Total Knee Replacement and Hyaluronic Acid Shot experiences?

[sherpa]

I'm six months into the process now and the knee is really good, 140 is easily achievable now and I probably am a few degrees better than that. Very little discomfort when doing anything other than down stairs which causes minor pain under the kneecap. Can't believe it's been six months, the first couple of months just seemed really slow and it's so easy to get frustrated with the speed of the recovery process. People I haven't seen in awhile ask which knee I had replaced as the scar is really neat and I am not limping at all and in all honesty my right knee is probably going to cause me more dramas as I had a knee reconstruction done on it 44 years ago and I am starting to get some little niggles in that knee as it's been working overtime for the last six months.

 

[Injured Again]

@Injured Again thank you

the crying was a combination of hearing your journey, my expected future, and just frustration. I'll look back again at your posts.

There is no doubt that it is a hard journey, but the times I now walk pain free give me reassurance that I made the right decision. Without the operation, I was on a steady decline with occasional periods of less pain and decent functioning. Now, I can see that those better days before the surgery will be my low baseline, and it will only get better from there.

I’ve realized that the worst thing for me was the holding pattern trying to make sure the surgery was the right thing. I know now that for my personality, it is better to do something than nothing. The waiting to be sure was mentally more defeating than getting it done and dealing with this extensive rehab.

Yes, it is absolutely possible you may turn out to be one of the very few that experience significant post-op problems, but the vast majority have good to great outcomes. Putting in the work before and after increases your chances even more, and you may find out like I did that I really enjoy the rehab process that work has helped make me less complacent in other areas of my life.

I don’t want to seem as though I’m pushing you or anyone to get a TKR - only that for me there were other benefits than just the knee itself.

 

[sherpa]

My situation was that my knee was just OK for moderate day to day living, but as soon as any sport or decent exercise was involved the problems and pain started almost straight away. My life revolves around being reasonably active, and up until a couple of years ago I was coaching tennis four afternoons a week as well as playing in competitions. I continue to ride my mountain bike and since my TKR have started to play competitive Table Tennis again, a sport I gave up some twenty years ago. I played Pickleball today with basically no pain, just a couple of twinges under the kneecap and my long term goal is to return to competitive motorcycle competition. I see my specialist on Monday, so hopefully I get the OK , fingers crossed.

 

[ace18]

There is no doubt that it is a hard journey, but the times I now walk pain free give me reassurance that I made the right decision. Without the operation, I was on a steady decline with occasional periods of less pain and decent functioning. Now, I can see that those better days before the surgery will be my low baseline, and it will only get better from there.

I’ve realized that the worst thing for me was the holding pattern trying to make sure the surgery was the right thing. I know now that for my personality, it is better to do something than nothing. The waiting to be sure was mentally more defeating than getting it done and dealing with this extensive rehab.

Yes, it is absolutely possible you may turn out to be one of the very few that experience significant post-op problems, but the vast majority have good to great outcomes. Putting in the work before and after increases your chances even more, and you may find out like I did that I really enjoy the rehab process that work has helped make me less complacent in other areas of my life.

I don’t want to seem as though I’m pushing you or anyone to get a TKR - only that for me there were other benefits than just the knee itself.

@Injured Again Hey my man, just started back following your journey. Great work, it looks like things have gone really well for you! If you don't recall, I broke a finger on my tennis hand in early January, had cast and all that good stuff. I finally got the go ahead for light hitting. I took a vacation from this message board while I was on the mend.

Keeping kicking butt and i'm excited for the hikes you mentioned you have coming up.

 

[andfor]

Today is my 6 month anniversary since bilateral TKR. Since I found this thread a few months ago my dramatic post surgery improvements had decreased. But continued noticeable improvements remain ongoing, just less dramatic. I have not been measured in a while but am confident both knees are greater than 130 degrees flexion, and 0 plus degrees on extension. The stretch strap and assisted primal squats have been a major help improving flexion. Still doing the heel props for extension, only 1-5 minutes.

Played tennis in a 90 minute clinic yesterday. I'm trying to be on the court now at least once a week. Movement was a little better than last week. Not much better, but I felt better and one of my friends in the clinic said he noticed my movement had improved. While this progress often seems to slow for me, I remind myself to be patient and accept the small improvements.

I'm still doing rehab, cardio and weights are daily. Alternating cardio and weights every other day. Rehab and stretching every day. My biggest hurdle continues to be my lower back stiffness, it's arthritic and the biggest issue slowing court movement improvement. I'm guessing I'll need to suck it up and strategically push through that gradually. I'm finding walking to provide the biggest relief to the low back. Lifting weights in the gym has also provided significant gains in mobility and pain reduction.

At this point from a return to a competitive tennis standpoint, I'd say I'm around 60% and recalibrating my progress of getting to around 80-90% till around mid summer (I know I keep pushing it back LOL). From a knee pain reduction I'm around 100% pain free from pre-surgery.

