MUA billywhizz666 - the saga continues

I hope that by now the meds are sorted out. You have to take them regularily to keep the pain at bay. If you wait until you are in pain---it takes a while for them to take effect, as you well know by now.

I would like to live in Ireland for a bit---I guess we all would like to explore something else for a while.
 
That Cathie is influencing everyone to try ireland...wot a girl..slightly thank u for your interest and nice comments..alkali. you sound in a worse place than Me..try and get better advice look for Josephine on this site she sounds very wise...not scared of telling. U off either...get well soon God bless
 
@billywhizz666 I am so sorry you are having such a rough time. You have gotten all the best info here and I only want to really emphasize the ice and elevation!! Just like @referee54 said, be excessive with it. Get some more peas or reusable gel packs that you can rotate. In my first two weeks especially, I could hardly keep my packs frozen!! I was almost constantly elevating and icing. Only my walks and trips to the bathroom had me away from the ice and elevation. I still ice after any activity that hints of stressing my knee!!

The ice will help with pain and I found it so soothing - always could nap with the pack on and it helped me go to sleep at night. I would sleep until the pack warmed up, would get up and replace it, and sleep a little more.

AND don't think you have to endure pain to get better. It is the opposite!! Be gentle with yourself!!
 
had to pop in. forget about being a man and remember that you are a human that feels pain. you have gotten such great advice. Having gone through the knees and hip, yup.. the knees are awful. Just glad I only have 2. of course, when you get up to use the bathroom, it doesn't take long for it to swell again. And swelling causes the pain. It takes a while.. I wish every dr who does knee replacements had one themselves. I think the care would be totally different.
 
@billywhizz666 Lock that manly man up and get out the pillows and ice packs and ice, ice, ice, baby!! The swelling is the source of most of the pain. Here is a picture of my resting/sleeping/eating/watching telly nest. Yes, I'm here about 23 hours a day on average, even 18 days post op.
ai58.tinypic.com_34yz1nr.png


Use this elevation any time you are not on your feet. And don't be on your feet if you don't have to be. Take your pain medications around the clock including at night, even if you have to set an alarm. Once you get that swelling down you will feel the difference.

Do not do any physical therapy that increases your pain levels. Discomfort is ok, but not pain. If someone, even yourself pushes you to pain, tell them NO!!! STOP!!! Pain increases swelling and will undo all the good you have done.

Take care and rest, ice and elevate! Take those meds by the clock!
 
Try to do the therapy exercises at home when your swelling is down. Ice and rest then try them. Then ice and rest after them. I think you can get better results that way. Also when I had to go to therapy I made sure I didn't aggravate it so they could :)
I had 90 at release from hospitable at 3 days. I gained slowly over the 6 weeks to 126. Which is my RTKR after two years. But that measurement is when I really push the bend. After 2 years I should have an easy 126 deg like my RTKR.
Best jump was when I got off of the blood thinner at 3 weeks and then took Aleve. The swelling dropped fast in just a couple of days and my flex jumped up about 6 degrees.
I don't think we can get all of the flex back we had due to the design of the knee replacement. If they design it for more flex it will have weak spots due to it would need longer ends.
 
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Hello good people query for you please..I'm at present 3 days home from hospital and therefore elevating like mad....I'm stopping the ice and the elevation at 8 pm each nite is that the right thing to do
 
@billywhizz666 I don't think you have to stop at any certain time. You can elevate and ice when you like. I think keeping your leg elevated and iced at this point is most important. I am sure a moderator will give you a much better answer though. Best of luck to you!
 
3 days home from hospital and therefore elevating like mad..

HI Billy I agree with the previous post. Do make sure you are elevating correctly ie, above your heart. How are you doing generally? Have you read all the posts that tell you to take it very steady in the early stages. The biggest mistake most of us make is in thinking we have to exercise like mad - even to the point of pain, when what we should be doing at this stage is resting.
 
Welcome. My OS had each of his patients set up with cryro ice machines in the hospital. He had us ice all night long while sleeping and as much as we could in the daytime. I was thrilled and really think it made my swelling go down quickly. I continued when i got home and I did this for about seven weeks. Then I gradually stopped icing. Also remember to ice the back of your knee too!
 
Thanks Billy. I had to edit your post some so I could read it.
Now I want you to pay close attention to the advice I'm going to give you here as it's important
1. Pain is 9 now as my meds been are adjusted this is in effect day one so new start.
Gotcha!
2. 7am today 1 ibuprofen400mg, 2 paracetamol 500mg 2.5mls morphine
8am 1 hydrochloride tablet
11am repeat of 7 am
12 noon hydrochloride x 1
3pm repeat of 7am
4pm hydrochloride again
7pm repeat again of 7am
Few comments: 'hydrochloride' is only half the name. I need the word that goes before it. Is it Tramadol?
I'll need you to tell me this and I'll come back to you on it.
3. icing knee with 2 packs of captain birdeseye peas...naww showing off there..there from Lidl. Leaving on for 20 mins at time, an hour's wait, back on, round the clock till 8pm off for night. Got knee bandage with built in gel to freeze on way from Amazon...
1. I think you'll find the gel pack much more effective as it takes a lot longer to thaw out.
2. 20 mins is no good for icing. It should be an hour at least. And use it at night too. I used it constantly, night and day! Okay so long as you have a tea towel between the ice pack and your skin. Don't want any freezer burn!
4. annoyed with myself over this as I really thought I should elevate it but was gutless and never brought it up Started elevating yesterday 3 pillows. And I elevate most of the day till about 8pm then leave it during the night.
Yes, elevation is terribly important. I shall be leaving you some articles when I've finished. there are ones on both icing and elevating.
5. Never heard of ROM except on here. Sorry Jo
No worries. But read this about it - it means Range of Motion or how much bend you can get! ROM (range of motion) information
6. not much activity apart from a wee walk upstairs to bathroom
Jolly good! You can spend it reading the recovery articles!
7. to be honest Jo, nothing at the moment. Been in too much pain
Excellent. My surgeon doesn't let any of his patients do any exercises for the first three weeks.


