Beauty

[Carmie]

I had my right knee done in December.  I stopped taking regular Oxy pain meds at about day seven, but always look meds about an hour before PT.  I got 45 tablets and have 13 left.

The staples were the worse.  I wanted them out on day 10, but had an appointment on day 21 to remove them.  I finally got them out on day 14 after lots of begging. That made a big difference.  I never want them again.

My pain wasn't bad as I was expecting and my PT went well.  I had great range of motion.

Now, in May, my knee is stiff and doesn't want to move.  I do PT at home on my own and it hurts when I force my knee to bend.  I guess it's scar tissue trying to block me, so I keep forcing it.

Now, my left knee is acting up...I will try to hold off having surgery on it for as long as I can.

Getting older with bad knees is not fun.  @monicakm   I hope you have a quick and easy recovery going forward.

[monicakm]

@Carmie 

Well you're just tougher than I am, but most people are.  Surgery was the second of May and I think I have three or four oxys left.  Emailed Nurse Julie for another prescription.  It's ready for pickup.  As long as I'm doing physical therapy, I'm going to have to have drugs 😳 I didn't realize staples were still used.  You made me take my bandage off to see what was under there LOL I could have taken it off 3 days ago but hadn't. I don't feel anything so I guess it's the dissolving stitches. Looks pretty good! One of the best things I did for my first knee was to buy a set of bicycle pedals and a wooden board that shows degrees of flexibility or bend.  The bike pedals are magnetic and adjustable.  The board is like the one they use at physical therapy where you use straps to pull your knee in. It measures the amount of bend.  I think these things would really help you at home. That would be awful to go through all that suffering and end up with stiff knees. I think I remember being told by my physical therapist that you need to do exercises at home for a year after surgery. But I'm not sure.  My at home exercises were disrupted by my brother's illness, his death and my parents moved to an assisted living facility. And it was during my brother's diagnosis that my other knee went out.  In the words of my father's Chinese flight attendant, "life hard".

[Carmie]

@monicakm . I am not that tough, I was just lucky.  I know experiences are different for everyone and even with each knee.

I never had difficultly straightening my leg out.  I could do that immediately after surgery, but the bend is my problem, I couldn't bend for mny years before surgery either.  I had sessions of PT pre surgery to work on that. It did help.

I was able to achieve 120 degrees of bend with PT after 9 sessions, then my insurance cut me off.  All was well and I do keep up with moving my knee.

But now, 5 months later, I am getting stiff and my knee doesn't want to bend.  I think it's scar tissue.  I have been working it out like crazy and stretching it several times a day now and that

hurts.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I am going to get that board you recommended.  I never saw anything like that.  I really didn't use the bands that much in PT.  It will help me know how my progress is going.  I have no way to measure it in degrees.

My DH is bringing my bike up from the basement so I can ride this summer.  I haven't ridden it for a few years now.  I hope I don't fall and injure myself....I am such a klutz.

I am wishing you much success on your healing journey.  This is a challenge for sure.  Thank you for your kind words and suggestions.

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