Stiffness
Replies
-
Good luck David0
-
Hoping the surgery was a perfect success, and wishing you speedy recovery! Let us know how you're doing when you feel up to it, OK?0
-
Went into preop about 10:30 where I was given a spinal block. Next thing I remember is waking up in recovery about 3 ish waiting for spinal block to wear off.
Moved to my privaye room where the first dose of oxycodone might as well been sugar pills, so they chased those with a shot of morphine to jump start the pain management. Worked.
Spent a long night getting to know my bedside urinal or having vitals or blood samples taken.
Morning breafast was heart healthy but otherwise unappetizing. Talked with doc and operation was text book. He said if PT went well I could go home same day. First round of PT at 11 AM was much more paiful than I expected (thinking another night of hospital bed wouldn't be so bad).
Chicken noodle soup for lunch (heart healthy again so while it looked like chicken noodle, it tasted like warm dishwater). Second round was occupational therapy and went much better than first. And then last round was group therapy over by 3:30 and we're signing release papers. Last bit took about two hours to finish and the worst pain I experienced was actually getting into the Sequoia for the trip home.
Managed to get up the five front steps with only minor pain. Second night in my own bed went much better than the first.
Continuing home exercises. Currently knee is feeling pretty good.5 -
d_thomas: Yay! Steady improvement from here, I hope. Keep killin' that PT!2
-
Small but important victory today.
Major surgeries, anesthesia, high powered pain killers, and other disruptions to our normal routines can cause the body to shutdown certain systems
Happy to say that certain body functions are moving again this morning.
Happy days.8 -
Thanks for sharing the good news and the struggles. Speedy recovery, and quick dissipation of pain and discomfort is my wish, then back towards good routines. Glad the conveyor belt is no longer LOTO.1
-
Been happy with progress of recovery.
Quad muscles have started firing again so straight leg lifts are back on the can do list.
Range of motion before surgery was 0 - 120 degrees, zero being straight leg. Day after surgery (Tuesday) I had 10 - 50 degrees. By Thursday (Thanksgiving here in the USA) I had my first in home physical therapy session, and we meassured it at 0 - 70 degrees.
And then... insurance has again become a problem. The therapist was suppose to be be back last Friday... nada. They are available 7 days a week, but nothing Saturday nor Sunday. Call them yesterday (Monday), a week after the surgery, and was told they were waiting to hear back from the insurance company before sending out another therapist.
Still doing my physical therapy at home on my own but feel I've plateaued on any more gains. Feels like swelling in soft tissue will need to go down significantly before range of motion will improve any more.
And don't want to push too hard before the doc removes stiches next Tuesday (12/4).1 -
Sorry you're having such awful hassles with your insurance company over this: It seems doubly unreasonable that this happens at a time that inherently already has enough problems built into it! I hope it ends up getting cleared up ASAP, so you can get on with the PT and physical improvement.0
-
Oh the difference a few shorts hours makes.
Called the insurance this morning and they had approved the PT. Then got a call from the PT folks right at lunch and just now got done doing a killer hour with the therapist.
Last thing we did was for me to walk down the hall, around the kitchen table, and back, four times!... carrying the walker!!!
Had a rough time last night with nerve pain so if you had told me I'd be carrying the walker (only an inch above the floor but in the air none the less) by the end of the day, I'd have said you'd be nuts.
Leg is jelly and knee under ice at the moment, but I get to start using heat on the quad (muscle only, keep heat off knee) to start loosening it up. Apparently what I thought was swelling keeping my range of motion down is really muscle tissue clinched tight.
Range of motion after short warm up was 0-76 degrees. Didn't measure at end of session.4 -
Good news! :drinker:0
-
Spent most of yesterday getting the oxycontin monkey off my back. Feeling the knee more today for sure but nothing a couple of tylenols can't manage.
Don't need the walker anymore. I am suppose to be using my grandfather's cane (when I think of it), otherwise I just walk (albeit with a limp) where I need to go.
My FitBit says I put in about 2,200 steps yesterday. I have one more in home PT session on Monday and then a post-op visit with the doc on Tuesday. Quad still needs a lot of work, stretching and strengthening.
Crossing fingers I can get back into the workshop and maybe even the smithy soon after that.
Doing nothing all day sucks.4 -
Monday's PT session went well. Passed the 90 degree range of motion milestone (apparently its a biggie) with a measure of 0 - 94 degrees. So she added a bunch of new exercises. (Ouch)
First Post-op with doc yesterday, two weeks after surgery. Big reveal with bandage removal and cutting the end knots off the long internal suture. The rest of the suture will eventually dissolve.
Walking without assistance and almost no limp. Not on opioid meds now. Can move right leg quickly from hypothetically gas pedal to brake with no pain. So was given the doc's blessing to start driving again. (Now if I only had a running vehicle.)
Was also told I could resume any reasonable activity that didn't cause pain. No high impact activities, of course, but I'm no longer a housebound invalid. Yay!
Two more in-home PT sessions, today and Friday, and then more PT at a well equipped facility starting next week.
