Ability to lift leg

I’m 8 days post op TNR and having difficulty with leg lifts. My PT said that nature is going to resist when you want to use the recovering leg. Best thing to do is raise your good leg several times first and get your brain to ‘train’ the injured leg into thinking it’s OK to be raised. Painkillers have helped tremendously for the workouts but are lousy when it comes to side effects. It’s a timing thing too. Need to take oxycodone at least an hour before workout. Keep pushing thru the pain, it’s a rough ride but one worth taking!

Hi @glolane - Welcome to Connect! And congrats on getting through your surgery. Was it a knee replacement? I just had my second one on 1/29/19 so I'm just 6 weeks out today! I would truly suggest that you be kind to yourself. At 8 days post-op you are just barely getting the anesthesia out of your system. If my recovery was any indication, EVERYTHING was difficult in the first week or so post-op! Like you, I would take my oxycodone prior to PT and do the best I could. By the end of two weeks, I was doing a LOT better. I still took pain meds prior to PT, but everything was easier, ROM was 0/128, and I had graduated from the walker to a cane. So hang in there. It gets better! Besides the leg lifts, are the other exercises difficult? (Knee slides were my personal torment!) Also, I'm curious whether your therapist is getting you out of the house to walk yet? I'm wishing you the best. Please keep us posted.

@glolane I really have ROM envy. I hope you don't mind me asking but how long did it take you to get to 128? I will be 7 weeks PO this Thursday (surgery 1-23-2019) and my ROM is 105 (without any assistance, natural bend) and around 113 when I pull it myself during my knee slides. My extension, luckily, is 0. I know that everyone is different but I thought I would be crushing it by now since I was in good shape prior to surgery. I did have a lot of fluid on my knee and more swelling than usual so it held me back but still.............

Hi @dkapustin - I'm at 6 weeks now - my surgery was 1/29. I actually got to 0/128 at the end of my 2nd week- when my in-home physical therapist released me to start outpatient therapy. This is my second TKR. On the first one, I got to 120 by week 3 but I had a heck of a time getting flat out extension. It took almost a month for me to get to 0. But I really want to add that - as you know - everybody is different and every knee is different. I can't take a lot of credit for my ROM. I'm 68 years old and I did my best to "pre-hab" by doing strength exercises and stretching beforehand and of course, I've been conscientious about my post-op PT - but nothing out of the ordinary - nothing you and a lot of others haven't done. I just feel so lucky that my TKR is healing well and I'm getting the movement back. Hang in there. It will happen for you. Everybody's pace is different.

I think what did me in at the beginning was watching YouTube videos of people bragging on walking unassisted after just a few days. I figured I was young and fit at surgery so I'd be one of those folks. Reality check: not gonna happen! It's a slow process on an impatient person. And it's been different every day, some for better, some for worse. It's hard for me to be dependent on assistive devices, medication and a helpful spouse. I am grateful now to have had all those advantages! It's just going to be awhile for recovery and I'm fine with that.

llar- I can totally related to "slow process on an impatient person". I thought this would be quick and relatively pain free! (All those people who said- "best thing I ever did. Wish I hadn't waited so long" failed to mention how difficult the recovery actually is). Thank goodness for the pain meds and assistive devices. I don't have a helpful spouse but if I ever wanted one-- it would be now. Am talking to the surgeon about knee #2 tomorrow. I must be nuts but want this over with!

@llar You just wrote exactly what I did and how I felt prior to surgery. I was active, fit, and determined. I saw people on YouTube walking without devices and driving within a few weeks PO and thought,"that will be me!" Nope, nope, nope. I'll be 7 weeks PO tomorrow and just now getting on the cane. (I could have transferred a little earlier but because I have Osteoporosis, safety is a factor...) ROM is 0/106 no assist and bend is 112 with self assist. Are you kidding me? I thought I'd be at 120 by now! It's a slow process and I'm beyond frustrated. One therapist tells me to work and push harder, the other therapist tells me to only do my PT 2/day due to my swelling, while the other tells me no, 3/day. I overdo it to push through the pain only to be sore the next day. I don't know.....guess everyone heals differently but all that BS about preconditioning is truly BS because people like you and I show that sometimes, it just doesn't matter. Yes, I'm a little bit of a Debbie downer today but I am so frustrated.

I really feel for you, and I empathize, because I did the total fitness thing (as much as I could, because my knees were killing me) and I got ROM back quickly and was off the cane really quickly, but at 8.5 weeks out, I feel like I'm 100. I'm only 67. I have no stamina and pain all the time. The surface of the scar is excruciatingly hypersensitive. One thing I realize -- I'm the only one that can determine how much is too much on any given day. I'm learning to listen to my body. Hope you're doing better soon.

I'm going to have TKR in 2 months, I am doing the leg raises and stationary bike everyday, hopefully building up my strength before surgery. What did any of you do pre-op and do you feel that it helped post-op?

@kawi33 I rode my recumbent bike and did water jogging. Prior to my surgery, I mentioned to my surgeon that I heard of people having PT prior to help strengthen the supporting muscles in preparation. He asked me what I did for exercise and when I told him those two things he said they were the best! I definitely feel it helped a lot. I had a long time to prepare because my original TKR was scheduled in February 2015 but because my platelet count was low, on the day of surgery it was canceled. It had been better but it plummeted again on that day.
So I ended up having my surgery in October 2017 which left me many months to prepare.
JK