Knee replacement (TKR) scheduled for first week of July

[Sawfish]

Best of luck on your continued recovery.

 

[Mike Islander]

Best of luck on your continued recovery.

Thank you. Hard to believe surgery is less than two weeks away, since I just confirmed I needed it on Monday. I think COVID opened up a lot of spots.

 

[Sawfish]

I thing you are right about that. In fact, I was thinking the same thing. I see you are from the Low Country of SC. I always wanted to go there, and finally got the chance a few years ago on a handgun hunt. Did not kill a deer, but met some fine, and got to attend a Low Country Boil.

 

[Mike Islander]

I thing you are right about that. In fact, I was thinking the same thing. I see you are from the Low Country of SC. I always wanted to go there, and finally got the chance a few years ago on a handgun hunt. Did not kill a deer, but met some fine, and got to attend a Low Country Boil.

After my appointment they asked if I wanted to schedule the surgery "next week".

I moved to Charleston from San Diego when I was 19 and never left. Lots of happy people here, and I love the women. In fact I moved here after a roommate had his Charleston girlfriend out for a visit. Met my Charleston wife a couple of years after moving here and it will be our 36th anniversary this year.

 

[huntineveryday]

I'm a PT and work with knee replacements every week. If you're fairly active now and have full range of motion your recovery shouldn't be as bad as a shoulder or ACL surgery. Knee replacements can handle a lot more activity more quickly than other surgeries, but getting full knee range of motion back if you haven't had it for a year or two can be rough.

***Make sure you can straighten your knee all the way before you go in for surgery***, that motion is usually the more painful one to get back. Once you get full motion the strength comes back pretty quick. You have to wait for the injury to the bone to heal, that takes a little while.

Soreness is to be expected, but don't push through that to pain. Your mantra for a couple months should be "uncomfortable, not painful" when it comes to stretches, exercise, and returning to normal activities.

 

[Mike Islander]

I'm a PT and work with knee replacements every week. If you're fairly active now and have full range of motion your recovery shouldn't be as bad as a shoulder or ACL surgery. Knee replacements can handle a lot more activity more quickly than other surgeries, but getting full knee range of motion back if you haven't had it for a year or two can be rough.

***Make sure you can straighten your knee all the way before you go in for surgery***, that motion is usually the more painful one to get back. Once you get full motion the strength comes back pretty quick. You have to wait for the injury to the bone to heal, that takes a little while.

Soreness is to be expected, but don't push through that to pain. Your mantra for a couple months should be "uncomfortable, not painful" when it comes to stretches, exercise, and returning to normal activities.

Thank you for the advice. I was lucky and never lost full extension after ACL surgery. What I want to get back is to be able to do child's pose in yoga, where you are on your knees with your butt resting on your calf and heal. Do modern TKR implants allow that range of motion? In other words, is the full flexion limited by the implant or only by me? The Doc believes that my current limit (I can get my heal within 2" of my butt, but can't sit on it at all) is caused by impingement of the bones and the extra MCL that was added. He thinks I can get it all back.

Question 2: Are you saying that if I push to just below the pain threshold I can still restore ROM? I'm all for that.

Question 3: Riding a stationary bike was a huge part of my recovery last time. Is that a good tool post-op?

Thanks again,
Mike

 

[Backyard]

Mike, I'm not a PT, but as I stated earlier, I'm in recovery right now. I can answer your questions from my perspective and experience.
The yoga pose as it were: That is one of my goals also, I'm almost there now, I can just touch my heel with my glutes, and am starting to apply more of my body weight to it. So yes, but ya gotta work on it. Your body will definitely let you know when you've pushed too far
The bike: absolutely! I ride mine almost daily. In the beginning it really helped with the initial ROM, and now its the best for getting back into shape endurance wise as there is no impact on the knee. I warm up every workout/PT session on the bike.
Just my experience here tho. And my personal PT session have been cut short because of Covid back in March. So maybe Huntineveryday can add more to you questions.
Good Luck!

 

[Sawfish]

Very interesting. I moved from Louisiana to Orange County, CA in 1984 because of a California Girl that I met at a convention in Texas. We were married that year, and have been married 36 years.

 

[Mike Islander]

Very interesting. I moved from Louisiana to Orange County, CA in 1984 because of a California Girl that I met at a convention in Texas. We were married that year, and have been married 36 years.

Interesting! From 71-72 I lived outside of Sibley on Lake Bistineau.

 

[Sawfish]

Fished there many times. My Uncle lived on the south of Shreveport and we spent a lot of hours in his duck blind on Wallace Lake. I grew up in Monroe, and later lived in Alexandria. Small world.

 

[OHDeerHunter]

I've got a knee replacement surgery scheduled on 7/20 so I really like reading all the positive stories. I'm 42 but knees are, and have been shot for awhile now. Hoping that this will eliminate all the pain and I'll be able to get back some range of motion. Good luck with your surgery and recovery!

 

[Mike Islander]

I've got a knee replacement surgery scheduled on 7/20 so I really like reading all the positive stories. I'm 42 but knees are, and have been shot for awhile now. Hoping that this will eliminate all the pain and I'll be able to get back some range of motion. Good luck with your surgery and recovery!

Many thanks, and same to you. I'm riding my bicycle daily and exercising/stretching every morning.

 

[Mike Islander]

UPDATE: Had surgery July 2. First two days were rough, with typical post-op pains. I'm walking on a cain outside, but in the house I'm completely free walking. Literally brought tears to my eyes (and my wife's) when three days out I realized I could walk completely normally, with no limp.

Now doing in-house PT 3x a week. Added bonus that my PT is a brunette bombshell.

I walk without any hint that anything was ever wrong. Taking ROM slow but steady. All the PTs here were right; definitely easier than my shoulder or ACL surgeries.

 

[Fullfan]

Good to know you are up and moving. Odd how each surgeon makes their cuts in different places. Mine is directly over the center of my knee.

Keep moving and fight trough the discomfort. Stretch more than you think you should. And not going to sugar coat anything, I had pain for the first 4-5 months. But my TKR was from a vehicle accident where my femur went through my knee. Good luck in the recovery....

 

[Mike Islander]

Good to know you are up and moving. Odd how each surgeon makes their cuts in different places. Mine is directly over the center of my knee.

Keep moving and fight trough the discomfort. Stretch more than you think you should. And not going to sugar coat anything, I had pain for the first 4-5 months. But my TKR was from a vehicle accident where my femur went through my knee. Good luck in the recovery....

Thank you for sharing your experience. The offset cut is because he reused the first scar so I would only have one.

 

[Ross]

Excellent and glad to hear the good news

 

[Backyard]

So how's the knee Mike? Hopefully everything went as planned.

 

[Mike Islander]

So how's the knee Mike? Hopefully everything went as planned.

UPDATE: 8 weeks out. Been doing physical therapy three times a week. Probably the most important thing to do. Just shifted to twice a week this week. Hit 120 degrees of flex today. Extension is about -1 (hyperextended 1 degree), which is fantastic. No more work to do on extension. My flex goal is to hit my butt with my heel when kneeling, so I think I have about 15 degrees to go on flex. But with 120 I can do everything normally without issue or discomfort.

Walking normally as if nothing was ever wrong, and only the slightest soreness after a full day of hard work. Carrying 50 lb sacks of salt and climbing on and off the forklift at work with no problems. Next step is to put one of those sacks in my pack and do a few miles.

Thanks again to all who offered advice and encouragement.

 

[Ross]

Excellent recovery keep up the good work and glad to hear it

 

[huntineveryday]

Glad to hear it, have a great season!