TKR 3 weeks and counting

eliza61nyc

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Feb 1, 2017
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105
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Location
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Hello fellow bonesmarters, I've been hanging out here for almost 5 years, ever since my first TKR on my left knee back in 2016. well my right knee must have became jealous of all the pain free days the left knee was experiencing and decided to act up.

After two years of various temporary fixes, I went ahead and replaced the right knee.

current condition:
5 days out from surgery. trying to get the pain meds ratio together. still in a lot of pain. actually felt really good the first two days and probably got cocky with trying to walk and exercise.
currently I'm taking
acetaminophen (500 mg tablets) 2 tablets 3 times a day
baby aspirin (81mg) 1 tablet twice a day
Meloxicam (15 mg) 1 tablet daily
Metaxalone (also called skelaxin 800 mg) 1 tablet 3X's a day
Tramadol 50 mg
Oxycodone 5 mg.

The narcotic medicine is taken only when needed. these first days I'm taking one of each every 8 hours

right now the major issue is the pain whenever I change position and walking with a walker. very slow and painful yikes!!
 
Hi and Welcome back!

I see you’re from Philadelphia, I’m fairly close, in Delaware. Delaware is so tiny it’s close to a lot of places.:heehee:


I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​


4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only One Recovery Thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Good to hear your spirits are high! I’m now 5 wks out and feel so much better. Those first few days, my walker was my security blanket. It was a big accomplishment to ambulate, ice, get to BR, shower....took half a day. I too was overwhelmed with all the meds I was taking the first few weeks. I had them lined up on the kitchen counter and kept track of dates and times. (I‘m a nurse so a bit OCD about that). Best wishes for an uneventful recovery and good sleep!
 
I think one thing that will help is that my expectations are more realistic. Lol, I've already lined up stuff to do during those sleepless nights.
My first goal is to simply shower
 
I think one thing that will help is that my expectations are more realistic. Lol, I've already lined up stuff to do during those sleepless nights.
Yes, this time you know recovery is going to be a marathon, not a sprint - but you also know it will be worth it in the end.

I hope your first shower goes well. It's going to feel so good.
 
Well we knew it had to happen.:boohoo:bad night last night, I had to pop an extra oxycodone. The old knee was/is screaming today. Entire leg is still very swollen ( come on foot, you too?)
It's a marathon, it's a marathon, it's a marathon.

Ok making myself say one positive thing.

My son put 2 fresh croissants in the oven and they smell amazing.

Day 6
 
Even though we know the bad days are going to happen, it doesn't make it any easier when they do. Hope it improves today. Enjoy your croissants.
 
And now the wacky sleep schedule/insomnia has begun. Jeez :hissy::gaah: Took an oxycodone around 11:45 pm and while it absolutely did help the pain, I'm tossing and turning and let's face it, the old recliner was not that comfortable to begin with.

Did a bit of walking today as most of my support system had to go back to work, my sons took off all last week. back and forth to the kitchen/bathroom etc etc. I'll have folks check on me tonight.

Still icing and need walker to get around.
 
I love to read but was unable to concentrate. I also enjoy audiobooks and I listened to lots of those those first few weeks. Also enjoyed doing those little word search things. How are you doing today?
 
I downloaded silly games and online jigsaw puzzles, some light reading, simple crosswords/sudoku and enrolled for a couple of free online courses through Futurelearn. Try not to fret over sleeplessness, find something easy to take your mind off it until you get sleepy again and catch up on sleep as you can. It will pass in time.
 
Ok guys, I think the knee god's have found my Achilles heel. Sleep deprivation. . I am trying to manage my Pain ( oh I'm 10:days out) but this insomnia/ restless sleep is driving me crazy.
So my routine has been around 10:30 take my last pain pill, lay down, leg elevated. I can fall asleep but by 12 I'm up again in pain. Ok move to recliner with an ice pack on my leg. By 1:30ish back up again.

Grrrr. I don't remember it being this bad with my left leg.
 
I feel your pain, not your knee pain LOL but the lack of sleep pain. I to sleep in the recliner for three months after my first revision surgery in 2018. Not that I wasn't able to sleep but because of restless leg syndrome that drove me up the wall and I had to get up every 30 minutes to stretch my legs. I literally became a zombie from lack of sleep LOL

But I'm here to tell you it will get better and eventually your sleepless nights will be a thing of the past. You are still only a few weeks from surgery give time, time and slowly but surely your pain and sleep deprivation will subside.

For now, just keep on top of your medication ice and elevate.

This too shall pass.
 
