OMG. Has it really been 5 months since I started this journey with this prosthetic knee? Sometimes I find that very depressing. Shouldn't I be all healed up by now? It's been 5 months damnit! That's when I feel like giving up; not doing another day of exercise on it. It's times like this that I question my decision of even having it done. What WAS I thinking? I have to remind myself of the choices I had. None. It was only a matter of time before I would be unable to walk at all. Bone against bone and grinding away at the upper and lower leg.
It's time to calm down and rethink this. It's time to remember what others that have had this surgery have said. "It takes a full year to recover". I'm not even half way there yet. When I think about it in those terms, I feel as though I'm doing better then expected for 5 months post op.
Clinically: The knee is stable. No shifting of the femur and tibia. The leg is aligned and firm. There is no pain at the knee. The pain is in the hamstrings and the quads and only upon rising from a bed or from a sitting position. More of the swelling has disappeared and the knee is beginning to take more shape with indentations around the patella noted as in a "normal" knee. The scar is mostly invisible but for the two inches directly above the knee that remains reddened and thick. I can walk for increased distances now. I can climb stairs without pain although I do note a weakness still in the muscles and I use the railing for support.
Most days I can get full extension. I still have to pause when I stand up and leg the leg extend and straighten on it's own. I can feel those last few degrees reach full extension from the weight of my leg pulling down on the knee. It's a weird feeling to be sure.
Flexion remains at about 120. I can live with that but I would not be adverse to getting more flexion. I'm once again putting weights on my knee for the extension. I won't be doing it often. Once a day for a few days to stretch the quads. It's been an especially depressing week. Because of the weights on the knee, the muscles this week have been sore and tender. I haven't wanted to walk much and I have to remember why I'm in pain.
I've been laying around too much lately. I need to get up early and walk a few blocks before the temperatures rise and it's too hot to be outside.
A post note: 1 yr after having the knee replacement, I found out what was causing the pain when I stood up. A bone spur was eating into my achilles tendon so 1 yr after the knee replacement, I was back in the hospital for another surgery to remove that spur. No longer any pain when standing.
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