ankles hurt, feet swollen
- Thread starter JenniferG
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beachcomber
post-grad
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yep. Had all of that. Expected none of it. No one ever tells you about those little things that all add up to the point where I just felt so overwhelmed by it all. I was truly clueless on what to expect in this recovery.
My PT taught me how to do a technique called Lymph drainage. It is a type of massage to help drain the lymph passages and promote healing. I wish I could explain it all to you, but I found it so soothing and felt it helped to get rid of all that nasty discoloration in my ankles and lower legs. One of my PTs is the "earth mother" type and has been so wonderful for me in my recovery.
I hope you have some lotions you love you can use on your legs. Get someone to massage your lower leg gently and help your circulation. Keep up the elevation.
Take care and get pampered!
My PT taught me how to do a technique called Lymph drainage. It is a type of massage to help drain the lymph passages and promote healing. I wish I could explain it all to you, but I found it so soothing and felt it helped to get rid of all that nasty discoloration in my ankles and lower legs. One of my PTs is the "earth mother" type and has been so wonderful for me in my recovery.
I hope you have some lotions you love you can use on your legs. Get someone to massage your lower leg gently and help your circulation. Keep up the elevation.
Take care and get pampered!
Pattipoo
post-grad
Jen...girl, I told you to buy lots of lotion. I actually had it in the bed with me, I would wake up itching from the percs....I'd sit there, in the dark, slathering on lotion....feeling sorry for myself. I still itch......but not as much.
I remember patti, ithought it was for hospital dry air, brought it. but now I know, all the drugs and skin stretch from swelling... My husband does the bath & Body stocking every Christams, so I'll work on my supply. Just a FYI, My insurance would not cover a shower chair, but the do cover a commde. I don't need commode but minus the pan and you have a good & sturdy chair. I have shower stall, so, it should fit over easy and give me a spot to sit to bathe. Bathe, what is that?
Pattipoo
post-grad
I SOOOOOOOO remember the NON bathing time. I would get up at 5:30 to get ready for my PT at 8:30am. I would wash my hair in the kitchen sink....my hubbie would hold around my waist just in case I felt faint....um...he did this for weeks, I think the boy just needed some female contact!!!...anyway...the sink baths got OLD. That'll pass quickly. Hang in there!! You're doing SO good!
Doug
alpha
Patti,
It's a good thing you veered off from the direction you were going with that one!!
I hate to even walk by the Bed and Bath store...I have flashbacks of that evil Apricot scrub stuff my wife left by the tub...Evil, evil stuff.
It's a good thing you veered off from the direction you were going with that one!!
I hate to even walk by the Bed and Bath store...I have flashbacks of that evil Apricot scrub stuff my wife left by the tub...Evil, evil stuff.
wwoodw1853
new member
I didn't think this was all related until I read the replies. I did some research and the oxycodone can make your skin itch. I have hurting ankles and swollen ankles too. They really hurt bad the night after PT. I don't want to put shoes or socks on so good thing I am in South FL. I am also at the verge of tears several times during the day and I am thinking it must be the high powered drugs too. I am six weeks out and never thought recovery would take this long.
good morning wwoddw, I'mstarting day 9, so just over 1 week post op and have some kind of melt down a day. My itch isn't too bad, better thaan pain, eh" See my why thread, I just got the big lecture about that. Anyway, welcome, post often and as Pattinwould say, take your stool softeners. Jennifer ; )
Pattipoo
post-grad
wwooddooowww......You're in S. Florida...Dougie is in N. Florida....Coincidence?? I think not!!
(don't try to figure it out....it's for Gat!)
(don't try to figure it out....it's for Gat!)
beachcomber
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Good morning all! Woke up to snow on the ground in Oregon this morning! Crazy weather! Doug--- don't let it keep you from visiting someday--- this is an freak of nature. Must be that "global warming" thing..... oh wait--- it's SNOW. Just a skiff....
Spring break is going by way too fast.....better get back to my "to do" list
Spring break is going by way too fast.....better get back to my "to do" list
Dear wwoodw, welcome to the forum.
On the one hand I will say 'don't despair' and on the other 'grit you teeth' for there is an inescapable fact in this surgery which is that it takes not just six weeks but six MONTHs for you to shed all of that 'climbing a mountain' feeling and the frustration of not being able get up and go.
Yes I know that sounds like a long time but don't forget this is MAJOR MAJOR surgery and the knee is a BIG joint - biggest in the body - so it's not going to heal and be restored to normal in just six weeks. One of our members here once very correctly pointed out that it didn't take six weeks for your knee to get into the condition where it needed such surgery and it's not going to take six weeks to recover from it.
I know I said all this a zilliion times here and others who heard my mini-lecture before will be chuckling, but it's the truth. Do read some of the older threads in here. You'll get a lot of first hand information and tips. Can't beat it from people who've been there before you.
Keep coming back here - we'll all get you through, don't worry.
Skeet
supremo
Welcome! Yoy may think after reading these posts that the knee joint connects to the brain in some way and that when you get a new knee, you lose some portions of your brain... but it's only temporary, I'm sure... I'm hoping! We love new people so join in and have some fun!
beachcomber
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Welcome "Woody"--
It is amazing how little the docs tell you about this recovery,huh? I asked mine how long I would be out of work and he said 3-4 weeks so I figured by then I would be good as "new" and zipping around all over with my new knee. NOW I know he meant I could go into an office and sit, drugged, at a desk with my knee elevated and iced for a few hours a day. And that is not my kind of job....
We're all in it for the long haul--- welcome! Great people here and we really understand like no one else possibly could.
Gotta "run"---- off to PT----- well, I will be "jogging" in the therapy pool in less than an hour.
It is amazing how little the docs tell you about this recovery,huh? I asked mine how long I would be out of work and he said 3-4 weeks so I figured by then I would be good as "new" and zipping around all over with my new knee. NOW I know he meant I could go into an office and sit, drugged, at a desk with my knee elevated and iced for a few hours a day. And that is not my kind of job....
We're all in it for the long haul--- welcome! Great people here and we really understand like no one else possibly could.
Gotta "run"---- off to PT----- well, I will be "jogging" in the therapy pool in less than an hour.
kath
senior
Therapy pool? Have you done it yet? They have one close to me and a friend told me to check it out, while another PT I know said that it feels good but the results aren't as good. Right now, I am looking for some feel good.
I don't think the docs do that lack of info thing on purpose. For them and their offfice staff this is day in and day out times hundreds of patients and operations. For us it us life changing, life stopping, eventually life starting over, and bone rattlling, literally.
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