TKR good leg feels worse than bad leg this morning....

yes I can take acetaminophen, I emailed the nurse,.... it just doesn't work as well.
Though I found it worked well post surgery. Hang in there--not long now!
 
Today was a heavy prepping day....and the iron pills are starting to bother me. I try to schedule them far enough away from my coffee breaks and everything else that hinders absorption
 
Those iron pills made me feel bad from the very first one! I was so glad when my surgeon said I could stop them!
 
I worry about stairs with a bilateral. and blood loss. I am retired and I don't worry about the time for two recoveries.
You’re better off doing one at a time in my opinion. My surgeons won’t do two at once as he said there’s too much risk for complications and I could not even fathom the pain having both done at once. Mine are 9 months apart and my knee is the one that decided I had to do it as it was causing me so much pain and I could no longer function with it. This second knee is easier than the first one. Good luck!
 
got the iron pills on schedule now....take one with oj an hour before breakfast,, then a second one two hours after breakfast another one two hours after lunch.
 
Surprised to hear you have been put ON iron pills pre-op as just today I have been told to STOP all my supplements (including iron) in anticipation of my surgery next week.
 
@AfterCare i was put On iron pills two weeks prior to my surgery and continued them for two weeks after. I guess every surgeon is different.
 
I just double checked my info sheet from the surgeon and it says take the iron up to the night before the surgery.
 
You’re better off doing one at a time in my opinion.
It is very much a matter of opinion. Me being a staff member here does not make my opinion more or less valuable than yours; but I do disagree.

Bilateral means one operation, one recovery and no 'marking time' between surgeries.
My surgeons won’t do two at once as he said there’s too much risk for complications
Hmm. Plenty of surgeons do bilaterals. It seems to me that if it were demonstrably riskier then it wouldn't be done because of lawsuits. My understanding is that the single surgery is riskier than doing one knee - but that one knee has to be done twice (of course!) thus equalling it all out.
I could not even fathom the pain having both done at once.
It hurts, all right. But twice as bad? I can't say for certain, but I suspect not. And every day in recovery I was thinking 'Just one time!!!!'.
Mine are 9 months apart
Which I would regard as lost time, 'marking time' between surgeries.

The one thing I'd say strongly against BTKR is that one is highly immobilised for a couple of weeks. My wife was a saint, but I really couldn't do much. Once I got home, it was one slooooooow set of stairs down in the AM, one even slower in the evening to bed. Then sofa, TV, and a WC close by, daytime snacks pre-prepared and ready. It's tough but, once again, only once.
 
I considered a bilateral since I knew both knees had problems. The doctor said sometimes the “better” knee may start to feel better once the “bad” knee is sharing the load.

Having said that...as my first TKR (left knee) started getting stronger my right knee became the knee that was hindering my activities. I could have waited to have the right knee done but it didn’t make sense to have my new, functional knee get strong, wait a year with pain and limitations on the right knee and start the process all over again.

With my second TKR I’m glad I didn’t do a bilateral. I know it really works for some folks and it’s really convenient recovery-wise but, dang, I can’t imagine how they do it!

If you decide to space the TKRs apart I would suggest you keep a recovery journal so when the second TKR rolls around you will know what to expect with your progress. With my 2nd TKR I keep thinking I should be progressing faster but when compared to my 1st TKR I’m doing really well. It’s amazing how quickly we forget the negative bits and I just have to remember that it’s slow in the beginning.

Best wishes!
Great idea to keep a journal on recovery.
 

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