For the first few months after total knee replacement surgery, the changes were big and dramatic. Lately, things have leveled off, and I started to wonder if I’d reached the new normal. Will this be a good as it gets? But there are still changes and occasional surprises.
Here are eight of them:
👍Where’s the ibuprofen? For months after the serious prescription pain meds, I was still taking over the counter ibuprofen and acetaminophen, and then all of a sudden, I wasn’t. While I was going through my recent bout of flu followed by covid, I went to look for some, and they had migrated to the basket of less used bathroom items. Without even being deliberate about it, I’d just stopped taking them.
👍Stairs! I’m climbing them. Up and down. More than one flight. With and without handrails. Also, carrying things. Don’t get me wrong, if there are handrails, I’m using them, but even going down, which is harder, I’m still walking down normally without handrails. Which also reminds me to remind you, please don’t decorate rails with lights and garland. Pretty? Yes. But not functional for those who rely on them.
👍Getting up and getting down again. For the first while after knee surgery, I was only getting down on the floor at physiotherapy where the floor is cushioned, and they have extra cushions that fit under your recovering knees. To get up, they give you stability poles to help you balance. After that, I started doing floor exercises at home with a yoga mat on top of the carpet, but it still felt very deliberate. Now, I’m not really thinking much about it. I got down on the floor to untangle Christmas lights this week. It feels pretty easy to get up. But more importantly, I don’t have to psyche myself up for it. I just do it.
👍More active around the house. For the first while after surgery, I focused on knee physio but didn’t do much around the house other than make the bed, cook, put clothes away, and empty the dishwasher (Sarah loads. She’s the Scandinavian architect. I’m the raccoon on meth.) But the thing is normally I’m someone who prides herself on strength and on carrying things. All the groceries in one trip? Got it. Carrying laundry up and down multiple flights of stairs? Check. Swapping winter and summer tires from bedside the house for many vehicles? Can do. Carrying bags out to the car for road trips? On it. (Sarah loads. See the dishwasher comment above. ) And the good news is I’m myself again. If I couldn’t ever do it again, that’s okay. I’d adjust, and everyone would still love me. I know that. But it feels good being strong and capable.
👍Bend! One of the main goals of post-operative physio is regaining flexion and extension. I work on it most days. I saw great progress in the weeks after surgery, but then I got to a certain degree of bend and then hit a plateau. I kept working at it and working at it, and now everyone once in a while, I surprise myself with some terrific bendiness. Nothing like the super bendy yoga lady in the stock image below but bendy for me.
👍 I can kneel! After knee replacement surgery, some people never regain the ability to kneel. My physiotherapist says it’s mostly a matter of desensitization. There’s no actual harm to your knees by kneeling. But it feels very weird. Luckily, she’s right. Kneeling is feeling much less strange after doing a lot of it. I can do cat-cow pose in yoga without concentrating on my knee. I’m looking forward to gardening again in the spring.
👍I’m wearing shoes again. Shortly after the second knee surgery, I bought a pair of the world’s most comfortable running shoes, Hokas, and I wondered if I’d ever wear anything besides them. I contemplated getting pairs in lots of different colours to match my clothes. Lately though, I’m back to wearing Danskos, my usual work shoes.
Here’s my latest pair.
👍Muscles. Right after surgery and for months after, I hated the way my legs looked. It wasn’t the incisions or later, the scars, but legs had lost all their shape. They didn’t look like my legs. But lately, when I catch a glimpse of my legs in the mirror, I see that my muscles are back. If you’re a runner or a cyclist, you just get used to seeing your activities reflected in the shape of your body. I’m happy my leg muscles are back.
Anyway, all of this is just to say that I’m still making progress. It’s a reminder to keep on doing the physio even after you’re through the early stages of change.
