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TKR Almost 8 months later...the aftermath

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I start tossing and turning around 0330 - flip and flop, move pillows, shift some more until I get up around 0630 - 0700 hrs. I go to the kitchen, make a coffee and bowl of oatmeal, then go elevate/ice/CPM until literally 1130 - 1200 hrs. I take my Celebrex and Tylenol at 0800 hrs, Tylenol at 1300 hrs, 1730 hrs, then 2230 hrs or right before bed. Second dose of Celebrex is at 2000 hrs. Right now, also using Dilaudid later in afternoon, around 1600 hrs, then again before bed and last night around 0400 hrs as well.

After first round of ice/elevate, I go and bath, dress, fix hair, and get ready for the day (typically takes about an hour and a half - eesh!!). I now go and ride bike for about ten minutes or so, then elevate and watch some TV. Around 1500 hrs, I go to the kitchen and make a salad or piece of toast, then back to elevating and icing. Around 1630 hrs or so, I walk down to the mailbox at the end of our short drive way and check the mail, then come back in, go to the kitchen, and decide what to put in the oven for supper. Typically, this is my "problem" time - the time of day I'm feeling pretty good and decide to shoot myself in the feet and try doing a lot more than I should!! Whether it's wiping the counters off, dusting, wiping off bathroom counters - I just need to walk away and I'm fine, but if I start doing anything, my OCD sucks me right in!

We normally eat supper around 1800 hrs, hubby does the clean up (if step daughter isn't here). I've only stood at the stove cooking anything twice since surgery - each time was too much, frankly. After supper, I'll ride the bike again, I do stretches throughout the day when up and about, and when just elevating. I'm also on and off internet throughout the day. I still limit the trips back and forth all over the house, or letting dogs out - they all add up too quickly to being too much.

We normally go to bed around 2230 hrs, and the whole process starts again the next morning. I'm pretty regimented about it, especially the meds. I've never watched so much TV in my life, nor have I ever laid on my backside so much! But - if I'm not physically UP, I am absolutely elevating, typically icing, and doing a whole lot of resting right now. Boring, very...very...BORING...
 
I am 16 weeks today and I don't think too much about monitoring my activities anymore. I just do--knowing that if I do too much, I will know it.
I spent the first two weeks in my recliner with ice and pillows. Meanwhile, demolition was occurring in my house so we could start and addition.
At 2 weeks, I walked for an hour and that was too long.
At 3 weeks I decided I was spending too much time in the recliner and not enough time bending my knee. I got more serious about the little pedal thingie. I started walking outside for 20-30 min almost daily
4-Pt, started driving, Costco, out to lunch but not all on the same day. Using 5mg Percocet only at night
5-ditched the walker, got in the pool, and went Christmas shopping solo (for an hour).
6-quit PT and returned to pilates 3x a week, stopped regular napping
7,8 and 9-feeling some frustration over limitations and fatigue, still picking and choosing activities to balance out the day. I started enjoying reading and arguing with the editorials in the New York Times
10-Feeling great and seriously over did physical activities. I tried adding hiking to pilates and everything blew up in my face. Finally felt comfortable sitting in a chair in a restaurant. Started sleeping normally
11-Crashed, burned, and stayed home, told off the contractor about the lack of progress on the addition
12-Perked up, drove 2 hours to visit daughter/grandson, discontinued Tylenol on a regular basis, went back to Pilates and daily living
13-Realized I was beginning to feel more interested in doing stuff
14-Tried hiking again. Started volunteering at a Nature Preserve
Week 16-Here I be!
 
Hi Karringtyn. At week three (where you are now) I'm pretty sure all I did was cry and feel sorry for myself. I was on my own and would only get up for ice, food, restroom and not much else. I had totally overdid it the previous week by catering a wedding (brilliant, I know), so was in HUGE amounts of pain and tons of swelling. The only time I left the house was to go to PT 3 times a week and yes, I cried during all those visits too. The mornings were the worst. I hated getting up (after a night of not sleeping) as my leg was so stiff and painful. I was still using my walker everywhere as well. I think I only managed a shower every few days at it totally exhausted me. I was still taking oxy every 4 hours. I had moved my bed downstairs so never even attempted stairs until probably week 5 or 6 at PT and only just moved back upstairs last week. I never bothered doing my hair or makeup and didn't even have my dogs back with me yet as I wasn't sure I could handle having to get up to feed them twice a day. Week 3 sucked. Week 4 was even worse. I regretted every single minute having this done and I was a big huge b*tch to most people as I was resentful of everyone. (not my finest moments)

I'm at week 10 now. My knee is still stiff and swollen but I can pretty much carry on normal(ish) things each day. I just need to pace myself and rest and ice. I still get tired way too easily. I only call my surgeon horrible names every few days and only cry and feel sorry for myself a couple days a week. ;-) It's all such a BIG adjustment but does get better. I am on the slow end of recovery and get to deal with all the 'helpful' people saying stupid things to me about still limping, still using a cane and/or crutches at night and anything else they feel like blurting out of their ignorant mouths. I pulled some weeds this morning in the yard and I didn't want to pass out, so that's progress, right?

