First read that as Smith & Wesson. A biathlete would like that:)
Zimmer Persona Medial Congruent for me.
Also moving my flats from my fat bike to the trainer bike.
And peoples: move your saddle as high as you can; as you progress, bring it down slightly and so on down to its usual height. Your knee won’t want to bend too much to start.
Thanks. That’s the plan – higher saddle, shorter cranks, flats on the “recovery” bike. Then when I’m reading to get back on #1 bike on the road I’m hoping to be back to close to “normal” positioning. I know I’ll need to do something on shoe/cleat fit as my surgeon will be doing a bit of a bevel cut on the femur to correct some alignment/bowleggedness that’s developed with the osteoarthritis. He said the leg will be straighter than it is now.
We’ll see how I like the 165s; if I do I will likely go from my 170s to that on the road bike.
My surgeon explained that the bow leggedness is corrected by the alignment tools and jigs they use to resect the femur and tibia. He directed me to this PDF.
https://www.smith-nephew.com/global/assets/pdf/products/surgical/00829%20v4%2071282077%20revc%20journey%20ii%20tka%20surgical%20technique%200120.pdf
Hi folks,
I’m 10 weeks past my second TKA and i’m here to tell you that there’s a lot of reason to be optimistic! I’ve been super fortunate with my two surgeries: A superior surgeon (who loves long road rides), pretty easy recoveries, and a good return to riding. In both cases, I was pedaling around my neighborhood within 3 weeks, “training” at 7 or 8 weeks post-surgery. The hardest part, honestly, was my reaction to the painkillers and the nausea that ensued.
Like i said, i feel really lucky. I did Leadville in 2018 with one Titanium Knee (Depuy Attune) and plan on starting in 2021 with my second Ti knee.
@craigmanning and @Hampstenfan I sure hope everything goes well for you guys. I’m happy to talk/chat offline any time if you want someone to connect with. Your knees are going to feel (and sound) weird for the next few months, but the joy of riding is still within reach!
Good luck!
1 Like
Great timing; I just a little more than 36 hours out from surgery on Tues morning.
Your message is really confidence-inspiring! Thanks for the update. I believe I have one of the best (if not the best) surgeons in the state. Hoping and planning for a good recovery.
I’m amazed that you were on the road in 3 weeks; my surgeon will be focusing on me avoiding the risk of falling before he thinks it’s had the recovery time he thinks it should.
I’ll message you with a couple of questions.
Thanks for the confidence inspiring post. I’ve heard far more good outcomes than bad, but the bad ones I have heard have been really bad, like infections where the implant has to be removed and antibiotics implanted into the knee…that is scary.
To be fair, by “Pedaling” i mean riding a fatbike at walking pace, just to turn my knee. Better than the stationary bike in the garage!
oh man, i’m glad i didn’t see that before my surgeries. Too much info!
Yeah…occurrence is pretty low but it does happen…just have to be really careful until that incision is healed.
I have a question about Total Knee Replacement recovery. I find reading about the success others have had to be very encouraging. And instead of starting another thread, I thought I’d bump this thread up with my story/questions.
I’m 62 years old. Back in high school, I hurt my right knee wrestling. At the time, it was diagnosed as bursitis. Fast forward about 20 years and it was determined I had a tear in the meniscus, which I had repaired. Thru all this, I was able to ride but the knee would often be sore and ache. Fast forward another 10 years, the ache is worse and I’m told I have no cartilage on the outside of my knee. The solution was cortisone injections. Initially, it was one every six month. Recently, it’s been one every four months. Thru all this, I’d ask my doc about a new knee but she’d say I’m not ready for it yet.
Then this past winter, trying to straighten my leg muscles by lifting, I felt the dull ache turn into a sharp pain. I went to PT and it only got worse. Back to the doc. X-rays showed it was bone on bone on the outside of the knee. She agreed to the new knee and off I went to the surgeon. I had my right knee replaced on May 3. The surgery supposedly went well but took a long time. During a brief visit with the surgeon the day after, all she said was the operation went well and that I have VERY HARD bones. I stayed in the hospital one night then was discharged for home.
Now it’s May 22, two and a half weeks after surgery. I’m scheduled to meet with the surgeon two and a half weeks from now on June 8 for my first post op meeting. I’ve had PT come to the house three times a week since the surgery. It’ll be twice a week now till my June 8 meet with the surgeon. Assuming everything’s fine, I’ll have out patient PT after that.
Recovery has been slow and sometimes painful. Oxycodone is the pain med of choice. It came with a lot of warnings (understandably so) but it almost felt like I was being told to cut back even before I started taking it. Due to the warnings and knowing the addictive nature of the med, I probably cut back I little too much too soon. I’m doing better now balancing the med amount to the pain level.
I do my PT stretches two to three times a day and ice the knee three to five times a day. I can see improvement with the stretches; stretches I couldn’t do at all two weeks ago are now no problem. The bend in the knee is supposed to be at 90 degrees for my June 8 surgeon meeting. It’s already at 94 degrees.
So I can definitely see actual measurable progress. But for some reason, I don’t feel positive about all this. Kind of a head vs heart thing. My knee always feels stiff. Like there’s an ACE bandage wrapped around it. The leg still has some swelling although it’s WAY down from two weeks ago. On a couple of stretches, I sometimes get a clicking in the new knee.
For those who have gone thru all this, does my recovery make sense? Does it sound like things are progressing as they should? Or, is there something here that doesn’t sound quite right? Something I should be aware of?
If you made it this far, thank you for reading. And all your comments are truly appreciated.