Overall TKR has been great for me! I'm able to walk for distance now that used to be a major issue. Also, post tennis there not more icing, pain, trouble sleeping. Speaking of sleeping that improved 100% as I can now sleep on my side with my knees together which used to be impossible.

Hope this helps some of you either suffering from knees issues and those recovering from knees injury and surgery. Keep rehabbing and training.

 

[Injured Again]

Eight weeks and two days today. It’s our second day in Sedona and we just did our first hike. 5.85 miles in and around Bell Rock and Courthouse butte, and then a light scramble up about halfway up Bell Rock. The knee felt fantastic going up and down, though I was still very careful on the rock scrambles. We’ve got some longer hikes with more elevation gain coming up but my confidence in my knee has greatly increased. It is still weak near full extension but that feeling goes away after about a quarter mile. After that, it feels just like a normal knee. The only other real difference is that if we sit for ten or fifteen minutes to admire the view or eat some food, it gets stiff and takes a minute to loosen back up.

It has been a couple of years since I’ve hiked with no knee pain, and I carried about a 20 pound backpack today.

Best of luck to everyone!

 

[ace18]

Eight weeks and two days today. It’s our second day in Sedona and we just did our first hike. 5.85 miles in and around Bell Rock and Courthouse butte, and then a light scramble up about halfway up Bell Rock. The knee felt fantastic going up and down, though I was still very careful on the rock scrambles. We’ve got some longer hikes with more elevation gain coming up but my confidence in my knee has greatly increased. It is still weak near full extension but that feeling goes away after about a quarter mile. After that, it feels just like a normal knee. The only other real difference is that if we sit for ten or fifteen minutes to admire the view or eat some food, it gets stiff and takes a minute to loosen back up.

It has been a couple of years since I’ve hiked with no knee pain, and I carried about a 20 pound backpack today.

Best of luck to everyone!

That's awesome! One day I will hike in Sedona. I used to be a tennis player that hikes, now i'm a hiker that plays tennis!

 

[djNEiGht]

Bell Rock was nice and not too crowded. Devils Bridge though was super crowded and certain sections was a tough/extended scramble route.

 

[Injured Again]

We’re taking a bit of a down day today. We haven’t been hiking much and tomorrow we are doing the seven sacred pools/Brin’s mesa/soldier pass loop so we’re exploring Tlaquepacque today.

The quad muscle weakness near full extension really got a workout on the hike. It feels much stronger today, almost like my nerve activation patterns and ability is better rather than that the muscle is stronger.

There’s a gym here so that’s for tonight. It’s supposed to rain on Tuesday but next week will be a hike to Cathedral Rock from the Yavapai trailhead, and Devil’s bridge. Also hoping to go to Meteor Crater and Lowell Observatory next Thursday when it’s supposed to be clear. I’m still figuring out how far I can push my knee so the amount of rock scrambling will be pretty minimal. I really don’t want to fall and hurt it now that my recovery has gone well this far.

I’ve seen a bunch of golf courses but not one tennis court!

 

[Injured Again]

Did the seven sacred pools/soldier pass hike with a side trip/rock scramble up to the cave. 6.2 miles and 1200 feet of elevation, with much of that on rocky, loose steps. Knee was great with no pain, even when having to flex to 130 degrees to be able to drop down from a tall ledge, or at 120 degree bend doing a one legged step up onto a tall step. Carried a pack with all the drinks for my wife and myself, plus a heavy first aid kit so altogether about 25 pounds.

The quad weakness near full extension was at least 50% better after the workout from the first hike. It feels like nerve activation is almost normal, and today I can almost fully extend my leg to zero degrees. My ability to recover from slight loss of balance is better than before surgery.

I took a few running steps afterwards and can notice the quad weakness a bit but it was never an issue during the hike. I’m feeling very hopeful to be able to safely start run training after we get home in a week.

There are just no tennis courts here that I can see. Maybe because it’s at that intermediate elevation where a normal ball is too bouncy but a high altitude ball isn’t bouncy enough? I’m glad the hiking is taking enough out of me that I probably wouldn’t hit even if I had my gear and a court were available.

 

[djNEiGht]

Did the seven sacred pools/soldier pass hike with a side trip/rock scramble up to the cave. 6.2 miles and 1200 feet of elevation, with much of that on rocky, loose steps. Knee was great with no pain, even when having to flex to 130 degrees to be able to drop down from a tall ledge, or at 120 degree bend doing a one legged step up onto a tall step. Carried a pack with all the drinks for my wife and myself, plus a heavy first aid kit so altogether about 25 pounds.

The quad weakness near full extension was at least 50% better after the workout from the first hike. It feels like nerve activation is almost normal, and today I can almost fully extend my leg to zero degrees. My ability to recover from slight loss of balance is better than before surgery.

I took a few running steps afterwards and can notice the quad weakness a bit but it was never an issue during the hike. I’m feeling very hopeful to be able to safely start run training after we get home in a week.