You'll notice that I have merged your two threads together as we prefer that members in recovery only have one thread.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. If you would like a new thread title just post what you would like it to be and we'll change it for you
 
Will be 6 weeks out on Monday and still can't sleep more than 2 hours at a time and no more than a total of 6 hours a day.

Don't know what to do. Pray it will get better. Don't want to have this issue with right TKR coming up within the year.

Has anyone seen a doc for some of the Rx sleep meds? Do they work? Can you easily taper off?
 
I am trying to manage my Pain ( oh I'm 10:days out) but this insomnia/ restless sleep is driving me crazy.
@eliza61nyc - Please re-read this article -
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?
that was left for you in the recovery Guidelines, (Post [HASH=151]#2)[/HASH]. Did you read those articles, or did you miss them because you lost your thread?

Sleep disturbance is very normal, especially in these early days of recovery.

There are some things you can do to help yourself, though.
First, stop worrying about it. You don't have to get all your needed sleep at night. You can make up for it by taking daytime naps. Sleep where you can, when you can, and how you can.

Sleep loss can also be attributed to a couple of things - under-medication and over-activity.
Make sure you are taking your pain medications on a regular schedule. It's far too early to be thinking about cutting down those meds.

Make sure you're not trying to overdo things in the daytime -check your activity against this article:
Activity progression for TKRs
And don't try to stay awake during the daytime, thinking you'll then sleep better at night, because it doesn't seem to work that way.

You don't have to go to bed to sleep. Many people found it was more comfortable to sleep in their recliner for several weeks.
 
I had my surgery February 3 sounds like you did too. My doctor prescribed Ambien and it did not work for me. I still wake up every two hours...
I’ve been taking tramadol at night and then when I wake up two hours later I take a Xanax and that seems to keep me to sleep for about four hours. I try to nap during the day if I’m tired, usually I’m exhausted after just a day of shopping. wondering when I’m gonna start feeling like myself it’s very depressing☹️
 
I am trying to manage my Pain ( oh I'm 10:days out) but this insomnia/ restless sleep is driving me crazy.
@eliza61nyc - Please re-read this article -
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?
that was left for you in the recovery Guidelines, (Post [HASH=151]#2)[/HASH]. Did you read those articles, or did you miss them because you lost your thread?

Sleep disturbance is very normal, especially in these early days of recovery.

There are some things you can do to help yourself, though.
First, stop worrying about it. You don't have to get all your needed sleep at night. You can make up for it by taking daytime naps. Sleep where you can, when you can, and how you can.

Sleep loss can also be attributed to a couple of things - under-medication and over-activity.
Make sure you are taking your pain medications on a regular schedule. It's far too early to be thinking about cutting down those meds.

Make sure you're not trying to overdo things in the daytime -check your activity against this article:
Activity progression for TKRs
And don't try to stay awake during the daytime, thinking you'll then sleep better at night, because it doesn't seem to work that way.

You don't have to go to bed to sleep. Many people found it was more comfortable to sleep in their recliner for several weeks.

thanks celle, I actually somehow did miss that one. I actually read them about 4 1/2 years ago when I had my left tkr so it maybe time to revisit them.
 
15 day update...

Well had my 2 week post well visit to the surgeon. He's happy with the wound and the swelling. Now wants me to concentrate on the good stuff. lol bending and straightening.

Sleeping is still hellish. at most I'm getting 3 hours, seems so hard to get ahead of the pain at night.
Anyhoo, had physical therapy today. I had visited this therapist before so I feel very comfortable with him, first season he did the normal stuff. measured degree of bending and straightening. I made it very clear that there would be NO pushing down on my knee. He was on board with that, although he did emphasis the need to get the leg straight.
today we did assisted heel slides. some thing called prolonged seated knee extension which hurts like the dickens and he put this electrodes on my thighs to try and stimulate the quads.
tried to get me to commit to 3 times a week but I'm sticking with 2 for now.

Ice and elevate tonight. want to try and get ahead of the stiffness and soreness I know is coming. I'm still walking with a cane and a limp. definitely can't climb the stairs normally and still get tired after walking from end of house to other end.


On a lighter note, I have an annoying cousin who had the same surgery and of course she called to tell me how she was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro 3 days after surgery...... I refrained from beating her to death with the cell....:angel:
 
although he did emphasis the need to get the leg straight.
Your leg will get straight, in it’s own time, don’t force anything and don’t worry. Many PTs want us to recover right now, but our body doesn’t with that way. You have plenty of time.


Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.
 

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