Chuckanuts Total Knee Replacement story

[Chuckanut]

Not driving after 6 weeks!!

About a week ago, I was telling my lady friend that I wanted to get into my car and take a short test drive in my neighborhood. I want to make sure that my right leg can react quickly enough in case of an emergency.

I had told me daughter to take the car to run some erands so it gets some use at least once a week. I get a call shortly after talking to my friend and she sounds very cautious. 'Dad, I've got some bad news'.

It seems that while the car was parked, some guy in an F150 backed out of his parking stall and bashed into a rear corner of my car. And I do mean bashed. This is not a fender bender. Nobody was in the car, so there were no injuries. I am very thankful for that.

But....

The frame is badly bent. The sheet metal and plastic bumper parts are seriously damaged. The trunk is badly bent. The repair shop was up to $10,000 in damage and they had not yet cut away enough sheet metal to see what else might need fixing. Alas, the insurance company is totaling the car. My wonderful 2012 Camry Hybrid will be a donor vehicle.

Just what I did not need while recovering from surgery.

 

[W2R]

Wow, Chuckanut! Congratulations! Do you realize how wonderful your progress seems to someone in their second week of recovery, like me? Grocery shopping? Getting rid of toilet riser? Stationary bike? Sleeping on either side? Simply amazing. You are doing wonderfully! And the best part, is that your recovery is still continuing.

Sorry to hear about your car.

 

[Moemg]

So sorry about your car ! What a pain !

 

[aaronc879]

Not driving after 6 weeks!!

About a week ago, I was telling my lady friend that I wanted to get into my car and take a short test drive in my neighborhood. I want to make sure that my right leg can react quickly enough in case of an emergency.

I had told me daughter to take the car to run some erands so it gets some use at least once a week. I get a call shortly after talking to my friend and she sounds very cautious. 'Dad, I've got some bad news'.

It seems that while the car was parked, some guy in an F150 backed out of his parking stall and bashed into a rear corner of my car. And I do mean bashed. This is not a fender bender. Nobody was in the car, so there were no injuries. I am very thankful for that.

But....

The frame is badly bent. The sheet metal and plastic bumper parts are seriously damaged. The trunk is badly bent. The repair shop was up to $10,000 in damage and they had not yet cut away enough sheet metal to see what else might need fixing. Alas, the insurance company is totaling the car. My wonderful 2012 Camry Hybrid will be a donor vehicle.

Just what I did not need while recovering from surgery.

The new Camry Hybrids are exceptional. I would buy one but the only problem I am aware of with the car is a lack of leg room for very long-legged people like me. There wasn't acceptable room for my right knee. Hope you find a car that is a good replacement for your old one.

 

[Potstickers]

I am also sorry about your car.
Since you will be in the market for another car, are you considering trying out some different vehicle styles? I have not had a TKR, but I have noticed that my knee and hip are happier in SUV-style vehicles that have me sitting higher relative to the gas/brake.

 

[Chuckanut]

I am also sorry about your car.
Since you will be in the market for another car, are you considering trying out some different vehicle styles? I have not had a TKR, but I have noticed that my knee and hip are happier in SUV-style vehicles that have me sitting higher relative to the gas/brake.

You are quite right. That thought has entered my mind that I might need a more upright vehicle with goodnlegroom.

 

[Chuckanut]

Part 18 - Fighting for Rom

Part 18 – Fighting for ROM

I am currently into my 7th week since the TKR Surgery.

Range of motion (ROM) continues to be a struggle. Each additional degree is hard fought with exercise on my part and the gentle aid of the therapist. My therapist got me to 110 degrees earlier this week, but only with a lot of massage, warm-up and a bit of a push on her part. I can comfortably go to maybe 100 degrees. 105 degrees if I really push it myself after a good warm-up.

Swelling is slowly going down. Very slowly. As I sit at the dining room table typing this, I can feel my leg slowly swell from the knee to the foot. But, it is definitely better than three weeks ago. Still it seems to be preventing me from bending my leg easily. And the recliner is the only chair I can sit comfortably in for long periods of time. Walking is so much nicer that sitting.

I am going to experiment this weekend with stretching out my exercises over most of the day, rather than doing them in two one hour spurts each day. Perhaps that will reduce the stress on the knee and the swelling.