There are just no tennis courts here that I can see. Maybe because it’s at that intermediate elevation where a normal ball is too bouncy but a high altitude ball isn’t bouncy enough? I’m glad the hiking is taking enough out of me that I probably wouldn’t hit even if I had my gear and a court were available.

I really enjoyed soldier pass and the scramble up to the cave. We had our maltipoo with us in a backpack and she fussed just a little bit.

I didn't notice much tennis courts either except a couple hotels/resorts here and there.

i'm just a bit crushed with how long it is expected to get my paperwork done with my "surgery plus" benefits through my insurance. knee was very painful end of last week...but I did coach a little and played on the beginner liveball court for about 20 minutes. so my body was pushed a bit.

yard work today and knee was good. clearing gutters up and down the ladder. shoveling old mixed up mulch. hands and knees pulling weeds. Wow..body feels week. My hands cramped as I was weeding. Just overall decline. really annoyed.

Carry on everyone.

 

[Injured Again]

I really enjoyed soldier pass and the scramble up to the cave. We had our maltipoo with us in a backpack and she fussed just a little bit.

I didn't notice much tennis courts either except a couple hotels/resorts here and there.

i'm just a bit crushed with how long it is expected to get my paperwork done with my "surgery plus" benefits through my insurance. knee was very painful end of last week...but I did coach a little and played on the beginner liveball court for about 20 minutes. so my body was pushed a bit.

yard work today and knee was good. clearing gutters up and down the ladder. shoveling old mixed up mulch. hands and knees pulling weeds. Wow..body feels week. My hands cramped as I was weeding. Just overall decline. really annoyed.

Carry on everyone.

I had a four month plus wait for my surgery. Looking back at my calendar, I had my appointment with my surgeon to request and schedule the TKA on August 16th and my surgery was December 27th.

In the weeks before that August appointment, I was really hobbled with knee pain. I remember at least two days where I couldn’t even play doubles because I couldn’t move.

After I got my date, I was bummed. Four months seemed like an eternity and I wanted my athletic life back. But two things happened. One is that I had a purpose - get as strong as possible so the recovery would go as well as it could. And second, just knowing that I didn’t have to be in knee preservation mode freed me mentally and let me push deeper into the discomfort. But that was liberating, because I knew that if I hurt my knee, it was going to be replaced anyway. And I was never reckless but I did run harder on court and started pushing heavier weights in the gym.

It was the purpose that made the time bearable. I’m one of those who would rather do something than nothing, even if I didn’t know if that something was the right thing.

It sounds like you are driven, and that seems like a major determinant of how well things can go. If you are still on track to get your knee done, I hope you find a way to channel the frustration into positive action that helps you mentally cope with this long delay. My best to you.

 

[sherpa]

I caught Covid the day before I was due to be operated on, thanks to my wonderful wife's weekend away with her girlfriends. My operation was subsequently put back 3 months due to the hospitals protocol for Covid patients. I had a great 6 month visit with my Doctor on Monday and he was very happy with my result and gave me the OK to resume all sports and stressed that it's a 12 month process so don't be impatient.

 

[andfor]

@djNEiGht I also had to wait 4 months. Similar to @Injured Again I decided to continue exercising where I could. Those workouts, mostly the long bike rides filled the tennis void for me. Pre-op I could still comfortably ride the bike, swim, use the rowing machine and perform some lifts and PT. My concept leading up to my surgery was to train for it best I could like getting ready for a competition. Post-surgery I believe my fitness helped me rebound quickly. 6 months post-op for me I'm back to doing most all activities I want to knee pain free. I still got the low back issue that continues slow improvement. (sorry for the font) ​

I do realize that no two TKR patients are the same leading up to the procedure and that means the amount and type of pre-hab each can do varies widely. Sounds like you can do some activities, hope that continues for you. All the best to you leading up to the surgery and cheers to a successful outcome for you.

 

[djNEiGht]

@sherpa @andfor @Injured Again
thank you for the comments of encouragement and patience

one doesn't expect to deal with emotional burdens. thus is life...

my favoring of the good/bad side of my body is taking its toll on me

keeping the faith.

 

[SteveI]

@sherpa @andfor @Injured Again
thank you for the comments of encouragement and patience

one doesn't expect to deal with emotional burdens. thus is life...

my favoring of the good/bad side of my body is taking its toll on me

keeping the faith.

Keep up the great work and attitude. Just read an study that made it clear that a positive outlook creates positive outcomes! Such is life. I think Budda stated, life is about suffering.. Or from the Shawshank Redemption... "Get busy living or get busy dying".

 

[djNEiGht]

@SteveI thank you

this weekend going to set up the stationary trainer and put the bike on it.

 

[Injured Again]

@djNEiGht ”Keep the faith” - I like that! Hang in there!

