Author: chuck goolsbee

Today is June 2nd. My Total Knee Replacement Surgery was on May 2nd, so today marks one month. As you can see all of my bandages have fallen away, revealing my full incision. Linda, who is both a seamstress (recreationally) and a surgeon (professionally) says these are some of the best sutures she has ever seen. Given what happens during a TKR procedure it is amazing it looks so good. (They basically cut you vertically, pull you all apart, including sliding your kneecap off to the side, and do all the horizontal bone-cutting with the knee wide open!) I have seen many people’s photos of their incisions and this one is a work of art by most comparisons. Dr. King is very good at what he does.

So how am I doing?

Making slow progress. On the upside I am able to walk (mostly with a cane) and I have actually driven a few times (just short trips into town for errands, PT appointments, and taking the dogs to the park.) I am back to cooking our meals, which I am sure Linda is very grateful for (she is not a chef!) I made it to the gym (!) to begin working out again.

The downsides, I still have very little stamina in terms of mobility. I have to stop, sit, and run the ice & compression machine on my knee after any amount of activity. My range of motion is still very limited. I can’t straighten, nor bend my leg very far. I have increased it by maybe 10% in total after two weeks of PT. That is a bit disappointing to be honest. The knee is just VERY stiff. To illustrate, I can turn my bike pedals about 190° of the 360° rotation. When I first attempted I was a bit under 180°. My therapist tortures me twice a week pulling and bending my leg to the limits of my pain threshold, which is about as unfun as it sounds. I do exercises at home too. As soon as I can spin those pedals fully I will be riding laps around my neighborhood to begin to rebuild my leg muscles.

I mentioned going to the gym. It was shocking how much strength I lost in a month of inactivity. I only did upper body exercises, and only “push” lifts at that. The “push to failure” was easy to get to. Oh boy. Therapist says no leg work yet, so skipping leg day for now.

TLDR: I’m happy with the appearance of my incision, but not happy with my range of motion and decline in overall condition.

Had my second PT appointment, and made some ROM progress. After my first appointment I was told to focus of straightening my leg with some specific exercises. I definitely did the work there as I have measurable improvement at my appointment today. However my flexion only improved by 1° of motion, so we worked on that today. Oh boy. That hurts!

In some good news I have started to switch from the walker to a cane. Slow progress but continuing progress.

I am actually able to walk, just not that well or for very long. Around the house I’m still using a cane or more often the walker, but I’m able to put more weight on my new knee at a rate unheard of since the surgery. However the dogs need more than what I can deliver, so I have this little electric scooter to take them out. It belonged to my father, as he suffered a back injury around the same age I suffered my knee injury. As he aged it caused him mobility issues and he bought this scooter for traveling with my mom. After he died it was stored away at my mom’s place and she shipped it to us when Linda broke several bones in her foot and ankle a few years back. It was invaluable during that, and her hip replacement (though she bounced back from that real fast!) Now I’m using it to get around outside. Perfect for taking the dogs for a walk. Ripley has good enough recall to wander on her own, but Marky & Dottie have to be on a leash at all times away from home. I think I can do a full circuit of the neighborhood on the battery but haven’t tried that yet.

Pain is largely gone (unless I do something wrong) and I have been given exercises by the PT to increase my range of motion. The goal is to work on straightening the leg first, then on bending. Still icing after most activities to help quiet the raging inside. Still tough to bend it very much. Excruciating to try and straighten it.

Wish me luck!

I start Physical Therapy tomorrow. I’m really excited and ready to go. However I checked my mobility on my stationary bike setup in the garage (which is just my recumbent trike on a trainer, which is setup with a TV in front of it. I spent some evenings pre-op out there pedaling away while I watched hockey games on the TV.) Unfortunately I am unable to get more than about a half-rotation of the pedals. My knee just won’t bend enough to fully rotate. I’m hoping that once I can turn the pedals fully I can once again watch games and get my strength and flexibility back.

As for other mobility concerns, I am now able to go up and down the stairs with a cane, albeit slowly. In fact the photo above was shot about an hour ago in our fenced dog yard between the house and the garage. I was able to go out there on my own, using cane and my dad’s old nobility scooter (with Dottie on a leash) to get the pups outside for a while. It felt good to be outside. Otherwise I spend my days in a recliner, taking laps around the house with my walker once or twice an hour.

Every day I gain a bit of strength in my right leg, but I still have a long way to go. Our TV has a screensaver that shows random pictures uploaded from my phone and when I see pictures of my past dog walks or ski days it feels like something impossible right now.

But I am maintaining a positive attitude and mindset. I know I will be better and back at it soon.

