Stories - How my life changed after knee replacement:

I had a Mako robotic partial knee replacement and for weeks I despaired of the pain and hobbling on crutches. My breakthrough was when I got in the pool. Lockdown lifted at week 6 which was perfect as the wound had just healed. At first I felt like crying. I am a keen swimmer but all I could really do was drag my leg around as I walked in the water and did some leg kicks. I have swum every day since (3 months now) and I am now doing butterfly; lengths with flippers; running in deep water with 0.5kg weights on my ankles. I can’t say enough how fantastic water is for getting your range of motion back. If I couldn’t get to a pool, I was seriously looking for a big plastic box I could sit and kick my leg in or walk back and forth. I knew it was the only answer for me. I just couldn’t do the normal physio very well. If you can’t swim, you can wear a buoyancy aid and run and kick in deep or shallow water. It’s so good. All that pain seems unreal to me now, but I would say that the knee is still hotter than the other, still a bit swollen, and my ROM is only 115. My consultant has said it could take a year! It has been hard work - at least an hour a day, every day but at last I am glad I had the operation. Good luck to all of you who are going through this recovery phase but know that if I could do it, anyone can.