It’s our last full day in Sedona. Two days ago, I ran into the limit of my knee on an 8.5 mile hike to Boynton Canyon, where we also made the side trips up to the subway cave and the vista near the beginning with the cuchina woman pillar and energy vortex.. After getting back to our place, my knee swelled up a bit and was very stiff and tight feeling overnight and into the next day. The swelling was behind the knee, like a Baker’s cyst. That hike followed about a 7.5 miler to the 7 sacred pools and around the back side to soldier pass two days prior.

There was a fair amount of rock scrambling to the cave and in walking around on the ledges, and the 20+ pound pack was a fair load considering I’m still needing to drop about five pounds.

Today, we did a shorter, 4.5 miles out to devil’s bridge and the knee felt better than any time since the surgery. Overall, we did over 25 miles and 5000 feet of elevation gain in four hikes spread over eight days.

I’ve got a tennis court reservation about three hours after touching down tomorrow, and am really looking forward to hitting a tennis ball again.

My best to everyone.

 

[djNEiGht]

@Injured Again well done. have a safe trip back home

All - lunch time met up with family and my elementary grade nieces were helping me walk as it's often difficult after driving/seated for a while. It was funny because as much as they thought they were helping, they were just holding my hand and sometimes pulling down because of height differences. Late bedtime dog walk I felt really good. now off to bed. cheers everyone

 

[Injured Again]

Ten weeks today and I have now been lightly running for a few days. The weather is extremely cold here so I haven’t felt comfortable doing anything other than jogging speed but will hopefully get back to lengthening my stride and doing some sprint training in the next few weeks, before a progression to training the aggressive change of direction motions needed on a court.

 

[Injured Again]

On Friday, I had the best moving day on the court since before my meniscus tear. I’m gradually letting myself go a little harder, and I ended up with no knee swelling or discomfort. I’m able to stay much lower and actually get some air under my shoes when I split step so my first couple of steps are faster, longer, and more explosive.

The remaining issue is a bit of weakness near full extension. That’s way better than even two weeks ago and is not an issue at all in everyday activities but I can still feel it extending upward when serving, and when backpedaling like for an overhead.

I have exactly six weeks before we leave for Europe for a month. The past two weeks with the trip to Sedona have been a needed mental break from the hours of rehab I have been doing practically every day. But now it’s time to hit the gym again, lose some of this weight I’ve gained, and get ready to rock the tournaments this summer.

 

[ByeByePoly]

rhymes with prudence

 

[SteveI]

On Friday, I had the best moving day on the court since before my meniscus tear. I’m gradually letting myself go a little harder, and I ended up with no knee swelling or discomfort. I’m able to stay much lower and actually get some air under my shoes when I split step so my first couple of steps are faster, longer, and more explosive.

The remaining issue is a bit of weakness near full extension. That’s way better than even two weeks ago and is not an issue at all in everyday activities but I can still feel it extending upward when serving, and when backpedaling like for an overhead.

I have exactly six weeks before we leave for Europe for a month. The past two weeks with the trip to Sedona have been a needed mental break from the hours of rehab I have been doing practically every day. But now it’s time to hit the gym again, lose some of this weight I’ve gained, and get ready to rock the tournaments this summer.

great work...

 

[Injured Again]

rhymes with prudence

I'm a nuisance.....

 

[djNEiGht]

bravo!

 

[andfor]

Had my 6 month post opp visit with my orthopedic surgeon last Wednesday. Went well and all indications are my recovery is going as planned. We discussed my ongoing low back issue that's very slowly recovering. He suggested one more steroid dose pack when and if I want it, and if my pain is not better in 4 weeks or so schedule an MRI. I think it's piriformis syndrome, so I've been incorporating a number of exercises and stretches (gliding) that have helped.

My knees are great, again the biggest impediment to my tennis specific movement improving is my back. Luckily I can do my rehab, cardio and strength training comfortably, but when I shuffle or try to aggressively sprint, that's when the shooting pain starts. Just that the slow improvement process is frustrating.

All is not lost through. I played twice last week, including a very active clinic. My movement is getting better so I remain positive. Played doubles yesterday and the guys mentioned seeing improved movement, another positive.

Keep prehabbing, rehabbing and staying active. All the best

 

[Injured Again]

Today is 12 weeks! Universally, everyone I am playing tennis with says I am moving better than they've seen in a couple of years, and I am still not really letting loose yet. Some of that is because I'm still relatively early in the healing process and I don't want to injure something, and some of it is that I still have to work on mentally retraining my movement. Being in knee protection mode for so long, it's hard to get rid of those habits.

Pretty much everything is pain free with my left knee. I can play tennis, hike, ride my bike, jump, cut hard on it, and do resistance training. Running still feels weird, like that the nerves and muscles around the knee haven't figured out how to accommodate this mass of metal and plastic that has reduced my bowl-leggedness. And the weather really isn't going to accommodate me training outdoors now for a couple of weeks so I'm confined to treadmill running.