I now sleep through the night without needing meds at bedtime or during the night.

I finally drove this week (not my car thanks to an inadequately insured F150 driver who totaled it a few weeks ago. Just what I didn’t need. Grrrrrr……). And, I am now walking 6,000-7000+ steps a day with no device needed. Total miles, inside and out, are 2-3+ miles per day.

A few days ago, my other knee, the ‘good’ one, was aching going down stairs, so I gave the main support job to the surgical knee. It struggled a bit, but eventually took me down 6 steps with less pain than the ‘good’ knee. I now make it a habit to walk upstairs normally with nothing to assist me (other than holding the railing for safety). Also, I walk downstairs one step per leg, using my cane to take some of the pressure off the surgical knee.

I’m starting to feel close to where I was the day before surgery. It’s easy to forget that only a few months ago walking a few thousand steps more than I do now was a pain inducing experience. And that going downstairs was a guarantee of a sore knee for many hours to come. OTOH, I did not have the swelling I now live with 24/7. I think it’s OK to say I am getting very close to where I was the day before surgery. Not quite there yet, but close.

Four weeks ago, my home was my safe place. I did not want to leave it for fear of being stuck some place with a painful, uncomfortable knee and with no way to get relief. Today, I enjoy gong out on trips of 30 minutes to one hour. I can sit at a café table and have a glass of wine with a friend without my knee troubling me after 15 minutes. Life is becoming good again.

Believe it or not I want more of this guy for my knee!

 

[omni550]

Chuckanut,

Sounds like you're making great progress...slow but steady. Keep it up!

And I like how you compare your current status to that of pre-surgery, it gives us a good feel for how far you've come. You've now drawn about even after 7 weeks and any further gains will definitely be in the plus column!

omni

 

[W2R]

Chuckanut, what terrific progress! 6000-7000 steps per day is more than a lot of people can manage even without knee problems. Up and down stairs with both feet, no need of meds to sleep at night, and putting most of your weight on the surgical knee when going downstairs? These are simply stellar accomplishments IMO.

The ROM stalling out is simply due to swelling; I am convinced that you are right about that. And the swelling is probably due to the fact that you are working your knee more now than you did prior to surgery (since it can now do more), so it is protesting. At some point, you and your knee will come to some sort of agreement and eventually swelling will just stop being a problem as you continue in your recovery.

Also, since you are very close now to where you were before surgery, every bit of improvement from here on out will be an improvement in your daily life.

Congratulations on your determination and resulting progress!

 

[Chuckanut]

Well, here's old Chuck happily [-]cruising[/-] walking through week 7 on the way to week 8, when from out of nowhere......

I looked at my knee one morning and saw a pea sized ball of puss coming out of the last scab on my incision.

Thankfully, due to a fluke in the doctor's schedule, I got to see the Dr within a few hours. He suspected a stitch abscess. He cleaned out the wound and did not find a stitch to remove. He thinks the stitch dissolved but left a open space underneath the skin. This space fills with fluid that bacteria love. Apparently, stitch abscesses are not uncommon. But given the fear of infection in a new joint, it does give cause for concern. The doctor cleaned out the wound and gave me instructions for caring for it

Once a day I remove the dressing, squeeze a big glop of bacitracin onto the wound and put on a new dressing. I am also taking an oral antibiotic. The doctor thanked me for coming in promptly and not letting it fester into something worse.

 

[kgtest]

Lol, I have to laugh but I know it probably sucks bad. My ole man went through the TNR and he is still having issues...it keeps swelling to the point he needs it drained. SO half his life now he is walking around with an ice pack on it. And I don't think he's slept a full night since the first TNR surgery. Hang in there. take it easy, that is my dad's downfall.

 

[aaronc879]

Lol, I have to laugh but I know it probably sucks bad. My ole man went through the TNR and he is still having issues...it keeps swelling to the point he needs it drained. SO half his life now he is walking around with an ice pack on it. And I don't think he's slept a full night since the first TNR surgery. Hang in there. take it easy, that is my dad's downfall.

TNR? Did he have his neck replaced? Haha. Or did you mean TKR?

 

[W2R]

Well, here's old Chuck happily [-]cruising[/-] walking through week 7 on the way to week 8, when from out of nowhere......