I know this is all a means to an end and I still struggle with how much is too much, but at 3 weeks, my sweet, you should be doing a lot of staring at the ceiling with your leg elevated and knee iced. Boring as heck, I know, but that's what you need. Okay, it's what your knee needs. The mantra of don't stand when you can sit, don't sit when you can lay down is totally true! We're always here to help. If you have a few hours to kill, you can read thru my thread. I only found BS at 3 weeks post op, so the start of my story is right about where you are now. xoxoxoxo

https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/my-journey-as-of-december-16.22717/
 
Today is day 20.

I wake up at 430 when hubby did, got up used the bathroom, took pain med....went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Woke up at 6:30...yelled from my bed to wake up two of the kids that were sleeping upstairs. NO response. So called 16 year old's cell phone and got him awake to awaken his sister. Then the house got busy. I got up and used the bathroom again, washed up, changed my clothes. Switched a load into the dryer and started another load. Picked up kitchen. Sent kids on the way to school. Laid back down in exhaustion...(from doing what???!)....woke up...ate a little.....took another pill.....slept more. Hubby called on lunch break. Got up, dusted the living room...carried in two stacks of newspapers and pulled out the coupon inserts. Stacked all of that up. Played around online....(I moderate a lot of message boards)...then went back to the bathroom. Noticed a mess on the floor from puppies, so I cleaned that up. Chatted on the phone and looked around and still see messes around me that I need to clean.


DO you see what I mean when I say how lazy I feel. What the heck would I be doing that would WIPE me out this much?????? I am so frustrated with being myself right now. Goodness I haven't even brushed my long hair today. Thinking about that exhausts me.

I need to get a grip.
 
First - you REALLY need to put this in perspective. Watch a video of what actually happened during your surgery, see the trauma your body has went through. Then, read the articles on energy drain - THEN you'll start understanding why you're so wiped out - you're less than three weeks out from THAT. You need to STOP doing all the stuff you're doing, plain and simple. You're doing too much too soon and it will slow down your recovery, cause more pain, and cause more swelling.

Believe me, I am total OCD in my home - BUT - you've got to find a way to put your mental blinders on or delegate. You cannot continue doing all the odds and ends you're doing, read the progression of activity article available here. It's utterly NO wonder you're wiped out! You should be taking care of only YOU right now - not the dusting, house, puppies, etc. (believe me, I tried the same stuff and paid for it!!)

Focus on YOU and concentrate on resting so you allow your body the opportunity to heal.
 
The first month is really tough and doing nothing except feeling like the world is passing you by is sort of the way to go. But speaking ONLY for myself-compared to extricating myself from a difficult marriage, raising my daughter, working full time, and caring for two aging parents until the end of their lives-- I feel this is a puzzle piece, albeit a tricky one, in life.
 
Its called energy drain !!! Very, very normal. Its in the mantras. Basically all your bodies energy is focused on healing/repairing the knee. So anything that you do , even going to the bathroom, uses what little energy is left in the bank . Not to mention we get less than 3 hours sleep ,this early on . Take me for example, while I can do alot this early on like drive, stairs at a fast clip , walk around the block . All I want to do is SLEEP ! I wanna sleep so bad im getting depressed. I turn down every offer to go out, corn beef dinner , nieces birthday, old pals 50 th birthday. Its very depressing . while im happy with my progress. I was totally aware of these issues, TKR/ENERGY DRAIN, POST OP DEPRESSION. Being forewarned is being forarmed ! Tomorrow I go to OPT so I have to go outside. I guess im looking forward to it . My GF cant understand why all I do is elevate and ice on my bed with a plastic jug next to it. I tell her I dont sleep !! Everyone does recover at different pace. For me getting out of bed first thing in the morning is my biggest challenge, I have to massage my knee for about 5 minutes before I get up. I guess knee gets tight and blood needs to flow. I hope this helps, what you feel is very normal !!!:zzz::no-fin:
 
Oh sweetie, your idea of 'doing nothing' is pretty close to mine. That was a long list you wrote up there. No, it's not much compared to what you probably usually do, but it's a HUGE list after what you've been through. Please please please embrace your inner slug :wink: and rest, ice, elevate and DO NOTHING as much as possible. Trying to move this healing process along will come back and bite you in the tush, I promise you that.

It's a circle of frustration - you lay around and feel like you're not doing much so you get up and do stuff, then your knee gets ticked and punishes you by hurting and being swollen - when it's swollen it won't bend as well so you feel you need to work harder to get it bend - it's all a vicious cycle and although it goes against everything that we're used to, LESS really is better in this recovery.

Please don't be so hard on yourself. This is all temporary and as contrary as it sounds, I bet the less you do, the faster you'll heal. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

@icep707 - the mornings used to be torture for me. I absolutely had to use my walker in the mornings for probably 5-6 weeks for fear that my knee would give out.
 
