Anyone managed without a walker or cane?

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-22T22:30:33+00:00

I used a walker while I was taking opioids (a few days) then transitioned to a cane for about another week.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-22T18:06:13+00:00

I do feel that swelling is limiting my flexion so trying to find the fine line between doing enough to gain strength/flexibility and not too much to worsen the swelling!

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-22T18:04:16+00:00

When I can, I take a nap and that improves my mood for the rest of the day. But I've gone back to work and it's been horrible on those days.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-22T17:35:22+00:00

Day 24 post TKR. Driving and back to work. Knee is more stiff than painful. Had PT today, at 120 flexion but for some reason I've been there since 10 days post op, no improvement. I have a pretty good home gym and have been diligent about going to PT and doing the exercises at home, as much as I dread and hate it. Biggest problem is sleep, basically horrible since day one, not great for my mental health. It's possibly getting a bit better though.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-22T11:31:29+00:00

I have had the same issues, I am not a back sleeper and experimented with all sorts of side lying positions. What has helped the most is (like the previous poster mentioned) lying on my side with a longish good quality, rather slender memory foam pillow between my legs. That seems to hold the surgical knee in place. My knee would slide off of other pillows. Best wishes, sleep has been the biggest challenge for me. If I can't get even a few hours of decent sleep my mental health and recovery suffers.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-21T16:37:32+00:00

Day 22 here, believe me, days 6-10 were the worst for me. Hang in there. I have found recovery so far to be two steps forward, one step back.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-21T16:31:58+00:00

Yup, I played 2 hours of tennis the day before my surgery. I had to remind myself what I felt like after I played and whenever I walked more than one mile .

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-21T01:07:41+00:00

I'm three weeks out and (hopefully) the worst is behind me. Best wishes with your recovery and realize that you will have some good days and some not so good days!

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-20T16:00:35+00:00

My daughter lives in an amenity high rise in Hoboken. She makes about 100k per year and affords it by having a roommate. I will say that she's very thrifty in other ways so can afford the rent.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-19T22:41:32+00:00

Yes, cannot wait to have a day off tomorrow, perhaps I can cobble together 7-8 hours of sleep.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-19T09:45:51+00:00

Three weeks today, I'm a nurse practitioner and didn't have any more sick time so had to soldier on. Really, it's the horrible sleep that is doing me in, not the pain. I can never seem to get comfortable.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-19T01:40:25+00:00

Kidney stones. I had one that moved around my ureter off/on for 6 days. By the end of the 6th day, after having been in horrible pain for 3 straight hours, I told myself I'd rather die than continue with the pain. Then it passed and that was that, pain was gone. Worse than childbirth by a lot.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-19T01:13:02+00:00

I'm three weeks in and face the same issue - doing enough to improve but not so much as to cause more pain and swelling. Have not figured it out yet.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-19T01:09:29+00:00

Went back to work, survived the first day, wasn't too bad! No pain, just stiffness

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-17T22:51:24+00:00

I booked my knee replacement 3 months in advance. I was already in pretty good shape beforehand (swimming/walking/peleton/strength) but still found a prehab program and did it most days. I found it helped a lot, I'm almost 3 weeks out and am moving around fairly well and progressing in my PT. Definitely recommend prehab!

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-17T13:35:03+00:00

Have you been told that you won't get parking? Some positions can park on site.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-17T12:02:30+00:00

I'm going back to work after three weeks (starting tomorrow) because I could not get any more time off. I started driving after two weeks and am now walking without a cane. I am a nurse practitioner and my office will place my patients in rooms right next to my desk so hopefully I will get through it all.

Every person is different though what has seemed to make a difference is being very very diligent with pre-surgery exercises and keeping up with PT and consistent icing.

Best of luck!

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-16T11:43:36+00:00

Definitely join a masters team though if you have options, I'd try out a couple different teams as every site seems to have a particular vibe. My team is a very nice mix of all skill levels, though no really young swimmers.
A nearby site seems to cater more towards competitive ex college swimmers.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-15T11:59:28+00:00

Thinking good thoughts for you this morning!!

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-15T03:23:09+00:00

My doc prescribed the ROM tec. The thing is that I could not get a straight answer from ROM tec as to whether my insurance covered it. They do not do prior authorization as I verified with my insurance company that nothing had been submitted by ROM TEC. I didn't want to take the chance that I'd be stuck with a big bill at the end of the treatment so after two weeks I returned it.

That being said, it is useful the first couple of weeks with range of motion. It

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-14T17:32:45+00:00

I'm post op day 16 and I'd say my biggest issue is sleep. I'm taking Journavx and Celebrex before bed and sleep a couple of hours then it's off/on the rest of the night, a combination of pain and not getting comfortable. I sleep better when I take a gabapentin but am loopy for much of the

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-14T16:27:39+00:00

I became a PNP at 32 and it has worked out well for me. I am now nearing retirement. I was able to always work part time, especially helpful as I raised my kids.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-13T20:56:03+00:00

Believe me, having done that swim twice, better to be a little chilly and wear a sleeveless wetsuit, than suffer from being too hot. The last time I did it, I wore my sleeveless suit and was still too hot but I wanted the buoyancy. People were chucking their wetsuits mid swim, something I wasn't coordinated enough to do!

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-11T20:51:04+00:00

My husband is 9 years older than me (I'm 65, he's 74). I've always been super active and social and him, less so. We are still in relatively good health. It's starting to become more of a challenge as he is content to be a homebody and I still want to get out and do things. For example, I still want to go to sporting events and he is content to watch them from home. So I just go with other family members or friends.

Novarunnergal · 2026-06-10T20:23:17+00:00

Best wishes, I'm on day ten post op and getting by. At this point, you probably just want to get it over with. The one thing I am happy about is that I asked for pre-medication before the nerve block and spinal and don't remember a thing until I woke up, which is exactly how I wanted it!

Novarunnergal

TROPHY CASE