Now the articles

First are the BoneSmart mantras ....
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
- be active as much as you need to be but not more than is necessary, meaning so much that you end up being in pain, exhausted or desperate to sit down or lay down!

Next is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) thread.

And here are some very crucial articles
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Activity progression for TKRs

Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling

Home physio (PT) and activity progress: suggestions
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

And then some wise words from members who have shared their experiences ...
Where are you in recovery?? (TKR)
Five “P’s” of knee recovery
TKR: work “smarter” and not “harder”
Recovering a knee - from one who knows!
It's never too late to get more ROM!
It's worth the wait for ROM
 
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@billywhizz666 I merged your threads. If you keep starting new threads, you miss replies that others have given you. And I commented on your replies to my questions!

But here's the official line!!!
I merged your threads as per this request One thread for your recovery please?
Please don't keep starting new threads about your recovery.

The reasons for this are that it
1. makes it easier for guests to read the continuous story of a member's recovery - the most important reason
2. avoids people duplicating and repeating things like links to articles
3. helps us to refresh on what you've had done and when, plus what advice was given previously
5. keeps all advice previously given on hand for the poster
6. makes it unnecessary for the member to keep repeating surgery details
7. just makes it easier for everyone all round!

Thank you very much!
 
Wow thank you so much for all your brilliant advice. Not much of a silver surfer - so do you mean keep searching for this thread?? As it will keep giving me answers. In other forums I joined, football mainly, you had to keep making new threads. How do I find this thread please Jo??

Also what if I want to tell you something in private. How do I do that?

Moving on .

The name on my tablets is Cyclizine hydrochloride It says 1 to be taken 3 times a day.

In general health terms, Jo, I'm quite shocked and upset with myself as I'm not doing that good. My poor wife looks shattered and I feel guilty as sin but unable to help as my pain is nowhere near under control. Just an hour ago I cried by myself, first time in years, felt like a right wuss. But I think it was just frustration at being helpless. I'm ok now, stiff British lip etc.

Oh by the way for for numpties like me a glossary of terms might help

Only been elevating 20 mins at time with ice on. Will now change to hour on hour off. During the hour off should I still elevate?? This confuses me a wee bit as it means my leg didn't go to flat position all day. My PT comes tomorrow and thanks to advice from all you guys I shall not do too much.

My wife has just informed me that cyclizine is just to stop me itching from the morphine. So basically I'm on co-codamol, ibuprofen and liquid morphine for my pain. The other 2 are for sickness and to stop me itching. I'm gonna stop for now as the whole house is waking up. Be back soon
 
Reading my replies back I have to be careful as my Kindle is finishing words for me with the wrong ones..ie. pitching instead of itching...and or instead of pt....which I'm guessing is physiotherapist...yeah??..

Well that's about all, Jo. Can you let me know after elevating with ice for an hour do I take the ice off and elevate sans ice for next hour or lay my foot flat. Off to read the homework I've been set. Thank you thank you so much for giving me your precious time.

Jimmy ..ynwa...you,'ll never walk alone....
 
@billywhizz666

Here's a link to a library article that lists almost all the abbreviations we commonly use here:
abbreviations and acronyms

Next, here's a link to your own recovery thread:http://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/is-it-really-supposed-to-hurt-this-much.25928/page-2
http://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/is-it-really-supposed-to-hurt-this-much.25928/page-2
Save that link to your Bookmarks if you like - that way you can always find your own thread and you can post your progress and questions on it. the link will take you to Page 2, so you may have to move forward to the next page as your thread fills up.

About icing and elevation, having another look at these two library articles that Josephine posted:
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling

Yes, you elevate while you are icing. You don't have to put your leg flat. It will get all the lowering and exercise it needs when you get up for bathroom breaks and little walks around the house. If you want to put your leg flat to do a few gentle exercises, that's OK as well, but try to keep your leg elevated as much as possible.

There's no limit to the amount of time you use ice, as long as you put something like a tea towel around the ice bag (between the ice and your skin), so that you don't get freezer burn. No need to do one hour on, one hour off. Basically, when you aren't up and about or doing your exercises, you should be resting, icing and elevating, even while you sleep.

Pretty please - I wonder if you would use paragraphs when you post? That does make it easier for everyone to read. Thank you.

Best wishes. :flwrysmile:
 
@billywhiz666 ... Hi from an Aussie forum member. I have come to your post late, but I am sorry you have been in such pain. I was extremely lucky with my first TKR that I really didn't feel that I had a lot of severe pain. My next TKR is on Thursday, so I am hoping it goes the same way again.
Your posts are certainly amusing with the way Kindle is finishing your words for you.
And I actually thought "pitching" from the morphine was very apt - I thought it meant it was to stop you from throwing up. :rotfl:
I hope your pain is becoming much easier to manage and that soon you will be sailing more comfortably through your recovery.
Take Care ... Ellen
 
@billywhizz666

Hi Jimmy,

:ice: :ice: :ice: and :chillpill: :chillpill: :chillpill: at this stage and take pain meds as scheduled.
These are the dark days of recovery and on the BoneSmart sit, "You'll never walk alone".
Keep posting on your forum, or you can also send your posts to other people.
If you want to connect with someone publicly just put @ in front of there BS name and they will get am alert that you have sent them a message.

Take care,
Cathie:flwrysmile:
 

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