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How my life changed after knee replacement

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One Woman, Two Knees, Two TKRs, Two Immediate Post-op Experiences

Betsy
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When I had my first TKR three and a half years ago, I had a painful and frustrating recovery. Sleep was very hard to come by for quite some time. Pain was having to be controlled carefully with strong drugs for quite a while after surgery as I recall...it was so hard, and I found it really difficult to read all the upbeat positive comments on My Knee Guide from those who seemed to be sailing through it without coming to the conclusion that I 'just wasn't working at it'. But I was in so much constant discomfort and was so exhausted, that I just didn't have what it took to 'work at it'. I felt very low.

Fast-forward to the one I had done 16 days ago...and bear in mind my own prior experience naturally led to my expecting a similar aftermath....high pain levels, no sleep, difficulty in doing the work needed to help the healing and recovery process....and I find myself astonished by the difference.

Without hardly trying, I seem to be healing and strengthening every day. I'm not at all particularly driven with the exercises and I didn't have input from anyone after leaving hospital two days after surgery until my first physio appointment yesterday. I've been pretty consistent in doing the prescribed exercises on my bed before getting up, but very hit and miss with the others. And yet it seems I just can't hold back my recovery.

I had my first physio class yesterday (15 days post-op), consisting of a circuit of various exercises, of which I was given only three or four for my first visit. The measurement of my knee bend (which I had thought probably wasn't so good) said 100 degrees, which was considered very good plus I only took my two walking sticks with me just in case they insisted I should still be using them!

A few minutes ago here at home, I went up my steep staircase to the bathroom without a stick, holding the bannister of course, but just quite naturally, and unexpectedly, putting one foot after the other up the stairs.

I write all this as I think about people who are having a hard time in recovery, healing and rehab...to say to them, there is an 'x' factor involved in all of this. We are not necessarily the ones to 'blame' if it is all very hard uphill slow progress...we must not beat ourselves up and push and push to work ourselves harder. Sometimes we might actually need to rest more. Sometimes we might need to acknowledge that we really are doing our bit to the best of our abilities and there are other factors over which we have no control.

I used to feel flat and demotivated that everyone else seemed to be doing well and they appeared to attribute that mostly to the fact that they were 'doing the work'. I'm just here to say that it's probably not that simple.

I wish everyone a great recovery. I'm enjoying mine and have a greater sense than for a long time that I am going to be able to recapture a quality of life that had had to be given up over the past five years or so.

(A little postscript - it's actually 7 days since I first added the above post to the FB page - and since then I have experienced some harder days. Days of extreme tiredness and an increase in deep aching pain. I've had to keep tweaking my pain relief medication. I have therefore napped more and exercised less. Yesterday I was bewailing my state to my sister in text messages and she said 'as you are awake right now, just do a few exercises seated and a few standing'. I found that supportive and helpful so I did as she suggested (I would not have been motivated otherwise) and was quite amazed to find that my knee bend had further improved and I was quite able to carry out the exercises that I had neglected to practise for several days. I have always assumed that the very fact that I live alone and have to be up and down on my feet seeing to my needs and (frequently!) accessing the upstairs bathroom adds a lot to the strengthening and recovery process. Maybe one suggestion to those living with others might be to move quickly away from being 'cared for' wherever possible? Just a thought.)
Comments
Impatient56
Betsy
your experience and reflections are. really helpful. Thank you for sharing your journey- it is certainly helping me as I struggle emotionally and physically on Day 6.
Betsy
Happy to share, Impatient56!

I'm going through another tough patch right now....say for about the last week....and i'm at five and a half weeks post-op. Now it's about deep nagging ache in the leg with difficulty getting comfortable and extreme restlessness in the leg, which can really make it hard to get to sleep....seems to ease only by standing and walking.

It's an ongoing process that we simply have to live the best we can. Hope things are feeling a bit better for you?
KateRose7
Your comments here are so helpful to me at 9 weeks after. TRKR. There is no one-size-fits-all healing/recovery process. Patience and effort without beating ourselves up or comparing with others is key. Thank you.
RichGinKentucky
I'm almost 5 weeks out with a Bilateral TKR and everyday seems better; however, I can't get past the total fatigue and exhaustion that has overtaken me. I attribute some of it to my inability to sleep through the night, but it seems as if every little thing tires me. I sure hope it goes away eventually.
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