Saw my Orthopedic surgeon yesterday for a post op visit. He lifted all restrictions on my activities. So I can finally travel, swim, hot tub, and get back to the gym. So I immediately hit the gym and started leg work again. I have lost so much strength from being inactive for the past two months – to the point that I’m worried.
He also re-upped my PT regimen because he feels my range of motion isn’t where it should be by this point. Of course my pre-op range of motion was terrible, but I haven’t even returned to that point yet. I’m going to see him again in six weeks and if it hasn’t improved by then he will do something called “manipulation under anesthesia” which just by the sound of it, I want to avoid.
I’m hoping some hot tub time will assist with getting some flexibility into my right leg. My PT folks have really helped and I know they can get me to next 20° RoM.
Needless to say, I’m up and around and doing okay. Stiff, and still lacking full range of motion, but able to walk pretty well. Full update coming Friday after a couple of Dr & PT appointments.
See that big square of gravel? I really wanted to build a garage/shop there and had it in the works but some stuff may have back-burnered that idea for a while. This is where we park things that won’t fit inside our far too small garage. Linda’s Horse Trailer. My flatbed trailer. My winter beater Subaru, and our tow vehicle, Linda’s pickup. That patch of ground has not held up well to that use. Also the curve of the driveway on the left had a STEEP drop-off that often made for difficulty negotiating that corner, especially when maneuvering a trailer. So I ordered 15 yards of gravel, which arrived on Tuesday.
The morning of that day I laid down some ground cover sheets in an attempt to control the cheatgrass which is the scourge of the Intermountain West. Of course the wind and the dump truck that delivered the gravel conspired to ruin my carefully crafted ground covering.
Using the tractor that Linda bought for her big horse property down in Klamath, I spread out the gravel to the best of my ability. I think I did a good job. Like my college professor James Howze said about the Tank he commanded in the Korean War, having a tractor is like having a pet rhinoceros. It can do things for you that would take forever and way too much effort by hand. It makes short, if inelegant work of tasks like this.
Linda meanwhile is making our fenced-in dog area in front of the house something of an amazing garden space, complete with pond and waterfall. I didn’t know she had it in her, but I think taking care of me for my month of uselessness recovering from surgery made her a bit stir crazy.
Stay tuned for an update on Friday on my knee, complete with post-op X-rays!
Sorry for the radio silence. I usually write these on Fridays and last Friday was a busy day for me. Linda flew to PDX the night before, and I had a lot to do on Friday: drop off two of the dogs (Ripley & Dottie) with our dog sitter, go to my Physical Therapy appointment, then drive to Portland with our old dog (Marky), to spend the weekend. Linda was doing some relief shifts at a Veterinary Hospital just outside Portland, and we booked a hotel stay downtown. We met with Nick & Izzy for dinner that night (only a few weeks until their wedding!) I served as Dr. Goolsbee’s driver to get her to/from the clinic every day. On Saturday, I took Marky to Mount Tabor and climbed the stairs to the summit where the wedding will take place. I wanted to make sure I could accomplish the climb on my own. Using my cane, the climb was actually easy, and I was able to climb the ~300 stairs easily. Their pitch is lower than a household staircase, so I had no problem going up the stairs normally with my right leg.
Mount Tabor stairs, Portland, OR.
Going back down was a tad tougher, and I had to do the two steps per stair method using my cane and the railing.
Sunday I enjoyed a nice Father’s Day brunch with Nick.
Sunday night we had Mexican food with Stewart.
We drove home Monday morning. All in all a good weekend.
Since then I have stopped using my cane most of the time. That’s a pretty big milestone in recovery from knee replacement surgery. There are times I miss it, but for most daily activity I don’t really need it anymore. I have my post-op appointment with my surgeon next week, and hope to be signed off for most things I would like to do, such as driving my regular car (manual transmission!), getting in the hot tub, swimming, going to the gym, etc.
My Range of Motion is increasing little by little every PT session. I was able to turn the pedals of a stationary bike at the clinic today (Friday 6/20) for the first time ever, though it was turning the pedals backwards and was quite difficult. I’m not ready to ride yet, but I hope that is coming soon. As soon as I can ride, I will take Ripley (and maybe Dottie) for laps around the neighborhood to start rebuilding my leg muscles. I saw myself in a full-length mirror while in Portland and my legs have lost a lot of muscle mass. Not good! I worked SO hard for so many months to get my legs in shape prior to my surgery, and I’m thankful that worked out well, as it made the immediate post-op process easier (things like getting up from sitting.) But now is the time to build them back up again from nearly two months of inactivity/recovery.
My incision, one month post-op. The skin texture is due to the compression stockings they have me wearing during the day.
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.
My incision, basking in the sunshine for a moment.
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.
