as medical science goes. No one gets out of this world alive but science is making it easier for us to take up space. Take care now
Hi Cheryl, you send such positive vibes out to everyone! While I'm a couple months behind you on eack knee respectively I also am so glad I 've had my replacements done.
I spend a large portion of my day exercising and I still have a somewhat painful, tight band above my newest knee but I also see glimmers of my life pre knee issues. It was warm the other day and I went outside, walked around the yard without a cane and picked up fallen branches. What's the big deal? I haven't been able to walk on a non paved surface for over a year! We don't realize what we take for granted. I'm looking forward to doing some light spring chores this year, pain free.
Thank you for being such a cheerleader for us all. There is a big light at the end of the tunnel and I'm heading for it (while, resting, icing, exercising, stretching 😀) and can't wait for the good weather to put my bionics through their paces.
What kind of nerve pain are you having in your leg. I have lateral jjoint pain at the fibular head. pain here with active flexion and extension and weight bearing with the knee in a bent position and numbness on the anterior lateral side of the upper half of my leg. I am worried about entrapment of the peroneal nerve. Anyone else delt with this?
Much of mine is a neuropathy type pain. ((like a million bee stings. Knee to foot). Internal swelling of the foot. The Dr's think its because of all the surgeries (11) on the leg and possibly some of it because of the nerve in the spine being pinched. I had a spinal injection a couple of days later and got some additional relief. My therapist pi v med up on the type pain I had and suggested the trip to the pain management Dr. I will be getting another injection in the next 10 days as it generally takes 2 or 3cover a couple of months to get max results. In the meantime, between the gabepentin and steroid injection 95% of that tingling pain in the lower leg and and foot is gone..