I looked at my knee one morning and saw a pea sized ball of puss coming out of the last scab on my incision.

Thankfully, due to a fluke in the doctor's schedule, I got to see the Dr within a few hours. He suspected a stitch abscess. He cleaned out the wound and did not find a stitch to remove. He thinks the stitch dissolved but left a open space underneath the skin. This space fills with fluid that bacteria love. Apparently, stitch abscesses are not uncommon. But given the fear of infection in a new joint, it does give cause for concern. The doctor cleaned out the wound and gave me instructions for caring for it

Once a day I remove the dressing, squeeze a big glop of bacitracin onto the wound and put on a new dressing. I am also taking an oral antibiotic. The doctor thanked me for coming in promptly and not letting it fester into something worse.

Oh no!!! I'm glad you saw your doctor right away, though, and that he is taking care of it.

I had a similar scare today. I have had symptoms of an abscessed tooth for a few days, and mentioned it to my surgeon at our first post-op meeting today. He immediately put me on amoxycillin and told me to see my dentist ASAP because we don't want infection to spread to the new knee.

I called my dentist, who, as luck would have it, was headed out for a two week vacation in the morning. He graciously consented to see me at 8:30 tomorrow morning on his way out of town. I'll have to set an alarm for this one.

 

[kgtest]

Whoopsie. Spelling is hard hahaha. TKR. Knee, knee, knee

 

[Chuckanut]

Part 19 – Shoelaces signal a victory!

8 weeks since the surgery.....

A few more small victories on the long hard road to recovery.

Going downstairs on the surgical knee is now less painful than my other knee. In fact, I need to ask the doctor what he did that is turning my 'good' knee into my 'bad' knee.

When sitting at a dining room chair I can finally bring my foot up close enough to my fingers to just barely tie my shoes. Until that last week my fingers were about an inch to far away and I could not even touch the laces much less manipulate the.

I attribute this new flexibility to riding my stationary bike. It's a challenge at first to do one complete rotation. The quads don't want to stretch that far and some connective tissue is unhappy, but with gentle back and forth coaxing I can get them to agree. After the first few rotations, it is almost EZ. It's not good enough to take a long ride on a real bike, but it's progress.

I still ice the knee several times a day after exercise, walks and the stationary bike. That will go on for months more.

Thanks to all for the good thoughts, wishes and prayers. They are appreciated.

 

[W2R]

Chuckanut, congratulations!

How very COOL that your "good" knee is now your "bad" knee and vice versa! Oh I can only dream of the day although I, too, am making progress in the right direction. I can't make a complete rotation on a stationary bike yet, but my PT had me on it yesterday to stretch the surgical knee a bit by gently pushing to rotate the other pedal. A complete rotation doesn't seem too far away.

Tying my shoes has never been a problem in my case, probably due to my particular body configuration and flexibility of other body parts. I am still in awe of how easily and soon you were able to get onto and off of your bed right from the beginning (something that was very difficult for me for quite a while).

I love the way that we continue to notice little unexpected victories and improvements. This morning (29 days after surgery) I was almost able to put my full weight on my surgical knee! That's the knee that wouldn't bear more than 5 pounds before surgery. I am not yet standing on one foot like a flamingo with my non-surgical leg off the ground, but I think that could be possible later this week. Or maybe this afternoon.

 

[N02L84ER]

Congratulations, both of you, on the progress.

 

[Moemg]

8 weeks since the surgery.....

A few more small victories on the long hard road to recovery.

At some point you will not even notice your replaced knee . You are doing great !

 

[aja8888]

Chuck..let's hope that the old "good" knee doesn't turn out to be the "new" bad knee once the old "bad" knee becomes the "new" good knee!

 

[Chuckanut]

At some point you will not even notice your replaced knee . You are doing great ![/QUOTE]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25623519

It's called the Forgotten Knee syndrom and it is the gold standard for getting a new knee:

RESULTS:

Five hundred and eighty-four TKRs in 485 patients were included. Among the TKR, 91.6% were performed for severe osteoarthritis of the knee. FK frequency at a mean 75.8 months' follow-up was 42.9% while 86.1% of TKRs had excellent (KS Knee Score (KSKS)>80) or 34.9% perfect (KSKS=100) outcome. Only 66.1% of the 204 TKRs with perfect outcome on KSKS were reported as FK. Most patients achieved FK within 18 months.
CONCLUSION:

In this prospective study, 42.9% of TKRs were considered always forgotten in all everyday activities.