Had my post-op appointment with my surgeon’s PA today. It was my very first time out of the house since my surgery. This fact sunk into my head as I hobbled out of the front door and onto the driveway to get in the car. It was exciting at first. Getting into Linda’s car quickly dashed the excitement however as it was very uncomfortable to get my right leg through the door and positioned properly for the ride. A few painful moments and overall discomfort.

Honestly I have either been in a bed, a recliner, or a couch for the past two weeks. Yeah, I get up and move around a few minutes of almost every hour, but I haven’t really done anything else. So my body was unhappy sitting in a car. It is a ~50 minute drive to the clinic in Bend from our house. We were a tiny bit late but found a close parking spot and I hobbled into the building while Linda checked me in.

They took X-rays and they look amazing. Sadly I neglected to grab a copy, but as soon as I can I will post them here alongside my pre-op ones. I hopped on the clinic scale and noted that I am down 30lbs from my pre-op appointment in February.

Did some range of motion and strength tests and they are very happy with my progress. I’m told I am a bit ahead of the curve overall and ready to start PT next week. However I’m still going to be using the walker for at least two weeks more.

Since we were in Bend early in the morning we stopped at McKay Cottage for breakfast. It was delicious as always. However I was regretting not taking any pain meds as the hobbling around and getting in & out of the car was wearing on me. We stopped in Tumalo on the way home as Linda’s horse is there and she had to meet the Farrier. I sat in the car with Marky the mutt (he has stayed home with us as he is 13 years old and a very mellow dog, Whereas his crazy sisters Ripley & Dottie have been with our Dog Sitter to minimize the risk of them jumping on my leg or knocking me over!)

We finally arrived home around noon and I was wiped out. Pretty much passed out in the recliner for the rest of the afternoon. Beyond trips to PT I have to avoid that amount of time in a car. Thankfully PT is only about 15 minutes away from home.

No need for a photo today, since everything looks the same. However I can certainly claim some good progress. I climbed the stairs using a cane this morning. Previously I have been going up and down the stairs on my posterior, with no weight on my affected leg. The climb on the stairs was difficult, both the lifting of my right leg, and putting some weight on it as I raised my left leg up to the next step. Both were impossible until yesterday when I started putting some weight on my “new knee” as I hobbled around the house with the walker.

My days are sort of dull, with each hour dictated by ice/compression for X minutes, moving around the rooms for 5-10 minutes, and the rest of the time spent on a couch or in a recliner with my leg elevated. Morning starts with getting up the stairs, and evening finishes with going down the stairs to bed. I sleep with a wedge pillow under my legs to keep my knee elevated at night.

I read my kindle, my phone, listen to podcasts, or music, and watch playoff hockey every evening (great series so far, even though none of my teams have been involved!)

But the moving around parts of my day have been getting more effective lately, with steady improvement in range of motion, weight bearing, and longevity.

Other progress includes shedding most of the pain meds beyond Tylenol (and a TylenolPM in the evening to help me sleep.) I am refilling the pain meds though as PT starts next week and I’m certain things are going to hurt again.

I haven’t left the house since arriving home from surgery, but Linda and I have discussed going out for dinner one of these upcoming nights. Speaking of which, my appetite has been very low since surgery, and weight loss, which I have been working on since the surgery was scheduled (because every kilogram I lose makes recovery easier!) I’m down 13kg, and feeling good.

Tomorrow is my Post-op follow up appointment with my surgeon. I’ll let you know how it goes.

One week on. As I have said before very slow, but steady and perceptible progress. I’ve taken two showers. Been down and up the stairs a few times. I’m off the Oxycodone for a full 24 hours now (may get a refill however should I need it again in the future.) Opiates and I have never had a good relationship. I have a fairly strong histamine reaction to them, making me itchy and irritable. I have only ever had them for dental work and usually stopped them after a day or two. Not really possible in this scenario because this pain is a whole different level. When you think about it, someone split my joint down the middle, pried apart everything, then sawed off the bottom of my femur, the top of my tibia & fibia, drilled some holes in the remaining bone, fitted some metal into the holes, and in the process removed most of my connective tissue that actually makes knees work. So, yeah. It HURTS.

Dr. Goolsbee bought me some Benadryl to tone down the histamine reaction and I honestly welcomed the relief that the pain medication delivered. Without it I would not been able to sleep, nor get out of the chair and move around, which is essential for recovery. I transitioned off of Oxy and onto Tramadol, which is adequate, but lacks the full “sweet relief” feeling of the Oxy. I can see why people get addicted, but honestly without the “sawzall my bones” pain chasing me I don’t need the buzz.

I can move around the house using the walker. I’m not ready for a cane or crutches yet. So I’m slow and sort of useless. I can’t carry things or do any tasks while standing that require any movement beyond hands.

The ice machine is a godsend, as it carries me through from med dose to med dose in relative comfort. It is absolutely required after any of my journeys on the stairs, as I’m usually fairly tired and sore after those.