After knee replacement surgery

@johnbishop John, I can imagine that with the knee surgery, you might have back pain. Your legs might be tight which pulls on the hips and low back. The pelvis can go out of alignment too, and that affects everything. If it's off just a little bit, it puts pressure on one side of your knee joint adding to extra wear and tear because that goes out of alignment too. A physical therapist can help. My pelvis can shift, and I know some things from my PT to do to realign it. One of the problems is sitting too much, and the muscles in front of the pelvis get too tight, which then can pull on the lower spine. When all that gets too tight, your steps get too short. I'm picturing you laying in a hammock with your feet elevated and sipping some cool lemonade in the shade with your ice boot on your foot. That sounds like a good thing on a hot summer day. You can call Therapy on the Rocks in Sedona to ask for names of MFR therapists who have taken expert level courses and see if they have any in your area. http://therapyontherocks.net/ They don't all pay to be listed ob the MFR website. They would have more experience and can't take those expert courses without the prior course requirements.

Thanks @jenniferhunter! I will probably give them a call in the next month or so. You are right about the too much sitting. I've worked from home since I retired as an Internet help desk and web designer and that hasn't helped my back. I also have degenerative disc disease and osteopenia. I'm planning to really retire at the end of this year and am currently in some crunches at work to help with my job going away. I've had the back problem quite a few years but have been ignoring it and walking less and less because of it. Now that the knee is good I'm hoping to do what I can to help the back get better.

I do have to tell you about a funny horse riding story. I grew up in San Bernardino, Calif. and as a city boy I had friends that loved horse back riding. They would rent horses at a few places, one being located on the edge of the desert area of the county where there was an old river bed and trails to ride on. They talked me into going with them and when we were driving to the ranch where we could rent the horses they told me whatever I say do not tell them I have never ridden a horse before or they will give you a dead head. So we get there and the guy looks at the 3 of us and asks if we've ever ridden before specifically looking at me. Why sure, lots of times I told him. He must have known because he brought a horse out of the barn that was snorting and prancing and then helped me up on his back. After a few minutes (maybe seconds), I let go of the reins and set them on the front of the saddle horn. The horse bolted and started running towards a small circular track near the barn. When he bolted, I almost fell out of the saddle but grabbed on for dear life to the saddle horn. The horse ran around the track until the owner did a loud whistle and he came running back to the owner. I got down from the horse with a little help and he had a big knowing smile on his face and told me, I'll go get you another horse. This one hasn't been out much lately. Although my friends never fessed up to it, I have a feeling they were in on the joke. I have a healthy respect for horses now. ☺

@jenniferhunter, @johnbishopMy dad was a snob when he was young. My mom loved to ride, but she was a timid rider. So my mom insisted that my dad try it and he relented to go with her. But as soon as the horse pooped he got off the horse saying that he was insulted and walked back to the barn, or wherever they rented the horses. And he never ever got back on one again.

Yesterday I had my 3 month post op visit for my TKR for my right knee. I have been really happy with the outcome (thanks Mayo Clinic!). I have no pain in my knee and my range of motion is 0 to ~130 degrees. The only issue I have and it's a big one, is the swelling in my right ankle due to lymphedema. I have been wearing my compression socks since about week 3 or 4 post op. Before surgery the compression socks would take care of the swelling overnight and I would start out each day good. Since the surgery, the socks really haven't helped a whole lot.

I got some additional instruction on the importance of icing and elevating from my surgeon and his assistant. I had really stopped icing and elevating when my knee started feeling better and I could ride my recumbent exercise bike for 30 minutes with no issues. They told me to take it easy for while and focus on the swelling. Best tip I received was putting a couple of pillows at the end of the bed and under the mattress so that you mattress is elevated at the bottom. Then use another pillow under your knee to support it and help with the bottom of the bed being higher. I did that last night and my ankle was considerably smaller this morning - YAY! Now I have to fine tune it a little. I also ordered something like a CryoCuff for the ankle only it has a small compression pump and you can insert a gel pack in it and wrap your ankle so that it gives you a compressed cold wrap to help with the swelling. I'm looking forward to trying that to make the icing and elevating a little easier during the daytime.

Hoping you all have success and if you are struggling, don't stop working on the problem - ask questions from your care team (or your Connect TKR friends!).

Thanks @jenniferhunter! I will probably give them a call in the next month or so. You are right about the too much sitting. I've worked from home since I retired as an Internet help desk and web designer and that hasn't helped my back. I also have degenerative disc disease and osteopenia. I'm planning to really retire at the end of this year and am currently in some crunches at work to help with my job going away. I've had the back problem quite a few years but have been ignoring it and walking less and less because of it. Now that the knee is good I'm hoping to do what I can to help the back get better.

