Bilateral TKR Bilateral PKR Queenie

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J4g000

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My new knees are 2 weeks old today. I am rationing my Hydrocod/Apap 5-325 to only take at night, but regular Tylenol 500 mg is alittle like taking nothing at all. I see my surgeon tomorrow and do not know if I will get a new prescription or not. I do not really know how long patients usually stay on the hydrocod, but it seems to help the discomfort level more than Tylenol. This website and forum is great, I have referred to it often and learned much. Thank you.
 
J4g000.....my friend.....Tylenol is NOT good enough for post surgery pain! You need to be taking the Hydrocodone on the schedule they were prescribed. I'm assuming that would be 1-2 every 4 hours. Start with the highest dosage because you need to get your pain under control. You'll have plenty of time to taper off later.

Surgeons only issues prescriptions one at a time for these narcotics. So ignore the "No Refills" on the label. You can get more....if not from your surgeon, talk with your GP. You NEED these meds for a while.

Here are some threads for you to read if you haven't seen them in the BoneSmart Library:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
How Long Does Healing Take ......
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevating your leg to control swelling and pain
Using ice
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Knee Replacement - Where Am I in Recovery?
So What Is It Going to Take? The Five “P’s” of Knee Recovery
Work “Smarter” and not “Harder”
About recovering a knee - from one who knows!
Some suggestions for home physio (PT) and activity progress
Myth busting: The "window of opportunity"


Also....be sure you are icing and elevating your knees (toes above the nose) as much as possible. That really helps with the pain.
 
Thank you sooo much for the info and support. Headed to surgeon for 2 week follow-up. Hoping to get refill for pain meds. Gave up plain Tylenol altogether, does about as much good as MnM's and M and M's taste better! Took a shower by myself today and put the TED stockings on, then was really tired! Crazy!! Even with my bad knees could work like a horse, but this horse feels now like she is ready for the glue factory. LOL. Post again after my appt. thanks so much again for support, it is priceless! U guys rock!
 
The Doctor did refill my pain meds today. Yay! I guess I got the impression from the hospital nurses that another refill was in question. Feel better now, the surgeon wants me to succeed with rehab as much as I do.
 
A million thanks for all of the great advice! So glad I found this forum.
 
Hi, fellow Bonesmarties, my new knees are 3 1/2 weeks old. I am still icing, elevating and medicating and actually feel pretty good. Once in a while I have discomfort but not really any horrible pain. I am so thankful for that. I do have terrible fatigue though. I am newly retired 62 and have had prior to surgery a pretty high energy level, even with my crummy pre- surgery knees. I know it is still early in recovery and I am probably impatient, but I really hope my energy level will improve. Guess I'm just asking for alittle encouragement! Thanks again for all of your support. This forum is priceless!
 
Hi J4, yes your fatigue and energy drain will improve. It's all just part of recovery, be patient, it just takes a while till you are back to normal.
 
J4, fatigue is VERY common at this stage. Think of what your body is doing to help your knees heal. I am seven months out from my BTKR and I can tell you that my energy level really took a nose dive for at least a couple of months post-operatively. And I'm only 49 so I couldn't use age as an excuse. My best advice to you as someone who has been there and done that is to listen to your body and obey its signals. If you feel the need to rest, then REST. And don't be afraid to medicate for your pain. You may need the "good stuff" for at least several more weeks. I was on percocet for probably 10 weeks after surgery and then Vicodin for at least another 3-4weeks. The tylenol came only after 3 months and I would still occasionally take a vicodin if I had a particularly rough day of physical therapy.

Good luck with your recovery and please keep us posted!
 
Hello from a gloomy Illinois today. Perusing the forum yesterday I came upon some extension exercises but cannot locate today. I think one of the examples was sitting and putting the foot on a footstool to extend the leg to straighten. The examples were really good and if someone could direct me to them it would be appreciated. This weather is good to be recuperating in, because it is so crummy outside. Hopefully I will be better when the weather is better! Thanks as always,
Cheri
 
Hi, Cheri, and welcome to the forum. I believe that the following link may take you to the exercises you mentioned; if not, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

ROM, Extension and Quad exercises

Take care of yourself and follow the BoneSmart mantra for a successful recovery: take pain meds on a schedule, rest a lot, elevate (toes above nose), and ice, ice, ice. Also take whatever is necessary to stave off the constipation monster who comes with pain meds. And read and reread the list Jamie gave you.

Keep us posted. We care.



progress.gif
 
While I did not have a BPKR, I did have a BTKR, and I can tell you now that you most likely are in the dark days of recovery---that energy drain is quite normal---the pain meds can contribute, but you are also experiencing it due to your body redirecting energy to the surgical areas---many of us---I would say that almost all of us---felt some type of energy drain and fatigue.

Be gentle with your knees during exercises and rest---listen to your knees and listen to your body. do not worry about the fatigue---your energy level will slowly and surely come back.

You have to hang in there and be patient---please consider what has been done to BOTH of your knees through surgical procedures---regardless of the differences between a BPKR or a BTKR, the recovery can be basically the same.

Recovery can take some time---longer than we would like it to; you have to be patient and ride the roller coaster ride called recovery---when you reach the end of the ride, you will be amazed at how great you fell.
 
Hi Queenie,

I hope things are going well for you. I had a bilateral PKR as well - 10 weeks ago now. I am doing fine. I still take things easy, still take pain medications if I need to ( although not so much now) and I still have that energy drain (quite a lot) from time to time that you are experiencing. Don't worry, it all sounds normal.
Everything is taking a bit longer than I imagined to get back to normal. We don't do do much physio here in the UK as you do in the US. I just do a bit of aqua physio every week and have a massage. My surgeon says to forget about my knees now and live a normal life. He even says I can ski if I want to in a few months. I have just travelled to Spain and back for a holiday. Sometimes now I forget I have metal knees!
You will get there, just a bit slower than you thought. At the moment I am very pleased with my walk, standing straight and not being in any pain while walking or standing. Take all the advice from the website and good luck.
 
Hi, Bonesmarties, have not posted in quite a while. Things have been going so well. Last weekend supported my 57 and 60 yr old sisters running in Chicago half marathon, so I walked all over downtown Chicago. But this weekend all of the sudden left knee is really hurting and I don't even know what I did to aggravate it. My surgery was April. 11, 2012. Two partial knee replacements. Has anyone had experience with thinking you were completely healed and then thinking maybe not? Thanks in advance for any moral support.
 
JG, April isn't that long ago! It's not really a surprise given that you did so much walking around. I had a BTKR over 10 months ago and I STILL get pain my right knee when I over-use it. I was told that it takes a good 6 months to a year before you start to really feel "normal" again. And even though I don't limit my activities anymore, I still find that both knees can get achy at the end of the day if I'm on my feet alot. The right one is definitely worse than the left. But it also gets better pretty quickly once I rest them and, if needed, put some ice on them.

Even though yours are partials, it's still major surgery. And it's still very soon to be 100%. So give yourself some time!

Good luck!
 
Thank you, Lisa, for responding. I guess I have gone back to doing things I have always done and sometimes just need to be a little more careful. I do a lot of lifting and yard work. So I will lay off and put my feet back up and ice again and hope for the best! I just get so scared the knees are going to revert back to the stiffness and pain before the surgery and then I go into panic mode. Thanks so much again. I will stay in touch.

Cheri :)
 
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