A couple of quick updates. I received these Cat Scans of my new knee:
The second picture is a side view. Notice the nice big space between the two implants--yea! You can also see the 27 staples on the frontal surface of my skin. (yikes)
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I had a really active day yesterday PT-wise. I had 5 cycles in by noon but found that I was getting some selling and I started to feel a bit fatigued so I backed off in the afternoon. I also decided to forgo my 2nd dose of Tylenol last night (and had some red wine with dinner--yea). This might have been too soon as I didn't feel a lot of pain last night but it was enough to lead to more sporadic sleep. I've decided to go back on it today and for the next couple of days. My meds now are 2 Aleve/4 Tylenol/2 aspirin a day.
Lastly, I'm now walking outside as part of my PT and up and down stairs with no assistance! It's slow but its feels quite easy. I hope to start driving tomorrow.
Onward and Upward!
4 comments:
Congratulations and I hope the recovery continues to go well! I will be 63 in January and I have completed IM FL and 3 Boulder 70.3’s. I DNF’d ST. George IM last May at mile 13 on my run.. hired a coach and really making good progress!
love your blog by the way, thanks for sharing your experience.
All the best,
Leif Wold
Limawhiskey11@gmail.com
Thrilled to hear the recovery from TKR has gone so well! I really appreciate your blog. I'm 54 years young and got into endurance sports about 10 years ago eventually working my up to marathons and IMs. Since late 2018 I've been dealing with right knee pain due to osteoarthritis/meniscus tear. Two questions:
1) You noted that you lived with chronic knee pain for 20 years, but still tackled many endurance races/activities during that time. Any tips on what kept you going despite the knee challenges? I've had arthroscopic surgery (meniscus) and have recently tried visco + PRP shots (3 visco in Oct/Nov; 1 PRP in mid Nov). Any other suggestions?
2) I think I know the answer to this question given your obvious passion for a life of endurance/adventure, but do you plan to continue to run on your new knee? Appears nearly all surgeons recommend against it, but I've read some athletes have continued with great success (at least in the near term; long-term reports are hard to come by). What's your path forward?
@Spartanmike68: I received 120-130 shots of Euflexa/Syn-Visc since 2005. These have worked well. I also get a couple of cortisone shots each year, usually about 2-3 weeks before a major event like a triathlon or a mountain climb.
Really important to keep the weight down to reduce stress. When I weigh around 170 (I'm 6'1") the knee definitely feels better than when I get into the 180s....
I've done a variety of alternative activities to running as part of my training, especially over the last 5-10 years. Stairmaster/eliptical, an e-z go outdoor elliptical bike, water running, lots of hiking. When I ran, I generally mixed walk/run segments if the distance was longer than 3-4 miles.
As to my path forward, that remains uncertain. I'm sure I'll be able to run again, and relatively pain/limp free. How much I chose to do so remains to be seen. My three new athletic challenges on the radar at the moment are to thru-hike the Shenandoah NP section of the AT this coming year (about 105 miles over 6-7 days). I'd like to ride solo across the country (I've done RAAM as a relay) but my guess is that's more likely to be a 2024 activity. I'd also like to return to Tibet/Nepal and take a crack at a 8,000 meter peak, maybe in 2024 as well....time well tell!
Awesome! Thank you for the reply. Very helpful to have context from other endurance athletes facing these challenges. Best of luck with the 3 upcoming challenges on the radar. I'll be following your progress.
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