The feeling of weakness near full extension is basically gone, though I still can't muscularly fully straightening my leg like doing a leg extension. I'm a couple of degrees short and I'm told this will come over the next month or two. Leg strength is still down but I've been working on climbing stairs carrying weights in both hands. I'm still at 140 degrees bending and may try to get another five degrees but I'm very close to the actual physical limit of bending that my prosthesis will allow.

I can finally backpedal for overheads again! I haven't been able to do this for a couple of years and now I have to learn how to do it without getting off balance.

What else is still not normal is that I am still having phantom itching and zingers. The zingers have actually gotten a bit more prevalent this last week and is starting to result in poor sleep quality. Other than the first couple of weeks, this is the worst sleep quality I've had. Most nights, it starts around 2 a.m. and wakes me up, then just continues to zing and zap me for a couple of hours no matter how much I bend the knee, and whether or not I get up and hop on the stationary bike. The doc says this will also go away, and in fact he finds that people who have a more complete recovery seem to have a greater prevalence of these symptoms. These symptoms happen whether I've been highly active or highly inactive that day. And one other problem I'm still having is sitting in a chair for too long. I saw Dune part 2 in a theater this past weekend and it was pretty uncomfortable for about the last half hour. In five weeks, we're flying from Seattle to Boston, then from Boston to Madrid so I hope it's resolved some by then. I'm also hoping to lose about 7-8 pounds in that five weeks.

Onward! Best of luck to everyone going through knee issues.

 

[djNEiGht]

good to hear @Injured Again

got an update that my paperwork with new dr is moving forward so i'm anticipating a call any time now.

 

[Injured Again]

good to hear @Injured Again

got an update that my paperwork with new dr is moving forward so i'm anticipating a call any time now.

Best of luck. Go back to a few posts back where I described all the things I didn't know to ask and ask those questions!

 

[EggSalad]

Today is 12 weeks! Universally, everyone I am playing tennis with says I am moving better than they've seen in a couple of years, and I am still not really letting loose yet. Some of that is because I'm still relatively early in the healing process and I don't want to injure something, and some of it is that I still have to work on mentally retraining my movement. Being in knee protection mode for so long, it's hard to get rid of those habits.

Pretty much everything is pain free with my left knee. I can play tennis, hike, ride my bike, jump, cut hard on it, and do resistance training. Running still feels weird, like that the nerves and muscles around the knee haven't figured out how to accommodate this mass of metal and plastic that has reduced my bowl-leggedness. And the weather really isn't going to accommodate me training outdoors now for a couple of weeks so I'm confined to treadmill running.

The feeling of weakness near full extension is basically gone, though I still can't muscularly fully straightening my leg like doing a leg extension. I'm a couple of degrees short and I'm told this will come over the next month or two. Leg strength is still down but I've been working on climbing stairs carrying weights in both hands. I'm still at 140 degrees bending and may try to get another five degrees but I'm very close to the actual physical limit of bending that my prosthesis will allow.

I can finally backpedal for overheads again! I haven't been able to do this for a couple of years and now I have to learn how to do it without getting off balance.

What else is still not normal is that I am still having phantom itching and zingers. The zingers have actually gotten a bit more prevalent this last week and is starting to result in poor sleep quality. Other than the first couple of weeks, this is the worst sleep quality I've had. Most nights, it starts around 2 a.m. and wakes me up, then just continues to zing and zap me for a couple of hours no matter how much I bend the knee, and whether or not I get up and hop on the stationary bike. The doc says this will also go away, and in fact he finds that people who have a more complete recovery seem to have a greater prevalence of these symptoms. These symptoms happen whether I've been highly active or highly inactive that day. And one other problem I'm still having is sitting in a chair for too long. I saw Dune part 2 in a theater this past weekend and it was pretty uncomfortable for about the last half hour. In five weeks, we're flying from Seattle to Boston, then from Boston to Madrid so I hope it's resolved some by then. I'm also hoping to lose about 7-8 pounds in that five weeks.

Onward! Best of luck to everyone going through knee issues.

That is fantastic. It sounds like you’ll just keep getting better and better. A lot of great tennis to look forward to.

 

[andfor]

Next Monday will be 7 months post op from my bilateral TKR. Haven't posted in a few weeks but during that time have seemed to have some positive breakthroughs. Knees are doing great. Weightlifting about twice a weeks has given the most benefits to me at this time. My biggest problem recovering has been my residual stiff lower back/hip issue. The strength training and added mobility and flexibility exercises has been a big contributor to my back/hip improvement. Tennis court mobility is improving, most notably lateral and forward running. Going back for an overhead still needs work. HAHA. I'm also adding some lift off to my serve.

Played last night with a 4.5 against a 5.0 and 4.0. Lost the first set 6-4 and was up on serve 5-4 when time ran out. Overall my health and conditioning is very good. While progress remains ongoing but slower than I would like, I'm taking my progress as positive. Still think I can be close to full speed by mid-summer.

