TKR 1 week post TKR I'm hurting!! *

[shotzie63]

Sarah. I have taken what you said to heart and have now stopped trying to do light things around the apt.

I have cut back some on the exercises and doing the bare minimum that my knee will allow without putting my knee or myself into to much distress.

I guess I just figured that if I did a little more, I would see improvement with my ROM. Wrong! Lol

I appreciate you words of wisdom and words of encouragement.

I am now icing icing icing and elevating and letting the hubby do all the chores and minimal meal prep. Im usually the cook in the family.

 

[shotzie63]

Thank you skigirl! You are correct about taking it easy ans allowing my knee to heal and not rush the process.

; )

 

[shotzie63]

So I got a call yesterday from a Home Care Nurs. She said she was asked to come over to our home.

I asked what the visit is about?? She said that she is coming to see if my pain meds are helping, to check the
surgery site and make sure its healing properly, and make sure there is no infection.

Now tmrw my pt is coming again for another round of treatment. I do not know when I will receive the cpm machine.

I would love to take a day off of treatment because my anxiety goes through the roof when he comes over. I know there will be pain.

 

[mickeyears70]

Even after 7 weeks, my therapist told to listen to your body. I am glad your therapist did not push you, I had one who would.

Hang in there these next few weeks are tough and you may even wish you did not have the surgery. It does get better, I promise.

Do what the others are saying ICE ICE ICE, it is your friend. I ice today at least 6 times a day not including after therapy. What helps me is to ice while I fall asleep, I elevate my leg and ice at the same time. By the time I am ready to fall asleep I am done. I also ice first thing in the morning. Again everyone is different you just need to find what works for you.

 

[shotzie63]

Update!! Home care nurse just left. she took one look at my knee and said your knee is very discolored and very swollen on the right of the incision, and very tender to the touch.
You have a hematoma and it does not look good. She called my surgeon's back-up and told him her findings and he told her that I have to go to his office right away.
She said..no wonder you cannot even bend your knee a little bit and are in excruciating pain. that is the reason.
So. Hubby and I are in route to the dr's office.
Stand by

 

[analysta]

I kind of want to say Congratulations - now you have proof that it's not YOU! And you have something that can be worked on ... and it will get better ... please be sure to update us.

I'd like to know if they took an xray (just now). I should think that hematomas are fairly easy to see with imaging, but they may not always be superficially visible. I wonder if more TKR people with non-typical levels of pain should be getting screened for hematomas.

 

[shotzie63]

analysta. Just left the drs office and he drained blood from the swollen area of my knee and says there is still
seems to be blood there and its clotting and wants me to appply heat and see if it breaks down. I see him again in the 1st and if it hasn't gotten better, then he may have to In and clean it out. Ouch!!! That damn needle hurt going into my knee that is already in so much pain!

 

[Joyfull61]

I'll be thinking of you, that sounds horrible.


TKR - August 31, 2015

 

[shotzie63]

Joyfull61. Yout surgery is around the corner. Hope all goes well!! Keep me posted! I will be praying for ya!!

 

[KarriB]

Are you still on a blood thinner?

 

[shotzie63]

Here are the meds I was given
norco
oxy ir
Aspirin
Thats all

 

[SarahJane]

@shotzie63, please, please, please keep us updated. A hematoma is *NOT* a good thing. I'm glad they sent that visiting nurse out to see you and that the doctor has seen you, too. @KarriB has a good question. Did the doctor review your current medications and make any recommendations to change or adjust them? It makes sense that you'd have some pain when the needle was inserted to draw the blood out. But I think it'll feel better when it settles down and there's less internal pressure. Make sure to let him or his office know if you see a significant change before the 1st. There's a slightly increased risk of infection when you have a hematoma. KarriB, @Jamie, @kneeper, do you know if any current BoneSmarties have had experiences with post-operative hematomas?

 

[shotzie63]

Sarah. No changes to medications. But now that im home...I am really hurting more! Lol. Talk about being stiff! Yikes. So now I have to put heat on my knee to break down clotting

 

[SarahJane]

@shotzie63, it helps us to know the dosages and frequency of the medications. Are you taking 350mg of aspirin, 81 mg of aspirin, once a day, three times a day... that sort of thing. Aspirin is a blood thinner, so taking a lot of aspirin means it'll take longer for your blood to clot. I'm not familiar with norco or the oxy ir ... the Percocet I was taking had 5 mg of the narcotics and 325 mg acetaminophen, FWIW

 

[Legin]

I agree with SJ, you shouldn't be left in so much pain, sounds like your pain management program needs re assessing. Keep us in touch pal

Legin THR Sep 14

 

[KarriB]

The aspirin is probably for the blood/hematoma. I can't imagine having a needle inserted into that tender new knee, but they were going to aspirate my knee 4 months after TKR to take cultures. In the end they just did a 2nd surgery because the wound was seeping so much. I saw the needle and it was huge!

 

[Majic]

@shotzie63 for the first month I elevated virtually all day with two ice packs, either one over my knee and one down the incision. I also slept with my knee/leg in a sort of leg sandwich of ice packs. I had a cool box next to the bed with more in it, and changed them during the night.
I did very little excercise, except a short walk outside every morning and slept virtually all day. My husband did almost everything else. Now, at 5weeks in, my ROM is better than my first knee was at 2months, when I had only iced for 20 mins every hour or so. I am just beginning to walk more but still very tired and sleep almost every afternoon, as well as a snooze before getting up.
I do very little housework except tidying bedroom, making bed, and general things that my husband doesn't think of. Everything else can wait.
Don't try to do too much too soon. That way everything will come quicker. Hope you are feeling better by now.

 

[KarriB]

@SarahJane i haven't read or heard of anyone having a hematoma, but there has to be someone who knows about it. Probably @Josephine has experience with that.

 

[hawk2go]

Rest now and allow your tissues to heal and forget that overly aggressive, untrained PT.

I fired my overly aggressive, untrained PT and the replacement was an experienced, patient man who helped me understand my recovery process and how much I should push myself. I am very glad I didn't try to stick with the original (he had me do a lunge with my new knee forward on my 6th day out surgery and asked me to hold it for 30 secs - . That move took my breath away and when I told him it really hurt, he said well hold it for 10 secs, told me to ice the knee, and left.).

 

[analysta]

There are actually about 200 references to hematomas on bonesmart (try entering it in the search box at the top of the page). In the hospital, when I asked about why they constantly wanted to see my incision and feel my leg, they said it's because "we're looking for infection, thromboses, and hematomas." I found a study that says that only one in 400 TKRs has this complication, so it's not surprising that there hasn't been a mention of it in the last couple months of activity on this forum. But it's certainly something to keep in mind, because if undetected and untreated it can lead to more than just pain. Shotzie, I'm just guessing but I think you had "early detection" and you're going to be fine. I'm basing that guess on the fact that they used a needle for yours rather than an incision. Did they say how "mature" they thought it was? As a hematoma gets older it starts to get more solid and develops a "capsule" of some thickness.