Hi!

Mutley1964

New to this site and without boring the pants of you all, I just really need to write down how I'm feeling at the moment. I have just turned 48 and I'm 5 weeks post op for a TKR due to severe OA. I know it's very early days and that I'm probably just a very impatient patient however, I am so depressed at what I see, lack of progress Currently my physio and I both agree that I'm not making any further progress with my range of movement or the straightening of my leg. Despite doing EVERYTHING, exercise's, icing, gentle walk round the block, hot water bottle and general day to day tasks, this knee will not budge and I am so frustrated. I have even managed to aquire an exercise bike thinking this will really help but even with the saddle at it's maximum height, i can't get the knee to manage to do the full rotation.At my last session I was put on one of the passive machines ( the proper name escapes me at the moment!) that gently bends then straightens your leg. I managed to achieve -5 on the straightening side, which is as low as it will go, and from 75 to 84 degrees for the bending. The physio said don't be too guided by the accurateness of these figures as the machine is quite old! He has informed my surgeon of what we think about the lack of progress to see if he wanted to see me before my scheduled 8 week post op check up, but as yet, I haven't heard from him. The physio thinks I'll probably need a manipulation if we don't make any head way on the machine. I feel like I'm dragging a dead donkey around with me all the time Even when walking, as the knee juts out all the time, it makes it hard work and you feel like your slapping your foot on the ground. The other problem is NO SLEEP. Currently on a low dose sleeping tablet that doesn't seem to be doing anything. Last night I had 1 hour between 2 and 3 am. I just can't get comfortable as I never sleep on my back and I'm continually trying to either straighten my leg or try and lie on my side which is very uncomfortable. Sorry this post is so long but I'm just so fed up and quite frankly, VERY depressed
Any positive words of wisdom, or maybe a good kick up the bum is what I need! Thank you for listening anyway.
Jaki

valval

this must be so hard to cope with but hang in there with luck they will sort it soon thinking of you and no kick from me think you are doing great val

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you and I hope we can help with encouragement and support. You have recently had major surgery - I'm not sure what you were expecting to happen in just five weeks but I suspect the can-can dancing and stiletto-wearing will have to wait just a tad longer.

I learned after my first synovectomy that there was nothing for me to gain in comparing myself to others - the progress I made, as and when I made it, was personal to me and s*d everyone's expectations. There are no 'shoulds' with TKR recovery, much depends on how fit you were prior to surgery and behaving sensibly after. One of the problems you're facing is the fact that you are deep in the middle of your recovery and so can't see the wood for the trees: think back to your first couple of days post-op and I am sure you will see that there has indeed been progress: OK, it may not be as much as you would like but, hey, isn't that life all over? I also had to sleep on my back for about two months, which wasn't easy but the time passed because it always does.

It is not easy being a patient patient but try to bear in mind that it can take up to a year for everything to settle and for the new knee to be fully operational: it took a long while for things to be bad enough for a new knee to be granted. I wish you well and I am sure the rate of progress will pick up as your muscles heal and get stronger. DD

stickywicket

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Ah, getting things down (and out) is something we all need to do from time to time. I’m probably not the best person to answer your post as, despite having had three (TKRs) and every one brilliant, my OA was a result of RA so there was no way I could rush anything post-op. I did my pre-op exercises and managed the odd straight leg raise the day after the op but, after that, I was the tortoise. Also, I wasn’t looking for much – just a painfree knee that would let me walk so, as long as the surgeon and physio were happy, so was I.

It seems that your physio isn’t happy though as he has contacted the surgeon. I really don’t know how quickly things normally progress for straight OAers but, from reading these threads, I feel everyone is different. We all have our strengths and weaknesses; our ‘speedy’ areas of progress and our slower ones.

The good thing, from your point of view, is that, as you are now 5 weeks post-op and the standing appointment is 8 weeks, you’ll only have another three to wait at the most to see the surgeon. The physio and surgeon are the right ones to be guiding you and I do hope things get sorted in the end.

mike26

hi mutley 1964
welcome to site like you ive not been here long,
you get all the help thay can give here .

stay possitive it will all work out 4 u in end :roll:
mike26...

bubbadog

Hi mutley1964, welcome to Arthritis Care forum, you will get all the support and advice you want from this site, we help and encourage each other here. 5 weeks isn't that long post-op, don't pressure yourself so much just sit back and think every little movement is a positive step in the right direction! We are here to encourage and support you, you made the right decision in coming to us!!

elainebadknee

HI Jaki - ALthough I like your username Mutley as I have a Muttley I took into hospital for my TKR which was 10.5weeks ago..

I wanted to say have read your post and I really feel for you so first of all ((hugs))...Secondly I wanted to say when I went in for my operation which was suposed to be a 3-4day stay and ended up in 8days, had to have blood tranfusion, spiked a termperature, blood count was 7.2 and had palpitations...I didnt get the motion machine as they dont use it at Wrightington where I had my op...I was swollen from bum to ankle and couldnt do the exercises physio's wanted me to do and left hospital with a 68% bend, well below average...Had extra physio and at 4 weeks was still at just over 70% but it did get better within the next 3 weeks and I ended up with 97% bend....I was told in ward might need manipulation operation but was also told had had a complex knee replacement which was a bit out of the normal...
I will say my dad at home encouraged me to do my board and doughnut exercises, I sometimes cried when doing them as my leg wouldnt lift off the board and didnt do so till about 5-6 weeks...
I think your bend isnt too bad, slowly slowly catch a monkey? But I know how depressing it can be if you feel your progress isnt doing well enough...
By the way I have posted and I am still having hiccups with mine and have phoned my arthroplasty practitioner who may see me on monday as mine is painful and clunks and clicks...I am younger than you but not by much so we are similar ages - 48 and 45....
If you wanted to PM me on here feel free...Youre not alone and not everyone recovers the same - dont put limits on yourself...And as everyone says to me all the time its very early days you know.

