For the first 75 years of my life, I was the ENERGIZER BUNNY. From dawn's early light till evening I was on the go but the 76th year was devasted by a TKR and suddenly everything changed. Claiming recovery in 6-8 weeks is terribly misleading (IMO). Short story: A massive low pressure storm raged thru town and ripped the shade screens off. No problem for the E Bunny, or so I thought. After 2 hours of screen repair, the TKR racked with pain. It simply didn't like being twisted into all of the contortions required to rebuild screens. The exact same thing happened last week while I was crawling on the ground, repairing a refrigerator. I can no longer get into many positions w/o great discomfort & swelling in the TKR.

I learned to compensate for the deficiency caused by my TKR by building other muscles. Intentionally, I built my calves with exercises like the attached photo. Ditto for my arms and stomach muscles to help me get off the ground using collateral muscles. I set a mental timer when performing awkward tasks so I don't push the knee beyond its capability. Keep/get the weight off. Ask someone whose capable to carry any heavy loads because they transfer onto the knee which is no longer able. Once upon a time a heavy compressor presented no problem for me, but now it does, so I use a dolly to move it. Fortunately, my wife is "three of the most wonderful people on Planet Earth" and has been very helpful after I mistakenly agreed to this procedure. Adapt and make the best of it. U r not alone.

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