referee54
Former BoneSmart staff member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2007
- Messages
- 17,881
- Age
- 69
- Location
- Northern Part of the Buckeye State
- Country
United States
- Gender
- Male
OK, now that you are out of surgery and home, it is time for the realization to set in; this rehab is going to take longer than you would like it to.
We Americans are used to getting things done quickly (I would imagine that our friends "across the pond" do, as well.) We can hop on interstates, talk on cellphones hands-free inside of our cars,and order food from a restaurant ONLINE!
We are used to traveling 65-70-75 MPH. Now, with a TKR, we are back to traveling in a Conestoga wagon. It is slow. We cannot magically speed it up; just like the early settlers, though, we will reach our destination; it just may take longer than we would like. Here in the US we have AAA, which can give travelers "tripticks" to guide them on their journey. There is, unfortunately, no "triptick" for a TKR. Just as roads have dead-ends and un-announced detours, so does recovery from a TKR. The Garmon or the TOM-TOM GPS doesn't work with these darn TKR's, either. Our surgical knees dictate when and where the voyage goes.
The reality of this recovery is that serious surgical trauma was delivered via your surgeon and his team---directly to your knee. You body isn't going to like this very much, and it will certainly tell you.
It will be a slow process, and their will be some situations that may pose a challenge. This voyage to regain our active and pain-free life-style, ironically, begins with us being , for the time being after surgery, not very active and in some pain and some discomfort. While we would all like to be "beamed up" and travel through this situation quickly, our bodies are saying, "WHOA!"
Remember the slow lane...just as the settlers had to take their time and let their horses rest, so must we and our surgical knees. We cannot rush things; we are not on the committee to schedule when our knees are recovered and "good to go"---sadly, our bodies are the ones that tell us---and we are not used to this.
The voyage to the destination of recovery is slow and frustrating, but we must remember that our bodies, because of arthritis or other conditions, did not get this way overnight. We cannot have our recovery shipped via "overnight express mail." We must get our new knee---or knees---via the "snail mail"
Those of us who have gone through this have come to the frustrating realization that sometimes more PT on the knee, while it makes us feel good at the time, can have some devastating effects on the pace of recovery.
While it would be nice to say, "Take your time, enjoy the ride", there are times that this ride in the slow lane is anything but enjoyable.
However, again, those of us who have completed the journey and have reached the destination and are now enjoying the very freedoms and activities that were taken from us, can tell you now that, regardless of how slow the process was, the end result and the destination are marvelous.
So, to all of those of you are are struggling with the SLOWNESS of this pace of recovery; please rest assured that what is happening to you is normal---or, as "normal" as anything can be in having a TKR.
Your patience is required and you will travel at the horse-and-buggy speed; however, you will arrive at your destination. You will be pain-free. You will regain the level of activity that you desire.
We Americans are used to getting things done quickly (I would imagine that our friends "across the pond" do, as well.) We can hop on interstates, talk on cellphones hands-free inside of our cars,and order food from a restaurant ONLINE!
We are used to traveling 65-70-75 MPH. Now, with a TKR, we are back to traveling in a Conestoga wagon. It is slow. We cannot magically speed it up; just like the early settlers, though, we will reach our destination; it just may take longer than we would like. Here in the US we have AAA, which can give travelers "tripticks" to guide them on their journey. There is, unfortunately, no "triptick" for a TKR. Just as roads have dead-ends and un-announced detours, so does recovery from a TKR. The Garmon or the TOM-TOM GPS doesn't work with these darn TKR's, either. Our surgical knees dictate when and where the voyage goes.
The reality of this recovery is that serious surgical trauma was delivered via your surgeon and his team---directly to your knee. You body isn't going to like this very much, and it will certainly tell you.
It will be a slow process, and their will be some situations that may pose a challenge. This voyage to regain our active and pain-free life-style, ironically, begins with us being , for the time being after surgery, not very active and in some pain and some discomfort. While we would all like to be "beamed up" and travel through this situation quickly, our bodies are saying, "WHOA!"
Remember the slow lane...just as the settlers had to take their time and let their horses rest, so must we and our surgical knees. We cannot rush things; we are not on the committee to schedule when our knees are recovered and "good to go"---sadly, our bodies are the ones that tell us---and we are not used to this.
The voyage to the destination of recovery is slow and frustrating, but we must remember that our bodies, because of arthritis or other conditions, did not get this way overnight. We cannot have our recovery shipped via "overnight express mail." We must get our new knee---or knees---via the "snail mail"
Those of us who have gone through this have come to the frustrating realization that sometimes more PT on the knee, while it makes us feel good at the time, can have some devastating effects on the pace of recovery.
While it would be nice to say, "Take your time, enjoy the ride", there are times that this ride in the slow lane is anything but enjoyable.
However, again, those of us who have completed the journey and have reached the destination and are now enjoying the very freedoms and activities that were taken from us, can tell you now that, regardless of how slow the process was, the end result and the destination are marvelous.
So, to all of those of you are are struggling with the SLOWNESS of this pace of recovery; please rest assured that what is happening to you is normal---or, as "normal" as anything can be in having a TKR.
Your patience is required and you will travel at the horse-and-buggy speed; however, you will arrive at your destination. You will be pain-free. You will regain the level of activity that you desire.
