robanddi
Burton TX USA
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Joined: 08/11/2003
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Not sure if this is the right category; hopefully moderator will move if appropriate.
I had total right knee replacement last April. I need to do the left knee. My recovery has not been ideal; pain is significantly less but motion is not what I expected. I did pre and post therapy and exercises faithfully. Went today and was told my knee cap has slipped; muscles on outside much stronger than on the inside, etc. etc. Therapy is recommended. In fact some folks just have this tendency even without knee replacement and must do daily therapy and/or exercises to control the situation. Soooooooooooooo the issue is this:
How do you handle therapy and/or exercises on the road?
We are not fulltimers but we do leave for the summers (4 months) and take several other trips of 3-5 weeks. We also have two stick houses (one in metropolitan area and one in the boonies).
I may have given way too much information but I'm sure others face similar issues with aging body parts. I want to continue to be active and I know I need to do something now.
Thanks for any info on how others cope with situations like this.
Diann
Robert & Diann
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Burton TX
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cpmath
New York
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Joined: 07/17/2007
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You do what your doctors and therapists tell you to do.
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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Got me to thinking, had my left knee replaced July 2010 and my right October 2011. My left has been giving me problems since I did the right and wonder if that may be my problem? I go back to the doctor for a check up for the right knee next month and will ask about that possibility for my left knee.
Papa Bob
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robanddi
Burton TX USA
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Joined: 08/11/2003
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tvman44
Symptoms include difficulty in doing stairs particularly downstairs and any twisting motions; plus the usual difficulty in rising from low couches/chairs. (Ain't it fun getting old ... not implying you are but I am.) Also PA told me to watch for tenderness/soreness/sensitivity on the inside of the kneecap.
PA could tell by just looking/feeling the knee cap.
Diann
P.S. I had been told my kneecap was sliding prior to the surgery when I went to someone in Gunnison after hiking Mesa Verde and developing Baker's cysts. Didn't quite understand what that meant until recently ... like today.
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Chuck&Gail
In the Colorado Mountains
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Joined: 06/16/2004
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Ankle weights, especially for leg extension and leg curl while prone on bed, IMO great for knee. We carry graduated weight "bungees" for other exercises. Biggest issue for us is finding where to attach a spring shackle (works great once installed) to the TT wall. In last two TT's we used the ramp door. We need something real solid to hook bungee to, and to pull against.
In our stick house we have a gym by Hoist, great product.
Note, DO NOT exercise the same mussle two days in a row. Stretching is ok, but not weights. Ask any doctor or physical trainer if you disagree on that bit.
Chuck
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robanddi
Burton TX USA
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PA was not specific ... assume PT will provide specific exercises. We are having some major construction done at our cabin and we need to be there for a week or more so have to delay going to therapy.
Does anyone do therapy 'on the road' changing locations or is it only 'do it yourself' while traveling?
Diann
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kmbernstein
colorado springs, co
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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I have also had both my knees replaced...October 2010 and May 2011. Congenital problems that went undiagnosed for years. You are right. Getting old is not for wimps. There are several forums and sites to help keep you on the positive track...I have used them when I am feeling down. What you are experiencing is not that unusual. And despite what you may have been told, recovery is 12-18 months. That being said, I had a great PT group. When I was going to be gone, they gave me exercises to do that were for my specific problems and situations. I have several "portable" pieces of exerciswe equipment. Bands, balls, poles, etc. They also told me right off the bat that the end of PT was not the end of it for me. In order to keep my knees flexible, I had to do exercises the rest of my life, and any type of pain was not normal. I needed to keep track of that, and contact my doctor. I will never be perfect, but I am far better than I have been for many years.
Me, 1 Great hubby (Tim), Cole the Standard Poodle,
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robanddi
Burton TX USA
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Thank you, kmbernstein. While I respect my surgeon, I don't think I was given realistic expectations. I am 68 and have always been quite active. I do have osteoarthritis in multiple joints BUT the real damage to knees occurred (I think) with a bad fall on cobblestones some 10 years ago when I burst both bursa sacs.
I had presumed my active life style would work for 'exercise' post therapy plus the exercises given me for last summer when we would be traveling in DP. I don't think the exercises were specific to the problem I am now experiencing (sliding knee cap). I do appreciate now that I will need to do specific exercises for the rest of my life (thanks to you and the PA).
Can you send me (pm or however) the links to the forums and sites you mention?
Thanks again.
Diann
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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robanddi, the problem I am having is mostly when getting up from low chairs like you mentioned of if I sit with my leg folded and I try to straighten my leg too quickly something catches and makes a popping sound. Sure got me w3ondering about the knee cap. I am the same age as you 68 and you have to be tough to be old.
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kmbernstein
colorado springs, co
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the forums I have looked at are bonesmart.org, http://www.topix.com/forum/health/knee-replacement,
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=onourfeet&nav=start&prettyurl=%2Fonourfeet,
http://www.knee1.com/forum/Knee_Replacement_Arthroplasty/Expected_results_of_Herbs_Vitiligo_Oil
These are just a few. Google knee replacement forums for others.
As with anything on the net, take care with the information, as some is pure bunk, but there is a lot of good info out there too. Just FYI, I am 57 and very active. But if I don't do the exercises I was given, I can feel things tighten within a few days. I now have a bike to take camping with us and use on nice days, a stationary bike for bad weather days (got aw great deal on both on craigs list), as well as bands, poles, etc. I also have a gym membership, and try to go twice a week if I can. Boredom is your enemy, so shake it up. tvmann44, you might have an adhesion, or a problem with the implant. Go see your surgeon. Either way, you can be given the info you need to correct the problem. Good luck guys.
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