Hi @icep707 I have been reading your post and would like to make a suggestion! .

For me getting out of bed first thing in the morning is my biggest challenge, I have to massage my knee for about 5 minutes before I get up. I guess knee gets tight and blood needs to flow.

Before I get up of a morning, the first thing I do are heel slides on the bed, leg raises and the rolled up towel under the back of the knee! This gets it going a bit. Then I sit with my legs over the side of the bed and do ankle pumps. Once I've done this the morning movement is so much easier. As I say it's just a suggestion. Love Nana moon 27 x
 
@Karringtyn. I, like you, am 20 days removed from surgery. I got up at 05:30. Pretty good night of sleep! Took meds, made coffee. Walked out to street to get newspaper. Read the paper. Shaved, showered. Emails. Did a powerpointn presentation (easy one 10 slides). Went to PT from 10:25-12:15. Wife drove (I am still not driving). She picked me up, we went to Taco Tote for lunch. I came home. She went back to work. I walked out to get mail. (I will not divulge one other thing wife and I did :). )watched Cavuto and the 5. Walked down the street half mile and back. Did CPM for 70 minutes. Grilling a tri tip now
Oh yeah, bitched and moaned that my f'ing leg/knee still hurts. Had a friend/patient get upset that ai would not write Rx for him. I told him I am off recovering and I did not see him. Puts my license at risk. He could care less. I complain that people take advantage of me. Wife smiles and laughs and says. Yep, they do!
I will watch some TV, read novel and do further IPad work. Take some meds and go to bed. Get up and do it over again tomorrow.
Knee is super stiff 1st thing in AM, no matter what I do.
Sounds like a lot.....only thing I really did was PT. They flexed me to 118 degrees today. I called the PT a mother f......er
You are doing great Karringtyn
Braindoc
 
Oh yeah, multiple times during the day, when working on computer or reading, I spontaneously doze off because someone stole ALL my energy!! It happens after every surgery. ALL of my patients complain of being fatigued and not having energy. Surgery does that. Knee, spin, brain. Does not matter.they all fatigue
 
Holy cow @braindoc ! You do more each day than I do and I'm 10 weeks!!! I'm actually kinda tired just reading your list :umm:(oh, and wtg on getting lucky at lunch today! - you crazy kids in Tucson call it 'Taco Tote'? :heehee:)
 
@DogLoverx3.... Hahahaha. Taco Tote actually is the name of a Mexican food restaurant. Although it may now become a code word for something more fun!!
 
When hubs gets out of shower I am going to tell him I want some taco tote!! bwhahahhaha

Yes @braindoc the whole walked a half mile....not a chance for me...not here in NY or anywhere in my life....I couldn't do it yet.
 
Yes, energy drain. But honestly it makes NO sense. I am young, ready and determined. THIS will NOT bring me down. I've got this.

So I woke up two hours ago in horrible pain.. I moved to the couch....propped up pillows and encased my leg. What a world of difference! I FEEL FREE. I have been laying here chatting with one of my friends on FB and I feel amazing. Like the couch made that much of a difference....the couch is more form fitting and it truly has helped, at least for now.

I have decided to make mini goals. Wanna hear them? Well, you are going to anyway!

Thursday.....going coupon shopping to my favorite store Rite Aid. I have my walker and if I get tired...I just can sit in it. I have lots of friends who work there, it will be good to see them.

March 14th. Next Friday. Hubs and my 1 year dating anniversary......Dinner at our favorite Mexican Restaurant.

Following Week...dinner where we both work. It will be good to see everyone.......

April 1st...DRIVE again

April 8th....Another anniversary for us (meeting face to face)....we will do something special....maybe visit the overlook where we married.

If I make these goals...it will help me have something to look forward to...something to work towards.

Let's talk about what this surgery has done positive for me.

It has helped me learn to be vulnerable.

I have never asked for help. EVER.

I have never said "OMG I AM HURTING..." outloud...to me that sounded weak.

It's made me closer with my kids. They see Mom IS HUMAN.

It's made me so much closer with my Mom. She lives in Florida and we have always had a strained relationship. She told me the other day she is proud of me. Head whipping. Wait. My Mom is proud of me?! yes, I sat and cried.

Hubs and I. Well, we already had the most amazing relationship, but this has pulled us together in ways I can't even begin to describe. That emotional bond is beautiful.
 
:goodpost:Oh @Karringtyn, what a wonderful list of positives to come out of so much pain. Well done for actually putting it all into words.
 
thanks! Putting it into words.....is ownership for me.

Also finally weighed myself...down 12 pounds.......I have 100 to lose....so it will be a journey....but might as well do the journey all in one. Smaller portions, more active.....yeah I am getting life back!!:dancy::dancy:
 
Well done! 12 lbs is a lot, you should be very proud of yourself. I've managed 5, but that is just because my husband has been in charge of food and serves sensible portions, not like my too large, comfort size portions. My daughter accuses him of starving me, but he is right, and I'm grateful to him really.
 
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