Three Weeks to go and Terrified

Hi. I'm brand new to posting, but thought I'd give it a try. I have total knee replacement scheduled for Feb. 21, and am pretty scared right now - what if it doesn't work properly , etc. etc.? Did everyone feel this way? I'm also worried about infection post-op. How common is this?

I am going for mine on the 14 of Feb. You have to think positive or you will drive yourself crazy.Read all these posts and 99% are positive outcomes and the other 1% are minor set backs.Good Luck and keep thinking positive.

Hi, LInCan; I too was terrified. It will work out for you, the worst time is the lead-up because imagination is FAR worse than reality. Operation day passes in a flash (you are asleep...) then it's just the challenge of recovery. ON THE FIRST DAY your knee will no longer hurt as it did and you will be able to stand.

Hi again. Thank you to everyone who ha responded. I'm wondering - how long do you need help at home, if progress is fairly normal? Also, I have 7 steps to get into my home, then I'm on one floor. Everyone here says that will be no problem. Thoughts?

Hi welcome to the BoneSmart family. It is normal to be worried before a major surgery, The waiting is the hardest part of this because you begin to play the what if game and that can drive you crazy. This surgery would not be that common if it did not have a good success rate. One thing that is certain is without the surgery the knee will only get worse. The closer my date gets the more nervous I become but the more excited I become also because I know this surgery will give me back my life. I wish you a successful surgery and an uneventful recovery

It's funny..I was terrified to before hand. But I kept 'very' busy..which helped keep me 'distracted'!
But when you go in....your so 'rushed' through everything...you don't even notice! We had to be at the hospital 'very' early..so not even awake yet haha. Then its go to this room, that room, talk to this person etc...then I went in, got my spinal and the next thing I know I woke up. Then its a new step from there. Wake up, have visitors, take your 1st step etc.
You will do fine! And go read lots of 'happy' posts about how well people are doing...that will help your positive thinking along!

I'm not sure if it will help, but I made a blog. Before the surgery up until I left hospital. (Pics and all) I'm sure every hospital/Dr etc is different...but at the same time, I'm sure there is a lot that is the same.

http://aaa123bbb.blogspot.com/

Good luck to you!

I loved your blog Bionic G-ma

Welcome Newbie! You've come to the right place to find lots of people who've been in exactly your position and have come through the surgery and recovery and are now enjoying an active life again!

Of course you're feeling nervous, it would be very unusual not to feel like that before major surgery but if you read as much as you can in the library on this site and read about all the recovery stories you'll get an idea of the reality and in the vast majority of cases that reality is better than most people hoped for. Keep busy over the next few weeks and make preparations at home to make your recovery more comfortable. Keep in touch with us at Bonesmart too and we'll try to allay your fears and keep you company on your journey!

Thanks Newnee....I hope it may help calm your fears a little. I was terrified about not knowing what all was going to happen..so I decided to make a blog to help others.

This is a great place to be though...there is so much wonderful support here! :biggrin:

Good luck!

Hi LinCan:

I joined BoneSmart two weeks ago, and I was as terrified as you are. But after receiving reassurances from everybody and reading the info in the library, I must say I am doing A LOT better now. Yes, I'm anxious (more because I'm now ready to get it over with) but I not frantic anymore. Every time I feel I'm going to panic, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and tell myself it will be all right.

My surgery (BTKR) is on the same day as yours.

Hi, LinCan.

I understand being scared - I sure had my moments before surgery! There are just a lot of things out of your control in this process, and that's scary. But knee replacement is a pretty mature surgical procedure, and I can tell you that my care team pretty much thought of everything and planned for every contingency.

For example, post surgical infection is rare, (occurs in less than 1% of patients), but my care team took a number of different precautions to avoid it. I had special soap to wash with for several days before surgery, they had stringent draping and hand washing procedures at the hospital, I got prophylactic antibiotics with the surgery, repeated inspections and cleaning after, etc. I think it's great to be aware of the possibility and follow good procedures to avoid this and other complications, but the liklihood is pretty low.

Take it easy, and best of luck to you,
La

Welcome to the forum. My TKR is Feb 29th. I am both nervous and excited. I use work to keep my mind from constantly thinking about the surgery. I am sure all will go ok when you have yours.

100% agree. Work out a mantra, for instance ' I am not worried; surgery will not hurt, I will be asleep at the time, and recovery means getting better'. Repeat it out loud. It helped me.

Hi LinCan

It is normal to be fretful before such major surgery and to think about all the negatives. We all do that at times but please be reassured that it is such standard procedure these days and generally it all works out just fine. I think it is useful to follow people on the post op side that are having a normal outcome and then you will gauge what to expect. The recovery is very slow and long; if you accept this early on it will help your progress.

The steps - as long as you have a handrail you should be ok. I thought my stairs would be a piece of cake - wrong!! Part of my stairs do not have a handrail and they were very difficult in the first few days but as I got stronger and more confident they became easier to handle. You do need to be careful with them, so make sure you tell your pt person about them and practice in the hospital.

I wish you all the best.

They won't let you out of the hospital until you can do a few steps so no worries there.

As someone else said, the imagination is the worst part. Read up about what to expect and what to prepare at home and the time will fly. Well, go faster anyway. :th_heehee:
Welcome to Bonesmart.

G'morning LinCan,

Welcome to the community! You will find lots of support and information here. Your feelings of anxiety and apprehension are very normal. I certainly felt that way prior to my TKR.

What helped me was reading and learning as much as muchI could beforehand. Take a look at the you library subject index. Also reading the posts, past and current, of others helped immensely. Finally, just being clear about what my options were helped me stay focused on The Solution. Continuing to live in pain was no longer an option for me.

Dori
aka GrandyGirl

Hello LinCan really pleased you've found this site, it's brilliant and people are so kind and helpful- and you can even have a laugh sometimes. No one makes you feel stupid for asking quesions either. I'm due for my TKR on Feb 7th so am getting anxious too (understatement! ) but it's helped to keep busy and read all the info on here. Hope all goes well with you and let us know how you go on x