 

[djNEiGht]

well done!

i have my consult for 5.6

 

[Injured Again]

Checking in at 16 weeks plus a couple of days. Life has been very busy and we leave later today for a month long vacation. Because of that, I’ve been working overtime on my rehab. I am almost to the point where the knee is just not an issue in anything I do.

I’m doing two hard lifting days a week, which include three sets each of bilateral leg presses, hamstring curls, and leg extensions, along with three additional sets of these exercises single legged. My strength deficit on my left leg is decreasing and I’ve regained some of the lost muscle mass and definition though there is still a ways to go. I can free weight squat 185 pounds to a 90 degree bend with zero pain and minimal struggle for a six rep set.

I also do one hard movement training day a week where I do a series of stops and starts on a court from corner to corner, and follow it up with a few 100 meter sprints on an astroturf field where I go about 70% speed the first half and 95% speed the second half concentrating on a long stride length. No knee discomfort doing this.

My longest hike so far has been eleven miles. I have to build that up as I won the lottery to hike Half Dome on July 7th with my son. 16 miles with 5300 feet of elevation gain while carrying a 30 pound pack - that’s going to hurt! Three days after we get back is the start of the Oregon State tournament, and a week later with Washington State. I hope I can turn around the hiking and get into tennis form quickly.

I **still** can’t fully straighten my leg. Despite having more than enough strength and doing leg extensions, if I sit in a chair and flex until I’m purple, I can’t get that last 2-3 degrees of straightening. If I have my foot on the floor, then I can easily fully straighten my leg. I am told this will come over time. My knee is still warmer to the touch than the other side, and apparently this can last up to a year. There’s a large patch of skin to the outside of the incision that is numb but I’m regaining feeling there slowly.

@andfor - it’s great to hear you’re doing so well!

@djNEiGht - best of luck with your consult. I know there is no guarantee that everything will go well, and I had real concerns about how well things would go after surgery. It’s why I put my TKR off for so long. My surgeon steadfastly maintained that the number one and two goals were pain relief and the ability to perform the activities of daily living, but also knew that with perseverance and a bit of luck, that the new prosthetics are capable of so much even though he was guarded about that. I am still continuing to improve. I hope that if you make the decision to go forward, that you also have a fantastic outcome.

 

[onehandbh]

Checking in at 16 weeks plus a couple of days. Life has been very busy and we leave later today for a month long vacation. Because of that, I’ve been working overtime on my rehab. I am almost to the point where the knee is just not an issue in anything I do.

I’m doing two hard lifting days a week, which include three sets each of bilateral leg presses, hamstring curls, and leg extensions, along with three additional sets of these exercises single legged. My strength deficit on my left leg is decreasing and I’ve regained some of the lost muscle mass and definition though there is still a ways to go. I can free weight squat 185 pounds to a 90 degree bend with zero pain and minimal struggle for a six rep set.

I also do one hard movement training day a week where I do a series of stops and starts on a court from corner to corner, and follow it up with a few 100 meter sprints on an astroturf field where I go about 70% speed the first half and 95% speed the second half concentrating on a long stride length. No knee discomfort doing this.

My longest hike so far has been eleven miles. I have to build that up as I won the lottery to hike Half Dome on July 7th with my son. 16 miles with 5300 feet of elevation gain while carrying a 30 pound pack - that’s going to hurt! Three days after we get back is the start of the Oregon State tournament, and a week later with Washington State. I hope I can turn around the hiking and get into tennis form quickly.

I **still** can’t fully straighten my leg. Despite having more than enough strength and doing leg extensions, if I sit in a chair and flex until I’m purple, I can’t get that last 2-3 degrees of straightening. If I have my foot on the floor, then I can easily fully straighten my leg. I am told this will come over time. My knee is still warmer to the touch than the other side, and apparently this can last up to a year. There’s a large patch of skin to the outside of the incision that is numb but I’m regaining feeling there slowly.

@andfor - it’s great to hear you’re doing so well!

@djNEiGht - best of luck with your consult. I know there is no guarantee that everything will go well, and I had real concerns about how well things would go after surgery. It’s why I put my TKR off for so long. My surgeon steadfastly maintained that the number one and two goals were pain relief and the ability to perform the activities of daily living, but also knew that with perseverance and a bit of luck, that the new prosthetics are capable of so much even though he was guarded about that. I am still continuing to improve. I hope that if you make the decision to go forward, that you also have a fantastic outcome.

Your recovery sounds fantastic so far!

Don't forget to stretch your quads, hamstrings, calves, etc after each workout to increase muscle range of motion/flexibiilty.

 

[djNEiGht]

@Injured Again thank you and great to read of your update

I guess looking back...i'm dealing with depression over my quality of life, dealing with/supporting loved ones going through marital strife, my fathers fight against cancer... I know I've been stacking on the pounds. Only coaching the kids court and maybe jumping in on 20 minutes of adult beginner liveball after working the kids. I got to the courts early last week and played with a fellow coach against his two high school girls and ground strokes were good but wow my legs and back forgot how to serve and I was gassed.

