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

[Dearjr]

I agree ice is best

 

[shotzie63]

Jamie. An ultra sound was done on day 3 while still at the hospital. They said it looked normal.

I will definitely have the dr clarify for me if I have a hematoma or clot. Im with you. I think it's a hematoma.

I just need an answer as to why my knee is still so swollen and why im having trouble walking even with the walker. the pain is Still intense and I can barely put weight on my knee after 2 weeks.

I know its only been 2 wks, but I thought I'd see a little less pain and discomfort and less swelling. there has been no change there

 

[Dearjr]

I agree. The pain should be less but swelling is not uncommon. I have it on top of knee cap and can indent it with finger

 

[Celle]

I just need an answer as to why my knee is still so swollen and why im having trouble walking even with the walker. the pain is Still intense and I can barely put weight on my knee after 2 weeks.

I know its only been 2 wks, but I thought I'd see a little less pain and discomfort and less swelling. there has been no change there

The answer is that it is only 2 weeks since you had major surgery. Your knee is deeply wounded and it will take time to recover.

Please try to be patient - I know it's hard! - and don't expect rapid progress. If you think of it as a race, this recovery is more like a marathon than a sprint.

 

[referee54]

Please remember that, during surgery, two of your bones were sawed off, there was filing , pounding, and implants were placed into each bone.

The reason that you have such swelling---which is normal---is that your knee is reeling from the surgical trauma, and will continue to do so for a bit of time.

 

[shotzie63]

WooooHoooo!!! Staples have just been removed!!!
Ok ok..it pinched a little bit. Lol.

 

[mla925]

Your incision looks so straight! Mine has a distinct curve to it. Glad the staples came out easily. May the hematoma resolve just as easily. Did your doctor give you any insight on that matter?

 

[shotzie63]

Im not sure if I am allowed to post more than 1x, but here it goes.
My RTKR was Aug 18th and I know that everyone heals differently, but I am still suffering with stiffness in my knee. My pain is about a 5 so thats ok. I've been icing and elevating, but still cannot bend my knee.
I am probably expecting too much right now after 3 wks right? I've read post were people are saying that at 3 weeks they are walking on their own, bending with and climbing stairs!
My depression is out of control with this. I want me back. Im so tired of laying in bed or sitting in a chair everyday, all day!!!
3 weeks seems like forever. I see my OS Tuesday and am going to beg him for a CPM machine to help me with movement

 

[Pumpkin]

You are still very early in this year long or more recovery from a TKR, everything you are experiencing is normal. Roy left you the post op reading in post number 3 of this thread. You may want to go back and read the articles, they will answer most of your questions. Here is a link to that post:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/1-week-post-tkr-im-hurting.32267/#post-816916

Your ROM is most likely limited by doing too much, and taking inadequate pain medication. Be sure you are taking your medication as prescribed, remember stiffness is a form of pain.
Post op blues is normal and will go away as you heal, the hardest part of recovery is patience.

 

[Pumpkinseed]

Don't feel bad about multiple posts @shotzie63 that's what we're here for. Depression is normal. I'm 3 mos out and still cry sometimes. It's all part of the journey!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[PolarBear60]

Someone will be along shortly to merge your post into your original recovery thread. That way you'll have a single place to look and update how your recovery is coming along. It will help people know what you've been dealing with, and will help you see how far you've come (really!).

The post TKR-blues are particularly hard at this point in your recovery. Knowing they would be there made them somehow easier when they hit me. Not a lot easier, but at least I knew it was normal. You will get through them.

 

[referee54]

I merged your two recovery threads, as per forum protocol.

It is so much easier to help you with your issues and concerns if we can keep track of when your surgery was and what has been going on---by looking in just one thread.

When we have to bop back and foirth between two or more threads, it takes a great deal of time, and sometimes we even miss some concerns or issues that have popped up.

 

[referee54]

I am probably expecting too much right now after 3 wks right? I've read post were people are saying that at 3 weeks they are walking on their own, bending with and climbing stairs!

Yep---different people recover at different times and on different schedules. Most of us, like yourself, recover somewhat slowly---there may be one or two that recover fairly quickly, but the norm is at a speed that moves in glacier-like ways.

My own recovery from my BTKR took close to eight months to be at 90%-95%.

Your ROM is most likely limited by doing too much, and taking inadequate pain medication.

Please cut back on what you are doing---cut back on your activities and let your knee rest and calm down.

I want me back. Im so tired of laying in bed or sitting in a chair everyday, all day!!!

You will get back to your old self, and, when you do, you will be amazed at how great you feel---but you cannot speed your recovery up.

There is, though, much you can do to slow it down---doing too much, too soon, will slow things down.

Post op blues is normal and will go away as you heal, the hardest part of recovery is patience.