I do have to tell you about a funny horse riding story. I grew up in San Bernardino, Calif. and as a city boy I had friends that loved horse back riding. They would rent horses at a few places, one being located on the edge of the desert area of the county where there was an old river bed and trails to ride on. They talked me into going with them and when we were driving to the ranch where we could rent the horses they told me whatever I say do not tell them I have never ridden a horse before or they will give you a dead head. So we get there and the guy looks at the 3 of us and asks if we've ever ridden before specifically looking at me. Why sure, lots of times I told him. He must have known because he brought a horse out of the barn that was snorting and prancing and then helped me up on his back. After a few minutes (maybe seconds), I let go of the reins and set them on the front of the saddle horn. The horse bolted and started running towards a small circular track near the barn. When he bolted, I almost fell out of the saddle but grabbed on for dear life to the saddle horn. The horse ran around the track until the owner did a loud whistle and he came running back to the owner. I got down from the horse with a little help and he had a big knowing smile on his face and told me, I'll go get you another horse. This one hasn't been out much lately. Although my friends never fessed up to it, I have a feeling they were in on the joke. I have a healthy respect for horses now. ☺

@johnbishop Oh my.... snorting and prancing would be the first clue not to get on that horse unless you are a jockey in a race..... oh the dangerous things we do when we're young. You want a horse that is calm and drops his head and even licks his lips. That's when they are happy and relaxed. You need a healthy respect for horses, but they need to respect you. If they don't, you will be getting onto an animal that is unsafe and bigger and stronger and you run the risk of an injury. A horse is a prey animal and if spooked, it will run first and ask questions later, so you need to be prepared to stay balanced if that should happen. It's happened to me when a speeding semi truck barreled past us in a residential area when I was riding with my sister. Our horses took off at a gallop and we steered them away from the road and then circled them to stop them in someone's front yard. You can't stop them when they are reacting because they won't be thinking about their training when they panic. The guy should not have put you up there. He may not have understood horses and safety and he should have been able to figure out your skill level by looking at you and your confidence level, and I bet that horse ran around that track a lot. They develop habits and will often guess what they think you want because of what they did last time. I hope that didn't ruin horses for you. The reason it works at all is respect, and you have to demonstrate you are in charge and the horse will accept you as a leader. You do that by giving correct signals when riding and not allowing the horse to avoid your requests, and praising desired behavior. When I was a kid in riding class, another horse passed me which they were not supposed to do because some of the horses would kick. That made my horse bolt, and then come to a sudden stop, and on an English saddle with nothing to grab, I went over his head. What I grabbed was the horse's neck, and my legs flew up and around and I found myself hanging underneath his neck right behind his head. My feet didn't touch the ground and I let go and dropped a few inches to the dirt. That might seem like a funny thing to a bunch of kids and you were lucky. Did you tell your parents or was that one of your secrets?

@jenniferhunter, @johnbishopMy dad was a snob when he was young. My mom loved to ride, but she was a timid rider. So my mom insisted that my dad try it and he relented to go with her. But as soon as the horse pooped he got off the horse saying that he was insulted and walked back to the barn, or wherever they rented the horses. And he never ever got back on one again.

@jenniferhunter that was one of my secrets from my mom and dad. I haven't ridden a horse since high school but it was fun once I got a few more rides in with my best friend. Where we rode the biggest worry we had was coming up on a rattlesnake and spooking the horse. I did learn never to let go of the reins and the basics. Most of the horses knew the terrain and were pretty safe for even newbies. I got to thinking I was pretty good and in control so my friend and I decided to let the horses run to see which was the fastest. Mine got out to a good lead and for some reason my friend took another trail and my horse looked back and saw his "friend" going on the other trail. At that point I had no control. The horse veered off of the trail toward the other trail and jumped over some small brush until he caught up with the other horse then he "gave" me the control back. That actually was a fun ride but then I was about 17 years old.

@merpreb @jenniferhunter I think horses are beautiful animals but they do intimidate me. When I married my husband his daughter had an Appaloosa Stallion that was 17 hands. When that horse moved his head to look at us I jumped backward! She used to ride and jump him but had to sell him when she went to college.
I am a bit less easily intimidated now, I would love to try riding sometime but my husband who did a lot before he knew me, has no interest.
JK

@contentandwell That Appaloosa sounds beautiful. My husband doesn't ride either unless I talk him into it. I don't let that stop me. Sometimes I have friends to ride with, but most of the time, we go out without other riders. My horse is well trained and what they call "broke to death" meaning he is safe to ride and doesn't try to take control. Since he always wants to come home faster, I have made him stop and stand there facing the other direction, and I started rewarding with carrots for doing that. Training a horse to stop is a safety thing. He will look back at me while I'm riding just in case I might be getting a carrot out of the saddle bag. He didn't want to walk through a creek by himself either, and was backing away, but munching on a carrot by the creek distracted him and I asked him to go and he did. Now he gets the carrot after walking through the creek so I won't train him to stop at the creek. You are training a horse every time you work with him, so you always want that to be positive, and the horse obeys because he wants to please you. You develop a relationship. My horse always comes to greet me in the pasture and he'll follow me like a puppy dog without being tied on a lead. When you start learning how to interact with horses, you need a calm one.