Good luck kid!

Elainexx

Mutley1964 wrote:

New to this site and without boring the pants of you all, I just really need to write down how I'm feeling at the moment. I have just turned 48 and I'm 5 weeks post op for a TKR due to severe OA. I know it's very early days and that I'm probably just a very impatient patient however, I am so depressed at what I see, lack of progress Currently my physio and I both agree that I'm not making any further progress with my range of movement or the straightening of my leg. Despite doing EVERYTHING, exercise's, icing, gentle walk round the block, hot water bottle and general day to day tasks, this knee will not budge and I am so frustrated. I have even managed to aquire an exercise bike thinking this will really help but even with the saddle at it's maximum height, i can't get the knee to manage to do the full rotation.At my last session I was put on one of the passive machines ( the proper name escapes me at the moment!) that gently bends then straightens your leg. I managed to achieve -5 on the straightening side, which is as low as it will go, and from 75 to 84 degrees for the bending. The physio said don't be too guided by the accurateness of these figures as the machine is quite old! He has informed my surgeon of what we think about the lack of progress to see if he wanted to see me before my scheduled 8 week post op check up, but as yet, I haven't heard from him. The physio thinks I'll probably need a manipulation if we don't make any head way on the machine. I feel like I'm dragging a dead donkey around with me all the time Even when walking, as the knee juts out all the time, it makes it hard work and you feel like your slapping your foot on the ground. The other problem is NO SLEEP. Currently on a low dose sleeping tablet that doesn't seem to be doing anything. Last night I had 1 hour between 2 and 3 am. I just can't get comfortable as I never sleep on my back and I'm continually trying to either straighten my leg or try and lie on my side which is very uncomfortable. Sorry this post is so long but I'm just so fed up and quite frankly, VERY depressed
Any positive words of wisdom, or maybe a good kick up the bum is what I need! Thank you for listening anyway.
Jaki

dreamdaisy

Hello Mutley1964, how are you feeling today? I hope you are as OK as you can be. DD

Mutley1964

Hello everyone! Firstly, thank you so much for everyone taking the time to not only read my rather long post, but to also take the time to reply. That in itself means a lot to me
I've left it until this evening to reply again myself as I wanted to see how I got on at physio today and was hoping to say, hooray! Good news...wrong! I had an hour long session on the "bend the knee" machine but unfortunately it took the whole hour for the knee to loosen up. I was hoping to have at least added a couple of degrees but I just managed to make it to where I got to on the last session, although it was far more uncomfortable today. I have another session tomorrow so really hoping I can see a slightly better result? On the really POSITIVE side, I had a call from my surgeons secretary this morning who said he would now like to see me sooner having read my physio's report on my progress. I'm now seeing him next Wednesday which feels like such a relief rather than having to wait until the end of January. At least he can either put my mind at rest or agree that I do have a problem that may need addressing. I still think that if I was getting the correct level of straightness and then bend, I think I'd be laughing at how well I was doing, if that makes sense? I'm a fairly active person. As the owner of 2 large hunting dogs I'm normally out for 2-3 hours every day giving them the exercise they require. In the last year or so I've had to have 2 fusions of the big toe. (The 1st one failed and I was left with the plate & screws loose in my toe!) the 2nd one required a bone graft to encourage the fusion. With this procedure your non-weight bearing for 6 weeks then in a big platform boot for 6 weeks before carefully getting back into daily activities, walking etc. This is where I think I've come a cropper. When you read up on having a TKR it says you'll be up and walking the next day, exercising and encouraged to get around. I just assumed that as the mind was totally up for this so would the leg maybe it's being a woman too and thinking of all those things you THINK you should be doing or COULD be doing! I have taken on board what everyone has said about not comparing yourself to anyone else and doing what you think you can comfortably do, but it's still very hard :roll:
Thank you all once again and I'll let you know how I go. Wishing everyone on here all the best for his or hers own recoveries or just trying to deal with Arthritis in general.....

bubbadog

Mutley, Don't go giving up yet, you need to keep the positivity going through you or you will stop trying to move it! Every waking moment through the day you need to keep moving and trying to get the bend in your knee. We are here to support you and keep the positivity in you! Good luck today at Physio, keep us informed!!

kentishlady

Hello Mutley. Was sorry to hear that you are having such a bad time after your op and do hope the physio will help you. Am glad to know you have managed to get an earlier appointment with your consultant and hope that the outcome will be positive.

Keep on with the exercises as much as you can but don't be too hard on yourself.

Beryl

stickywicket

bubbadog wrote:

Every waking moment through the day you need to keep moving and trying to get the bend in your knee.

:shock: Crikey Moses, bubbadog, I feel exhausted at the mere thought of that and I usually advocate exercise.

I think not. It seems to me that the surgeon and physio have got this under control. It's a far cry from those patients who are just, apparently, left to their own post-op devices.

Mutley, as you have discovered, the mind and the body don't always work in sync. Don't think at all of the things you could be doing, as clearly you shouldn't be doing them right now. The main thing is to get that TKR working and not to compromise it by under or over-exercising it. I'm sure if you stick with the physio's and surgeon's advice you won't go far wrong.

dreamdaisy

Things will happen in their own good time, Mutley. You have your part to play in being sensible, exercising and resting, and I'm sure you will find as time goes on that you will become more and more able. Quite a few of us on here are on the opposite trajectory - as time goes on we become less and less able - so don't be too hard on yourself, you are, at least, now on the right road. Pace yourself, be patient and I'm sure you will feel the desired benefit in due course. DD