TKR 40 year old-almost 5 weeks out from surgery

[Brownie51]

How old are your children SC?

 

[tubtickler]

I had a TKR on October 24th too - left knee. My recovery is pretty average I think; not much pain but lots of stiffness. But I too had a PT who was being aggressive and stressed me out by telling me on her second visit that the OS wanted my ROM to be at 90 by week 6. Well, imagine the anxiety that put me through! I immediately went into exercise overdrive and of course my knee reacted by swelling and stiffening so much that my ROM went from 65 to 55 in one week. I was soooo depressed and anxious prior to my three week appointment with the OS. Imagine my surprise when he told me to stop over doing things!

First he said that he does not expect that ROM at 6 weeks. In fact he only sees his patients at week three and week nine. He then emphatically told me that I should only be doing three things for the first 6 to 8 weeks: elevating, resting and doing only the exercises that I could tolerate. Quelle surprise!! He said I shouldn't ruffle feathers with the PT, just tell her I would do the exercises and then only do the ones that didn't really hurt. He spent 15 minutes explaining that I need to be like the tortoise not the hare. Slow and steady really does win in the end. He pointed out that he cut through seven layers to get to the bone and although the knee itself works fine now(and I can certainly notice the absence of the previous pain), it takes a long time for the various muscles, ligaments and other tissues to repair themselves.

Well today is week five and my ROM is now at 70 and if it takes months to get to 120 then I'm prepared to be patient about it and to use common sense for my activities. Because I have a desk job I can go back to work on December 4th for half days which I'm really looking forward to. I used a cane only from week two and expect to have to use it for a while as my right knee is bone on bone and will be getting replaced in April. So I expect it to take over a year before my recovery'is completed and I look forward to the many things I will be able to enjoy that I haven't for more than 10 years. Patience is the secret!

 

[Josephine]

1. I am taking a 325 mg aspirin twice a day--but that was for 30 days only, almost done with those.

That wasn't for pain, it's for blood thinning.

5 mg oxycodone--take 1-3 every 4-6 hours. Admittedly, I am only taking this (one) before I go to PT. I have taken some motrin at times in place of the oxycodone.

Well, your problem is that you are not taking them AS prescribed. Take them AS prescribed meaning 2 tablets every 4, 5 or 6 hours. But is your prescription only oxycodone or is it oxycodone APAP?

Motrin is just ibuprofen which is a very mild pain killer so you shouldn't take it instead of oxycodone. If you want an additional otc med to take as well, then use Tylenol 1,000mg per dose (maximum 8 tablets per 24hrs) - assuming your oxycodone is not with APAP which means it already has Tylenol in it.

2. I am only icing once per day. I realize after today that I should do this more. I recently got the blue freezer pack things to use vs. the electronic cryocuff--which is when I got the frost nip. I had been using a tea towel, but it had folded back or something.

That would do it!

3. I had not been elevating at all. Will begin that tonight.

Jolly good!

4. housework--just light straightening up such as putting dishes in dishwasher, and making the bed. I have only cooked three times--once to fix a few side dishes for Thanksgiving, the other times were to make a frozen lassagna, and then soup and sandwiches.....so I don't think I'm overdoing it there.
I've been to the grocery store twice--once in a wheelchair and the second time holding on to the cart and walking.
I probably over do it most in that our laundry room is in the basement and I do go down (one step at a time) at least twice a day. But I fold the laundry sitting down and then have my kids transport the folded stacks upstairs.

PT is three times a week for one hour.[/quote]That doesn't seem too much.

 

[speccybecky]

I had to go up and down the stairs...albeit slowly and one step at a time...as the toilet and bedrooms are upstairs

 

[Organist]

SC40girl, welcome to the group. Everyone has given great advice and suggestions. The BS mantra is repeated OFTEN because it’s very important.

As for Christmas – I agree with all of the suggestions. I really like Maryo52’s advice about Christmas – “Also, you really are going to have to figure a different way around xmas. Let go of the way it's been and creatively think of a new version for this year. My kids are grown and the times they remember fondly are the ones that were different or went awry or were weird in some other way.”

You could supervise making popcorn, and then you could all string popcorn to hang on the tree – to give it an old-fashioned “touch” – that is, if you don’t do that already. Hot chocolate in the evenings (hot water with the individual packages of hot chocolate mix), along with Christmas movies, stories, ... provide good memories for children and adults too. Low-stress time together is great. Nodding off during the movies is definitely OK during this first part of recovery. Of course, my hubby and I often nod off during movies that we have on DVD.

Your ROM and the rest of your recovery will get there – in good time. DO elevate your leg a lot, and take your prescribed pain meds as prescribed. It will make a big difference. Your knee will let you know when it’s OK to back off (by waiting an extra hour before you get the “beginnings” of pain again). Don’t wait until the pain is bad to take the prescribed pain meds. Set your clock (or cell phone clock), if necessary.

BTW, I live in Western North Carolina (Asheville), and grew up in South Carolina.

 

[Shubbles]

So, did you ice and elevate last night and today? How is it feeling today?

 

[sc40girl]

How old are your children SC?

15, 7, and my baby will be 4 next week.

 

[sc40girl]

I did ice and elevate last night...and felt much better when I woke up this morning! Hooray!!
I had a very full day today, a regular dr appt (not OS), flu shot, and PT...the appts were near one another so I just stayed out and went out for lunch with my mom (My A#1 chaffeur!). It did swell as I figured it would, but I'm elevating and icing now.

I'm going to try to do better with the pain meds.
Do you think I should add some Aleve as an NSAID?

 

[Shubbles]

Yes definitely try an NSAID! I have a prescription one called Voltaren and it works very well for my swelling. Give it a try. If you feel it doesn't help after a week then stop. Mine took about 2-3 days before I noticed the difference so don't take one and give up.

I'm glad that the icing and elevating helped! Some relief makes a world of difference when you are going through this.

 

[Josephine]

Do you think I should add some Aleve as an NSAID?

Not! Aleve, like Motrin, is also ibuprofen. Didn't you read this in my previous post?

Motrin is just ibuprofen which is a very mild pain killer so you shouldn't take it instead of oxycodone. If you want an additional otc med to take as well, then use Tylenol 1,000mg per dose (maximum 8 tablets per 24hrs) - assuming your oxycodone is not with APAP which means it already has Tylenol in it.