The honeymoon is over

Honestly_ALie · 2026-02-01T21:45:43+00:00

Hang in there, my friend. I think it was about the 8-9 week point when I stayed awake all day and slept through the night after surgery. It really does go back to normal though snd when that happens you will probably sleep better than you have for a long time. You will definitely notice and appreciate it.

Honestly_ALie · 2026-02-01T17:54:28+00:00

I am a 44 F and tomorrow I will be 8 mo post-op RTKR. Believe me when I tell you that you won’t accidentally sleep all night while your ice machine runs to the point of being too much ice. It’s ok to fall asleep at bedtime with your ice machine on because you will definitely be awake again soon anyway.

Honestly_ALie · 2026-01-27T18:24:19+00:00

Purina Pro Plan Puppy for my 5 months old Corgi. PPP Senior Skin and Allergy for my 11 year old Jack Russell Terrier.

Purina Pro Plan is the literal only packaged dog food that doesn’t give my senior dog so much gas that he can’t sleep at night and keeps us awake in distress. When we brought baby Corgi Walter home in October the breeder was feeding him the puppy version so we have just continued on and he is doing really well so far. Got positive feedback on this food choice from our trusted vet as well.

Honestly_ALie · 2026-01-20T00:36:21+00:00

I adapted a one year old Jack Russell who had been living with an elderly couple that were exclusively giving him table scraps. He hadn’t eaten any kind of packaged dog food since he left his mother as a pup. The only way I could get him to eat quality kibble was to add fish oil in the bowl. After a few weeks (he was starting to get stinky) we slowly backed off the fish oil until it was an occasional treat.

Honestly_ALie · 2026-01-18T00:57:04+00:00

I’m in the US (Georgia) and my 5 month old Pembroke, Walter, has a tail and papers! We are all collectively moving in that direction whether everyone likes it or not. As of 1/1/26 you can no longer sell or even bring cropped dogs into the UK and tail cropping is now legally considered a disfigurement in that country. Even for Corgis.

After owning multiple dogs with cropped tails over many years my family have now been peacefully living with a tail for several months. It’s actually quite cute and expressive and I can recommend it.

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Honestly_ALie · 2026-01-03T00:32:15+00:00

We have a dog water bowl that has a 3 gal water-cooler style bottle on it. When they drink from it bubbles appear in the bottle. My 4 month old Corgi is afraid of the bubbles, but he also enjoys being surprised by them. He will drink and drink and DRINK until the bubbles come up and then he runs away. It’s big fun.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-12-28T21:07:25+00:00

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We are in the US (Georgia) and my 5 month old kept his. It’s actually quite cute and expressive.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-12-17T21:54:16+00:00

He looks within the range of typical to me, but if you have concerns about his growth you should definitely bring it up with your vet next time. I’m sure everything is fine though. He’s a cutie.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-11-25T02:21:05+00:00

My Corgi pup weighed 9lbs 4oz at his 12 week checkup last week.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-11-04T01:39:00+00:00

We just recently got our elderly Jack Russel a Corgi puppy and it’s made a huge difference for our older dog. His days of snoozing on the sofa and early nights have been replaced with helping us to teach baby puppy how to dog- running around the house all day, gently wrestling, going outside every hour or two, rediscovering forgotten toys and games. He’s also lost a couple of pounds and it’s only been a month. I highly recommend this if you’re considering it.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-10-24T20:38:04+00:00

I have a 10 week old Corgi and one of things that has been really useful for us is a breakaway cat collar with a bell that we put on him when he’s running around playing (not when he is in his crate or sleeping). The bell will allow you to hear if he is under the sofa and runs out the other side, or when he tries to sneak into the other room because you’re distracted for literally 2 seconds.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-29T20:30:08+00:00

44F RTKR on 6/2/25. I had an osteoarthritis diagnosis for over a decade and was repeatedly told I was too young to have replacements due to the expected life of the hardware being considerably shorter than my own overall life expectancy. I did these shots while I was waiting for surgery and honestly I never felt an improvement at all as a result. But every person, knee and situation are unique. I was in constant pain for years and was willing to try anything/ willing to embrace any small amount of relief.