I've seen pictures of myself and of course looking in the mirror...but yesterday as I saw myself on the house security cam while I was shooing away our neighbors chicken that was following me into the garage. YIKES!!! ahahahahah.

Been having some decent walking days and have been doing free weights in the morning from time to time.

 

[onehandbh]

@Injured Again

I've seen pictures of myself and of course looking in the mirror...but yesterday as I saw myself on the house security cam while I was shooing away our neighbors chicken that was following me into the garage. YIKES!!! ahahahahah.

If it's any consolation, usually the camera makes us look bigger than we look in real life.

 

[djNEiGht]

If it's any consolation, usually the camera makes us look bigger than we look in real life.

thank you.

today pulled out the scale to start the progress.

 

[USMC-615]

thank you.

today pulled out the scale to start the progress.

Best of luck with your upcoming consult and procedure.

 

[djNEiGht]

@USMC-615 thank you

 

[Injured Again]

Your recovery sounds fantastic so far!

Don't forget to stretch your quads, hamstrings, calves, etc after each workout to increase muscle range of motion/flexibiilty.

Doing hamstring stretches is really important for recovery from TKR and other major knee surgeries. Studies have shown that a major component of quad weakness, which is by far the biggest physical deficit that comes from these surgeries, is that muscle recruitment changes result in some significant portion of that strength loss. In the case of hamstrings, patients post TKR tend to activate both quads and hamstrings at the same time when they are only trying to activate their quads, leading to a greater effective weakness because the muscles are working against each other.

Stretching the hamstrings helps with the muscle recruitment problems, so I’ve been stretching religiously since my new knee.

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LONG-TERM QUADRICEPS WEAKNESS AND EARLY WALKING MUSCLE CO-CONTRACTION AFTER TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY

Quadriceps weakness is one of the primary post-operative impairments that persist long term for patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We hypothesized that early gait muscle recruitment patterns of the quadriceps and hamstrings with diminished ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Injured Again]

@Injured Again thank you and great to read of your update

I guess looking back...i'm dealing with depression over my quality of life, dealing with/supporting loved ones going through marital strife, my fathers fight against cancer... I know I've been stacking on the pounds. Only coaching the kids court and maybe jumping in on 20 minutes of adult beginner liveball after working the kids. I got to the courts early last week and played with a fellow coach against his two high school girls and ground strokes were good but wow my legs and back forgot how to serve and I was gassed.

I've seen pictures of myself and of course looking in the mirror...but yesterday as I saw myself on the house security cam while I was shooing away our neighbors chicken that was following me into the garage. YIKES!!! ahahahahah.

Been having some decent walking days and have been doing free weights in the morning from time to time.

I hear you!

Life sometimes sucks, and often there is not much you can do to make it suck less. There are many times when it seems you want things more than those directly involved want things that can help them.

My wife and I have just found that the best thing we can do in those situations is to allow ourselves to be angry, to get depressed, and to even walk away for some period of time without feeling guilty for doing so. That walking away let us put ourselves as top priority, if only for a short time, and let us do things we enjoyed without repercussions.

I hope you can find your own balance. You obviously care - that’s why those things affect you so much. So take care of yourself also! Feel good about how your strokes are still there - that shows that when you have the ability to get out on the court again with a good knee, you are going to rock it!

 

[Injured Again]

thank you.

today pulled out the scale to start the progress.

That news makes me happy!

 

[djNEiGht]

good morning knee replacement warriors. have a good day

 

[Injured Again]

Hola from Madrid! We’re on our second full day here and found something my new knee does not like to do, and that is stand around for hours. We started our day by walking 1.5 miles to the Prado museum, where we did about four hours of shuffling around to look at artwork. My knee really did not do well and got stiff. It was pretty uncomfortable to walk down steps until I had moved the joint around enough to loosen it back up, but then standing for more than 15 minutes would get me back to ground zero on the stiffness.

We walked a mile to get lunch, then followed it up with another several hours wandering around Retiro Park. It was fine while moving but now at 9 pm and having been back at our place for a few hours, it feels much better after having done some stretching.

Hiking continuously for that length of time hasn’t been an issue so I think it’s really from the standing. Hopefully the knee will get used to the standing and get better over the next three weeks.

Tennis content - we’re at the Mutua Madrid open Thursday and Friday and have Santana stadium tickets. I’m pretty sure we’ll get to see the Nadal-De Minaur rematch. Can’t wait for that!

 

[andfor]

Hola from Madrid! We’re on our second full day here and found something my new knee does not like to do, and that is stand around for hours. We started our day by walking 1.5 miles to the Prado museum, where we did about four hours of shuffling around to look at artwork. My knee really did not do well and got stiff. It was pretty uncomfortable to walk down steps until I had moved the joint around enough to loosen it back up, but then standing for more than 15 minutes would get me back to ground zero on the stiffness.

