Had the staples removed on Wednesday (2 weeks post-op). A big relief as that has helped to minimize the pulling.
Doc is very pleased with my progress. I am putting full weight on the knee and walking around the house with no crutches – have been for several days. However out in public I continue with the crutches as they provide a safety bubble, especially laterally.
I shared with doc that I still have significant burning ache in the anterior medial knee compartment; doc says that was the primary point of access, “like opening pages of a book” and that that would probably continue for a while. Also that there was “a ton of arthritis” that needed to be removed.
He has ramped up my PT schedule and I will see him again in four weeks.
Continuing to get daily acupuncture to help with the healing and keep things moving. Plan to be back in the swimming pool in a week to ten days, as soon as there is no chance of infection. The swimming will really help with the PT as this is a warm water pool, specially heated for physical therapy work, which for me will consist primarily of lap swimming. I am used to swimming one to two miles five days a week
I also did my first yoga inversion (going upside down) since surgery. Yes, it was supported and yes, I needed assistance getting up since I push off with that leg, but going upside down is my favorite part of yoga and it was a real thrill for my classmates and me who followed my TKA journey.
And my BIG news is that I had my first Shiatsu massage today. I am so very fortunate that my acupuncture doc has a working relationship with a Shiatsu masseuse who also teaches Shiatsu at the Oregon School of Massage. This was a ***fantastic*** experience and one I would highly recommend as part of the TKA recovery. My knee flexion improved, the pain in the anterior medial compartment diminished. That one hour did more to improve my knee condition than all the PT I have done. It will be interesting to see how long the effects last. I did follow it with an acupuncture treatment which will enhance the effects of the Shiatsu massage. I can’t wait for my next appointment next week!
In fact, I felt so good today that I left the crutches in the car when I went into acupuncture and then forgot I had a knee problem and tried to go down the stairs like a real person…OUCH! Won’t make that mistake again. Didn’t hurt as much as it might have, but I am definitely not ready for stairs.
To both the credit of my acupuncturist and the Shiatsu masseuse, they went to the EdHeads website (www.edheads.org) and did the Virtual Knee Replacement playing the role of surgeon.
This is an animated website, eliminating the blood and gore of the actual surgery. Both found the exercise very helpful in deciding how to proceed with my course of treatment.
Thank you for letting me share.
It is hard to believe it has only been a little over two weeks!
Christine