 

[Chuckanut]

Part 20 – Two months of recovery

Two months since the surgery.

I spent an entire morning and part of an afternoon, getting my home to be more normal. I just don’t need all the accommodations I made a few days before surgery. I also cleaned out several drawers and storage areas where I have been hoarding stuff I will probably never again have a use for. I hope the stuff can be useful to others.

I also started clearing up the clutter that has developed in my garage. No heavy lifting, but I managed to get some things boxed and organized.

One thing I have noticed is that as my walking becomes normal and I start doing things like shopping and visiting friends, people start to assume that I am ‘cured’. I have to gently remind them that I still get tired easily, my knee has lots of small pains, soreness and even a sharp pain now and then. It’s still swollen and tight most of the day. And, while walking up and down stairs is getting far better, carrying bulky things up and down stairs is still iffy.


Stretching, riding my stationary bike and walking are my preferred methods of PT. I now have the bike seat lower than when I was using it for cardio before the surgery. Even my non-surgical knee complained a bit when I lowered the seat last week. I am also making a point to walk on somewhat uneven surfaces, such as lawns and gravely paths. They add a bit of extra stretching that walking on level and even surfaces does not.

 

[W2R]

Chuckanut, congratulations - - you sound like you are doing wonderfully! Of course you do get tired easily, and your knee is still a bit swollen, and you have little pains now and then, but it's only been 2 months since your surgery. I think your progress has been terrific, and these more minor problems will vanish in time. Meanwhile your knee is good enough to do nearly anything you might want to do.

 

[MissMolly]

Way back when I was in my 20's I had gall bladder surgery. It was the full open you up and cut it out surgery - not the 3-hole surgery they do now. It was a good 6 months before I got my energy back. I can't imagine going through major surgery now at this age. Give yourself time. Day by day, it slowly comes back. I think you're doing great.

 

[scrinch]

Chuckanut I had my first TKR in October 2016 and my second on in October 2018. The first took about 11 months until I didn't think about it any more, and the second took about 6 months. This past summer (8 mos post-op) I backpacked almost 100 miles in the Sierras with a 40lb pack and had zero problems with them. I had initial stiffness and swelling problems with both knees post-surgery, but with time and exercise the problems went away. With the progress that you have made so far, I'm sure that you actually will be "cured" by next spring. That is, unless your new "bad" knee" needs replacing then!

 

[Chuckanut]

Part 21 – Better than Vegas! I finally break even

10 weeks post surgery

When I lived in So. Cal I went to Las Vegas a few times. I have always lost money there. Odd since most of the people I know who went their regularly always managed to ‘break even’. I guess the casinos are subsidizing the fun of their customers. What a great group of business owners! To bad they didn't like me as much as all those other people.

I have been hesitant to say this because there is so much unwarranted hype around knee replacement surgery and the supposed ease and quickness of recovery. But, I think I have reached the Breakeven Point. IOW, overall my knee is no worse off today that it was the day before the surgery.

I can do stairs OK, even carrying lightweight objects up and down. I can’t run up and down yet. Walking 1-2 miles is quite doable, though the knee will swell up and be sore. But, the soreness is not nearly as bad as it was three weeks ago. I can peddle my stationary bike with the seat actually lower than I normally would like, though I really feel it in the quads and assorted tissue surrounding the knee. They still don’t want to effortlessly stretch back and forth while I peddle.

However, none of the bad consequences of working the knee are as bad as the consequences I had working the pre-surgery knee. The only advantage the pre-surgery knee still has is that when I woke up first thing in the morning, it was usually ready to go – no pain, no swelling, and no stiffness. Of course, as I used the knee, that all came in huge amounts later in the day.

So this is the day I have been waiting for - 10 weeks of suffering and limited activity, tens of thousands of dollars spent, and my knee is now about the same overall as it was the day before surgery.

There is one big difference between the before-and-after knees. The before knee was going downhill at a steady if not increasing pace and there was no hope that would change. The after knee is slowly getting better, and there is much hope that will continue for a year or two more.