This feeling of being down in the dumps is normal---the lack of independence, the lack of mobility, pain meds, the isolation from others---etc---all contribute, but hang in there---it will go away.

 

[referee54]

Please remember that you are still in the "Dark Days of Recovery." At the four-week, mark, thing normally tend to get a little better.

You cannot worry about how slow things are---there is patience deep inside of you; you just have to reach deep inside yourself and find it.

I had a slight little limp for five months. I kept asking my PT's when it would go away---they would smile and tell me that it would go away in its own time.

Like I said in a previous post, it took me about eight months to get close to normal---at six months I was around 80%-85%, and at eight months I was around 90%-95%---but I kept on improving up to and past the one year mark.

Please take a look at this article:
Life in the slow lane

 

[Josephine]

I've read post were people are saying that at 3 weeks they are walking on their own, bending with and climbing stairs!

Not on here you haven't! And I've never heard of anybody doing any such thing.

My depression is out of control with this. I want me back. Im so tired of laying in bed or sitting in a chair everyday, all day!!! 3 weeks seems like forever.

Well, you better find some patience somewhere, my dear, because this recovery take 3 months ! You also need to calm down and let your recovery happen else you'll be making it last twice a long as it normally would.

I see my OS Tuesday and am going to beg him for a CPM machine to help me with movement

CPMs don't work any magic. The best way to get a good recovery is by resting lots and allowing things to heal. There's nothing you can do to speed things up and if you try, you'll just make your poor, sore knee get even angrier and more painful and less bendy!

 

[Jamie]

I've read post were people are saying that at 3 weeks they are walking on their own, bending with and climbing stairs!

You may read posts from a few members who are able to do these things at 3 weeks, but honestly that is not how a majority of people recover!! And, truth be told most of those who push like that in the early stages end up in a lot of pain and realize that is not the best approach to recovery. This is why we strongly advise you never, ever try to compare your recovery with someone else's posts. Your recovery is unique to you. And you are very, very normal in where you are at this point.

I will say that a 5 level of pain usually is considered to be fairly significant, so be sure you are taking something to deal with the pain if it is that high. Being in pain is not good for a successful recovery as it leads to inflammation and swelling. That inhibits your ROM and comfort when trying to walk or do your stretches. And inflammation can lead to even greater pain.

Please try to be patient. You are just at the beginning of your recovery. That may not be what you want to hear, but it's important for you to realize that getting "you" back is likely going to take a few months. You'll make steady improvements from week to week, but it just takes a while to be as active as I'm thinking you want to be. This is a time to listen to your body and follow what it's telling you. You'll know when it's ready to increase your activity levels. And you'll also know when it's time to slow down a bit (that's what the pain and discomfort mean).

 

[KarriB]

I'm sorry to say that you still have a way to go @shotzie63 . Three weeks is so early, you should still be doing next to nothing, just taking care of yourself and medicating on schedule. Because of my infection I had two months of doing absolutely nothing. By the end of the two months I washing cleaning up after a meal, cooking small meals, making the beds and vacuuming. I often got yelled at for doing these things, but I know how you are feeling. I didn't feel like myself and was in a deep depression, crying all the time. Find something to do, rent movies,learn to knit or crochet, if you can read do that (I'm a reader but just couldn't concentrate).
Truly, the less you do, the better your knee will be.

 

[referee54]

I see my OS Tuesday and am going to beg him for a CPM machine to help me with movement

My OS did not believe in CPM machines---he said that he did not find them helpful at all. After my BTKR I did not use one on either knee.

Some OS's believe that they can be beneficial, but many others feel that they do not work.

 

[Kssii]

I did a lot of studying on the value of CPM machines before my surgery as I had heard my OS didn't use them. (Turned out he did, but only for 2 wks.--I found it soothing, didn't need it for the ROM.) Also asked my PT person about them. General consensus was that they can help you get a bit more ROM early on but by week 12-16, you can't tell the difference between the people that used them, and those that don't. As to how fast you are healing, I am one of those people that seemed to do quite well early on, and yet at 17 wks out, I still want the leg up a lot of the day, take pain meds at night, have pain and tightness down the outside and back of my knee and feel like I have been plateaued for several weeks. Just be patient--how often does life give us an excuse to goof off?

 

[saultlooser]

Hi there, I have just read all of your posts. I had my RTKR done on August 18 as well. I was shocked to see that you were attempting leg raises and heel slides so soon! I had my LTKR done 2 years ago and if it wasn't for this forum, I would not have survived it. The biggest lesson they taught me is that the knee is the boss. I didn't do PT for the first 2 weeks, just worked on icing and elevating and taking meds regularly, even setting an alarm to take meds during the night. This is a long journey, emotions are all over the map. One day at a time. If the knee swells,mother you need to elevate and ice. Hope things improve for you.