I had my left done in September of 2020 and my right done July of 2021 and I am 54. Both were a little different. The right took a little longer to get the range of motion back. I was able to get both over 135 degrees after 4-5 weeks. But at 2.5 weeks you are right in there, there should still be swelling and stiffness. I’m close to two years out on the left and I forget I had it done. My right I still feel a little stiffness and it can swell a bit if I do hard rides. I think you are fine, just keep up the hard work, I think the pain starts to subside after about 4-5 weeks.
2 Likes
Thank you for your reply. It is very encouraging.
And congrats on your TKRs. Any idea why your two knees are responding differently? What’s your long term plan with your right knee? Live with it or have the doc go back in?
My doc said that recoveries are often different when both knees are done. My right knee is my dominant leg which are often more difficult. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, just hasn’t completely healed yet. The doc said it takes 12-14 months to completely heal. One thing that was different was that on my left knee the doc used stitches to close the incision, on the second knee they used glue and a negative pressure dressing which had a little pump to keep pressure on the incision. I think this caused me to not bend it as much as I should because of the stiffness that the dressing caused.
1 Like
Slightly off tangent here, but I have been getting patella tendinitis off-on for the last couple of years cycling (most pertinently after spending the winters turbo training), its more discomfort I would say rather than actual pain, and when I am cycling is usually when its actually ok, its when I am walking around and particularly bending/squatting down it lets me know there is some inflamation there. I just have a niggling concern this will lead to long term damage / need for knee operations in the future - anyone got any advice experience of this?
I have been doing some gym work to improve glute strength and single leg control which is helping a bit, although I do think that the associated strength increases are just leading me to push harder (my FTP went up 20W this winter and the main difference was introduction of gym work). I am think of maybe dropping down amount of road biking / increasing MTB as I see that as a bit more of a whole body workout…
I don’t feel positive about all this. Kind of a head vs heart thing. My knee always feels stiff. Like there’s an ACE bandage wrapped around it. The leg still has some swelling although it’s WAY down from two weeks ago. On a couple of stretches, I sometimes get a clicking in the new knee.
The stiffness is from the swelling. If you can get > 90 degrees already, you’re doing well [experience of L and R TKR talking here]. Relax and look forward to pain-free riding. Are you doing exercises to rebuild your quads / glutes [such as squats, riding your bike]?
I have my first post surgery visit with the surgeon at the five week mark. Up until then, all the PT has been at home. They’ve concentrated on stretching, mobility and stairs (I live in a four story house and need access to all four stories; stairs are my life!).
Assuming the surgeon visit goes well, I’ll transition to out patient PT where the strengthening and riding will take place.
I’m coming up on my one year anniversary - both knees replaced in June 2021 (54 yeas old). It’s been a long road back but mostly positive.
Last season had to be written off. I was able to ride a bit but nothing close to actually training. I also gained about 30 pounds, which I’m now working to lose, while at the same same time gain back muscle - it’s been a difficult balancing act.
That all being said, no regrets. Stick with the PT and keep stretching while building back strength. For me, being able to enjoy long walks and hiking with my kids has been the second-best benefit, right behind living pain free. Good luck!
1 Like
I’ll add to the conversation. @craigmanning and I had our first TKRs about a week apart Sep '20 (although he’s a bit younger and a lot faster than me). Great to have a virtual partner to share real-time experiences with. You can read some of my posts about prep up this thread.
So now I’m almost 21 months out, and while riding with a chiropractor friend last week he mentioned he could see no sign in my pedal stroke of having a new knee. His POV is that it’s really 18-24 months before you can consider things fully healed, despite surgeons looking at a one-year mark. I have to agree with him, noticing that the last six months I’ve just felt “better.” FWIW, I had a pretty big power balance discrepancy up until that point (as much as 40/60 replaced/OEM) that has now mostly smoothed out. My OEM knee, which looked equally bad on the 2020 xrays but was less problematic, is telling me it’s not always happy. Spoke to my surgeon at the 1-year checkup Sep 2021, and he said when I’m ready, come in for a new set of xrays. Not quite ready yet, but considering the trade offs between longer recovery as I get older vs having surgery “too early.” BTW, I was thinking perhaps I pulled the trigger too soon on my first knee, but happy I had it done.
New knee is not perfect, but significantly better than before. Still some swelling/stiffness from time to time when I overdo it, but stable as can be and no issues with movements that were troubling before.
Also FWIW, been fairly consistent in the gym before and after. Now doing 2x5 hex bar DLs at 305#; which isn’t near 2x BW yet, but I think I’m pulling more than most 68-year olds in the gym who aren’t serious power lifters. (PS I have not told my surgeon so don’t rat me out…)
In terms of prehab and rehab some thoughts. I really appreciated [the perspective that Scott Johnson had on the Uphill Athlete.. He was very generous in an email exchange we had. Also three threads from their site that may be of interest:
https://uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/pre-knee-replacement-suggestions/
https://uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/one-month-after-knee-replacement-what-next/
https://uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/now-3-mo-after-knee-replacement/
Also highly recommend “The Surgery Series” by Kelly Starrett about his own TKR. Had a chance to visit with him in person at last year’s CrossFit games and again very generous with his time and thoughts. He a TKR program available at The Ready State. (note: this was published after my surgery so I have not personally purchased/used it).
And finally, if you haven’t checked out “KneesOverToesGuy” Good solid approach to prehab/injury recovery that works pretty well for me (when I’m consistent with it.)
Good to hear you are doing well.