Looking forward to getting back to some semblance of normalcy again.3 -
Glad to hear your recovery is going so well . . . though I suspect it still seems frustratingly slow from the inside. Wishing you continued steady improvement!2
-
First outpatient PT yesterday. My therapist started with an evaluation of my current condition. Cold, I had 0-90 degree range of motion. That, and some other measures, indicate that I currently have 57% use of my knee three weeks and a day after the total knee replacement surgery.
After about 45 minutes of various stretches and strengthening exercises my range of motion increased to 0-108 degrees compared to pre-surgery 0-120 degrees and 0-140 degrees on other knee (had ACL reconstruction on that one roughly ten years ago).
Goals for this round of PT.
1) Get off all prescribed and OTC pain meds for knee.
2) 0-110 degree range of motion, cold, within next two weeks.
3) 75% use of knee (a milestone for considering the surgery successful) within next four weeks.
4) 0-120 degrees and 90% use, or more, as final goal (eight weeks?)
5) Have fun on upcoming SCUBA trip sometime in February. (Cozumel, Mexico)
She also released me to do any other exercises I choose so long as it doesn't cause excessive pain in my knee. (Some pain with exercise is expected.)
Next PT is scheduled for next Tuesday.3 -
Pain is always the guide... Pushing into discomfort but not to the point of pain....3
-
Second post-op at doc's today, seven weeks after surgery.
Range of motion 0 to 120 plus. She just eyeballed it. Now free and clear for any activity (still within reason, of course), which is good as I need to knock of the dust from my dive gear. Cozumel trip is a go for last week of Feb.
Still got some residial swelling that will come and go with use for another year or so. Third follow up scheduled for one year post-op.
I feel good. An artificial joint is never going to geel like an oganic joint as it has weird pop-ish click-ish noise/feel, but they say you get use to it.
Still have another three and a half weeks of PT scheduled. Doc says I can stop any time I'd like. I told her I'll stop PT when they lock the door behind me.
Busy week for me, this, but going to try to get back in the smithy this weekend.3 -
Nice to get back to the smithy. Not too much time on your feet tho, right?1
-
Good news! I'll bet getting back to some of your regular enjoyable pursuits will make the rest of the recovery feel like it's going a bit quicker, as long as you can avoid that overdo/setback pitfall. Best wishes for continued smooth healing!1
-
Glad to hear that you are getting back to normal activity.2
-
I hear warm salty water is great therapy. Cozumel is going to be fantastic. So glad the recovery is going well. Good luck getting used to the new noises. Nice trade for the pain you had before!
3 -
Nice to get back to the smithy. Not too much time on your feet tho, right?
Right. I'll have to limit myself to one iron in the fire at a time so I can pace back and forth (keeps the blood flowing and swelling down) while its soaking up the heat.
Normally I work two or three at a time so I can always be working one on the anvil while the others are soaking. Gonna slow things down a bit but it is a hobby, not a race.2 -
What a great hobby! Creative, energetic and fun!!d_thomas02 wrote: »Nice to get back to the smithy. Not too much time on your feet tho, right?
Right. I'll have to limit myself to one iron in the fire at a time so I can pace back and forth (keeps the blood flowing and swelling down) while its soaking up the heat.
Normally I work two or three at a time so I can always be working one on the anvil while the others are soaking. Gonna slow things down a bit but it is a hobby, not a race.1 -
Was told today was my last physical therapy session for my right knee. My range of motion currently meassures 0-127 degrees.
Still have another 12-18 months of healing before total recovery, so plan on continuing the stretches at home. Goal is to match my left knee's 140 degree... eventually. Gotta give the scar tissue time to relax a bit.
Looking forward to some warm saltwater therapy. Currently talking about a long weekend down in the Florida keys as a warmup for the Cozumel trip.
6 -
Glad to hear your recovery continues well, @d_thomas02!
How are others doing who've reported plans to try various things for this sort of stiffness or pain?
@BBee5064, since you started this discussion, are you seeing any improvement from your changes in activities and eating, personal trainer, or other strategies?
@nikkib0103, any results from the PT?
Others?
I've kind of backslid lately. Had been doing quite well (despite diagnosis a few years back of meniscus tear in left knee, some OA in both), until very recently. I think the trigger was a brisk walk (!) I took right before Christmas, on a rare day that got into the 40s F, so I took advantage of the (relative
) warmth to get some fresh air.
Usually, I do limited walking for exercise, really just enough to stay somewhat conditioned to it so I can enjoy walking-intensive things like art fairs and music festivals and such, because I know my knees tolerate impact poorly. I should know that I need to condition my way up in distance!
It wasn't like I walked far/fast, only about 4 miles/3.8mph as I'd been doing periodically in summer, but it had been a couple of months, probably, since I'd done anything more than casual walking in daily life, and I should know better.
