Got a new knee and now in PT and my PT is a

[Odyssey]

Went to an outdoor music festival last summer. The closing act was an old folkie I'd not seen on stage in 40 years; but he has never stopped touring. He described himself as just like that axe or that shovel. (You know the ones.) "I'm the same fella I've always been. Nothing's changed, except maybe 2 new hips and 2 new knees. Due for another knee change soon. Otherwise I'm just the same as the last time we all got together. We all just gotta keep movin."
Best wishes on the therapy and recovery. Keep er movin YC.

 

[sweeper]

Everyone I know that's had it done wishes they had it done sooner.

Good luck

 

[frozentripper]

Hey, Kim, best wishes for your quick recovery.

It's been one year exactly since being sawn and drilled for a total hip replacement and finally it's starting to feel like it's been worth it.

Several weeks after experiencing the hospital horrorshow that seems to pass for business as usual, I was feeling pretty down about it all, and thought I'd never recover from it. But eventually I did and during the summer used an old ten-speed bike to get back into shape, each time out a little better then the last.

Keep swinging and eventually you'll be hitting 'em out of the park... good luck.

 

[yellowcanoe]

FT the trouble is at my age there ain't a lot of years left
Got outside for a walk and some photos

Feel like crap. All I can say about narcotics they bind you up and then Colace gives you the too many trips to the lav
F the oxy. Down the drain

 

[frozentripper]

Yeah, I also felt like crap around Christmas-New Year's last year... I had complications for some reason, possibly from the anaesthetic or all those pills they made me take. I remember sitting on a cold park bench thinking, well, this is what my life is going to be from here on in... angina, heartburn and never able to walk properly again. But thing got better like the doctors said it would and those complications eventually faded away.

Maybe it would lift your mood to think of the better times coming and maybe a trip down south somewhere where it's warm during the winter to help you recover your spirits and the trauma from the operation.

The chances for recovery are good, at least from what I've been able to gather, and maybe the worst you'll have to deal with next year is wet bum syndrome from having to sit in a kayak... jest kidding, whatever gets you through the night. Stay warm and dream about the better times coming.

 

[yellowcanoe]

No no no no kayak. No no no
Did I say NO?

The only way I would be able to get out is a wet exit. Half a roll

I'd prefer to kneel in my canoes.
If I can't there will be some for sale.
Sitting in YC guarantees a bath
Sitting in Monarch just fine
I'm thinking now of boats I can do without

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Kim, the most important thing right now - more even than the PT - is to avoid any infection. Patience rules,and that means staying off the water until the incision is completely healed and scab-free. I had to wait longer than expected to get to that point this spring and it drove me nuts - but I kept reminding myself of the time I nearly lost my leg to infection from a wound in my knee. That is something I don't even want to think about.

I knew one person who did regret having the knee replaced. He didn't follow through with the PT assignments and gave up on exercise almost entirely...well, eventually it was entirely. In my estimation from watching as his next door neighbor, his lack of movement (which was already a habit for him by then) was what made it fail for him. I know you won't have that problem.

 

[Muskrat]

Keep up the good work Kim. How's the progression going?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Today is a f*** it day.. I sat too long yesterday out to dinner and a play. Today I have to do more straightening exercises. The odd think is my shin is killing me, my calf muscle is charley horsing and my outer thigh screams
the knee is happy..
Its two steps forward one slide back..
Im trying to visualize kneeling to get into a tent in late February.. Maybe we will not go to the Everglades for canoe camping but just canoe day trips. We have a small travel trailer for car camping.

 

[frozentripper]

Kim, the info I got from the rehab classes I went to before hip replacement surgery was for the first three months movement had to be limited since too much could damage the healing, but six months afterwards the joint can be used in the range of movements just like normal. Knees IIRC might take more time to recover but kneeling could be possible.

In this study, 64 out of 75 knee replacement patients were able to kneel without discomfort and some or all of the others that couldn't were reporting pain unrelated to knees... so there should be a good chance of being able to kneel in the tent and in a canoe but I'm no expert on the matter.

The report...

http://www.bjj.boneandjoint.org.uk/c...2/220.full.pdf

My right hip was sore for several weeks after surgery and I wasn't able to lie on that side when sleeping... six months after it was no problem. Anyway, maybe six months is a target to plan for and by that time you'll know how comfortable kneeling can be... another doctor told me vitamin C speeds up healing and may be an option to help things move along a little faster.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I was waffling till I went to the 2016 Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Assembly. Between having to walk 400 feet in agony each time from the store to a wifi signal to use the Square to process payments, and having the demo of some six canoeists with TKA recently kneeling in their canoes along with a short kneeling outing from Lower St Regis to Spitfire and back ( in pain,,canoe only has kneeling thwarts) I was sold.

I am off cane except for stairs.. and that is more fear of loss of balance than anything else. 14 days out.. Now cooking and remembering not to sit for more than 30 min..time's up.

 

[stevet]

Similar sentiments as others...everyone I have known that did it loved it...after a while. Recovery seems to take a bit longer than they promise you but if you stick with the rehab everything comes out all right in the end. Best wishes Kim, I'm sure you'll be ready for that Monarch in the sunshine and palms!