Kneedful Things

August 7 - 4 week anniversary - sleeping in the bed every night now, although I wake up and have to readjust frequently, I can actually sleep on my side! Yay!
Moved the pain meds to 3 times a day, going to try that for a week and then 1/2 pills for the daytime (except on therapy days)
Have really increased my extension, although not quite there yet. My flexion is almost as good as non-surgical knee, although no one has measured.
Don't have the energy drain as much, although I can still get a nap in during the day and feel the better for it. This is from someone who NEVER napped unless really sick.
Still using a cane, although I sometimes forget it, and leave it in the bathroom or kitchen. PT wants me to continue using it for now, but I am concentrating on walking w/o a limp. PT noticed improvement on that yesterday
Still get occasional pain spasms, but nothing debilitating, and they go quickly.
Still doing in home PT, yesterday he really pushed my hamstring in a good way.
Sat outside this morning for about 30 minutes with my leg down. When I got up to go inside, I just got up! Before surgery, I would have to straighten my legs out slowly and painfully, and then get up very slowly. Hey, this TKR thing really does work!

August 11 - One month out as of Saturday and doing really well; however, I have a new pain. If my knee is bent at a certain angle, and I move just a little bit, I get a really sharp pain on the outside of my knee. I first noticed it when sitting on the toilet, have had it happen sometimes in bed, and yesterday when getting on my recumbent bike, it hit. It's the worst pain I've had since my surgery, but I can make it stop if I move my knee out of this narrow angle. I've gotten to where I'm scared to have it happen because it hurts so much.

August 12 - First outpatient therapy completed. Wow! It was much longer than I anticipated - 1 1/2 hours! Of course 30 minutes of that was icing, TENS and cold laser therapy. Most of it did not hurt, although the stretches with the hamstring are still pushing the edge of the envelope. Also my quads are definitely out of shape as I found out with leg movements and the weights attached. I had to stop a couple of things that were hurting my non-surgical knee. Nothing hurt a lot, and the PT stopped when I said something, so that was good. Still no measurement, but I know that my flex is almost as good as my non-surgical knee. My extension still needs work, but don't have a number.

August 13 - Five weeks tomorrow and worst seems to be behind me. The pain on the outside of my knee is still harsh but definitely positional - so I try to avoid that position. I've been cutting back on pain meds and substituting extra strength Tylenol. I still have arthritis in my other knee, hands and back, so I need to take something for that besides the pain in the surgery knee. Still very stiff all over in the morning. It seems that I get my other body parts in a kink trying to avoid hurting my knee during the night. Surgery knee is about 3/4" bigger than other knee, so still some swelling (this is measured first thing in morning after being up all night.) I can walk without a limp if I think about it. If I don't, I sometimes relax into a limp.

Looking forward to OS visit next week - hopefully will have the movement to be able to drive. Will certainly be off the heavy duty meds during the day.