Bottom line is that my "bad" knee, the left one, is a tiny bit tweaked, but the right one has gone full-bore evil on me, limiting ease of movement quite a bit, and uncomfortable to the point of waking me at night sometimes (this is one of my indicators that I need to face facts and get to the doc). Then, yesterday, as I was carrying some groceries upstairs, the bad knee helped me ( ) lose balance and tumble down a couple of steps, putting a good scrape on my upper lip as well as a nice goose-egg above my eyebrow, and some general bruise/stiffness stuff.
No broken bones or sprains, thankfully, but I'm limping around kinda uncomfortably. I'm going to give it a few days, and see how it nets out (the few days coincidentally includes appointments with my massage therapist and a university-based osteopath I see regularly for back nonsense, so I will be getting some assistance and knowledgeable input).
Sigh! 3 -
So sorry to hear about your trials. I hope it turns around for you soon. Knee pain is nothing to fool around with.1
-
Paying attention to this thread. I ruined my right knee @ 42. Doc said if I was older at the time, would have done a total knee replacement then. Back then (12 years ago), I was considered too young to do a full knee replacement. Knees only lasted 15 years then. Now they last 30! Amazing how far things have come.
My right knee, now, is crap. I workout a LOT on it and most of the time I have no pain, but I'm only 54. Doc told me that arthritis would slowly creep in and since I've been bone on bone for years, it's only a matter of time.
Now, I did take my wife to an unconventional doc a few years ago for a shoulder tear. He injected her with rich platelets and ozone along with vitamins and she felt better within weeks. He said he can do the same for knees. I've ran into HOF baseball and BB players in his office that go there (guys that could afford any treatment). I might try something like that first before I do the replacement to hopefully make my knee last a bit longer (at least until my mid 60s).3 -
I’ve been using magnesium oil on my knees. It’s really helping lubricant the joints.
3 -
Well aging just sucks sometimes.
I get some joint stiffness here and there, but nothing too bad or that really slows me down. But lately I've discovered that I can hardly put any pressure directly on my knees (kneeling down on my knees) without a sharp pain. I can't think of anything I did, other than spend some time kneeling on some framing up in the attic while wiring for a ceiling fan. And though that wasn't comfortable, it didn't hurt. I'm at a loss what changed or happened.
I'm going to talk to my doctor in a couple weeks when I have an appointment.2 -
robertw486 wrote: ».... lately I've discovered that I can hardly put any pressure directly on my knees (kneeling down on my knees) without a sharp pain. I can't think of anything I did, other than spend some time kneeling on some framing up in the attic while wiring for a ceiling fan. And though that wasn't comfortable, it didn't hurt. I'm at a loss what changed or happened.
I'm going to talk to my doctor in a couple weeks when I have an appointment.
I will be interested to hear what your doctor advises. Maybe a year ago or so, I started to get pain if I kneel directly on my knees. I figured it was just loss of the cushion of some fat. If I kneel slowly and gently and rest on the "flat" part of my knee, I'm fine. I'm fine kneeling on a pedestal in a canoe. But if I kneel down to clean the cat box or do anything else, I have to remember not to just rest on the knee or I get a sharp pain. Kind of a bummer. Good luck with yours!
0 -
Glad to hear your recovery continues well, @d_thomas02!
How are others doing who've reported plans to try various things for this sort of stiffness or pain?
@BBee5064, since you started this discussion, are you seeing any improvement from your changes in activities and eating, personal trainer, or other strategies?
@nikkib0103, any results from the PT?
Others?
I've kind of backslid lately. Had been doing quite well (despite diagnosis a few years back of meniscus tear in left knee, some OA in both), until very recently. I think the trigger was a brisk walk (!) I took right before Christmas, on a rare day that got into the 40s F, so I took advantage of the (relative ) warmth to get some fresh air.
Usually, I do limited walking for exercise, really just enough to stay somewhat conditioned to it so I can enjoy walking-intensive things like art fairs and music festivals and such, because I know my knees tolerate impact poorly. I should know that I need to condition my way up in distance!
It wasn't like I walked far/fast, only about 4 miles/3.8mph as I'd been doing periodically in summer, but it had been a couple of months, probably, since I'd done anything more than casual walking in daily life, and I should know better.
Bottom line is that my "bad" knee, the left one, is a tiny bit tweaked, but the right one has gone full-bore evil on me, limiting ease of movement quite a bit, and uncomfortable to the point of waking me at night sometimes (this is one of my indicators that I need to face facts and get to the doc). Then, yesterday, as I was carrying some groceries upstairs, the bad knee helped me ( ) lose balance and tumble down a couple of steps, putting a good scrape on my upper lip as well as a nice goose-egg above my eyebrow, and some general bruise/stiffness stuff.
No broken bones or sprains, thankfully, but I'm limping around kinda uncomfortably. I'm going to give it a few days, and see how it nets out (the few days coincidentally includes appointments with my massage therapist and a university-based osteopath I see regularly for back nonsense, so I will be getting some assistance and knowledgeable input).
Sigh!
Well, yes and no on improvement from PT. Going up stairs better. Going down, no. Pain management better and overall small reduction in pain. However, next week I start PT for my back. It hurts more than my knees. Live past 50, they said. It will be fun, they said. 😊1