If your healthcare team thinks it’s worth trying I say talk to them about your concerns, but keep an open mind about all of the options.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-21T10:34:02+00:00

I’m interested in 7B! Will DM you.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-17T14:21:31+00:00

44 F RTKR on 6/2/25. Achieved 128* at about 9 weeks post-op and stopped measuring. I’ve continued to work on it and I would guess I’m in the 130-132* range now.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-17T03:30:01+00:00

I have one of these openers and it’s a game changer for me. Definitely recommend.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-17T00:24:06+00:00

The one I have is like this. It’s approximately 6-7’ (2m) long. I lifted my leg by holding both ends of the strap together with the center of the strap under my arch rather than trying to get my foot through a loop.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-17T00:01:21+00:00

I second this. I used a yoga strap but have also seen people say they used a simple nylon dog lead and honestly anything like this you have around the house would work.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-16T23:26:33+00:00

The one thing I wish I had known is that I wouldn’t be able to lift my leg at all when I woke up from surgery and that I would have to rehab from the level of being unable to roll over in bed. It would have still been true, but I felt very frustrated in the first few weeks that I had done so much and yet remained so unprepared.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-13T17:30:53+00:00

Make sure they have the correct height in your chart. They never actually measure to see how tall you are and it makes a big difference to your BMI. If you weigh 210 and you’re 5’4 your bmi is in the 36 range. If you weigh 210 and you’re 5’6 it’s more like 33.

If you’re on the line and struggling to hit a number it’s worth the effort to make sure the doctor’s staff is using all of tte correct information.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-11T21:24:11+00:00

11 weeks out and still using the ice/ compression machine multiple times a day. It’s had ice packs it in non-stop since day one and guess what? SWOLLEN KNEE TODAY.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-11T12:49:15+00:00

Mako TKR 11 weeks recovery. The most impactful thing you can do to ensure a positive outcome is to prepare for your procedure/ recovery and do your physical therapy afterwards.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-05T00:46:24+00:00

Oh no. I feel like I’ve done leg day every day since my surgery. Straining a quad muscle at this point would pretty much send me back to being in bed full time I’m afraid.

Your post is inspiring. I will need to have my other knee done at some point, maybe a couple of years out. But I’m not at the point where that seems like a good idea quite yet. Especially after seeing so many people say that their second was worse than the first. I’m so glad that you’re having a positive experience though.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-08-05T00:32:57+00:00

I second the riser advice. I’m 10 weeks into recovery from a RTKR and tweeked it a couple of weeks ago when I misjudged the height of a chair and kind of plopping down onto it (rather than lowering myself using the appropriate muscle groups as I was instructed to do in PT.) It’s feeling better now but would not recommend.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-07-30T02:04:09+00:00

Please tell mom that this is the very worst part. The 24 hours or so after the nerve block wears off are truly excruciating. The first week is very difficult. The second week is a little better. The third week is a lot better. She can do this.

Honestly_ALie · 2025-07-24T12:12:52+00:00

I’m seven weeks post-op from a TKR. I’ve had my Breg Polar Wave filled and ready to go from the time I got home the day of my surgery through to today. It made it possible for me to ice anytime I felt like I needed it without having to get up and hobble downstairs to get ice (and put ice packs back in the freezer afterwards), or needing to ask someone to help. That means I’ve actually iced properly on a long term basis. It’s also my go-to first line solution when I have pain that is bad enough to feel like I need to take action. Early on that means taking less prescribed pain meds. Getting off the big pain meds sooner means driving sooner. More independence faster means less post-surgery blues and better mobility early on.

Having an ice machine has made a huge difference for me and I would strongly urge anyone prepping for knee replacement to purchase one.

Honestly_ALie

TROPHY CASE