We walked a mile to get lunch, then followed it up with another several hours wandering around Retiro Park. It was fine while moving but now at 9 pm and having been back at our place for a few hours, it feels much better after having done some stretching.

Hiking continuously for that length of time hasn’t been an issue so I think it’s really from the standing. Hopefully the knee will get used to the standing and get better over the next three weeks.

Tennis content - we’re at the Mutua Madrid open Thursday and Friday and have Santana stadium tickets. I’m pretty sure we’ll get to see the Nadal-De Minaur rematch. Can’t wait for that!

Enjoy your trip! I'm surprised to hear that standing made your knee stiff. Knowing everyone is different and you're only 4 months or so post surgery may have something to do with it. For me standing and knee issues are almost non existent. My back on the other hand while standing still gets stiff.

I'm guessing and hopeful this gets better for you as the months pass. Remember, TKR healing can be ongoing up through 1 year. Post some Nadal v insert players name if you can. Keep moving, know you will!

BTW. Today will be my first attempt to play tennis two days in a row. Wish me luck. Not for the knees, but to play well! HA

 

[Injured Again]

The knee stiffness surprised me as well. Considering how very little discomfort I have doing all the other things, and that I can get my leg straight so I’m not using muscles to stand in place.

I have a bad feeling about the Nadal-De Minaur matchup. The weather has been cool in Madrid. It was middle 40’s F. this morning when we started out and never got above the middle 60’s F. The ball is going to fly slow and bounce low, perfect for De Minaur.

 

[onehandbh]

The knee stiffness surprised me as well. Considering how very little discomfort I have doing all the other things, and that I can get my leg straight so I’m not using muscles to stand in place.

I have a bad feeling about the Nadal-De Minaur matchup. The weather has been cool in Madrid. It was middle 40’s F. this morning when we started out and never got above the middle 60’s F. The ball is going to fly slow and bounce low, perfect for De Minaur.

Record some video of Nadal. Some slow motion video of Nadal's forehand. Zoom in!

 

[Injured Again]

Record some video of Nadal. Some slow motion video of Nadal's forehand. Zoom in!

Got to see Nadal play Darwin Blanch, an up and coming 16 year old with a huge (215 km/hr) serve. Nadal didn’t have to do much to win - just get the ball back in play. Still, there were some vintage Nadal moments. He played much better against De Minaur.

Rafa’s forehand is so simple looking. He turns, drops the racquet down, and lets it rip. The shape is incredible - net clearance plus a big hop made it difficult for his opponent to be aggressive.

 

[Injured Again]

Hello from Lisbon. It’s our last day here. We get a rental car tomorrow and drive up north to Porto and then for a few days in their one National Park, Peneda-Geres.

We’ve been on the road for almost three weeks and my knee is deteriorating. The lack of consistent stretching and weight lifting is one big part of it. The other part is that my knee just does not like standing. For instance, today we started by standing in a line for an hour, then shuffling slowly through a cathedral for another hour. Afterwards, my knee was very stiff and it was painful to go down stairs or bend it much past about 110 degrees. It aches when sitting with the knee bent like when riding a bus or trolley.

But yesterday, we went to a site where the elevator was broken and we had to climb 300 stair steps. It is never bad going up but coming down the first few minutes hurt. Then it gradually got better so that by the time we fully got down, the knee felt great. But the long ride back on a crowded trolley made it hurt again.

We’re one week from returning home. I guess four weeks away was pretty ambitious since I’m still pretty early in the recovery process, and at a time when I should be exercising and rehabbing it correctly daily. Besides the lack of fitness facilities, it’s just hard to maintain a good workout regimen when we’re doing 20,000 slow steps each day. I just want to get back to our place and veg!

Hope everyone else is doing well!

 

[djNEiGht]

good morning

met with the new ortho. he usually does his surgeries at either Cedars or St Johns Santa Monica. He prefers SM and says he uses the robot there. He likes the added guidance but says he is also very comfortable not using it. He has his patients stay the night.

now the other part which seems like a delay is more insurance or surgery plus network concerns. i'm deflated. just want to feel better instead of hurting all the time. I hope things get sorted so I can get scheduled already


yesterday did fairly well but aggravated my tennis elbow....get this...NOT PLAYING TENNIS! The local lake was restocked w Lassen trout and my cousin an avid angler took me. I know how but I don't know how...so it was nice having a seasoned fisher there. My knees felt okay but I'd sit at the edge of the water from time to time. But mostly was wading in about 2' of water. There was a nice spot where I would stand on top of a drainage pipe and cast into a cover...but not being sure footed started to pain me more. So yeah...my casting sucks and i got 3 bites....but took home 8 ahahahaha. i lost a new nice heavy lure on the first cast. Was previously using bobbers and jigs/power bait. Didn't pay attention as to how much further I could cast this and hit the other side of the cove on a tree about 15' above the water line. SMH. The TE could have also been from the fish cleaning I did later that night.

take care everyone!