MUA billywhizz666 - the saga continues

I, too, hope you will be back billy. I don't think the PT understood what we talk about here. We'd never tell you not to move the knee and do some exercises. What we do tell you is you shouldn't have to be screaming into a pillow during PT.
 
Hi, Billy.....sorry but I'm just now reading your posts. As you've noticed, you have a lot of caring friends here on BoneSmart from all over the world. That's the thing that makes our forum so unique. The membership has a few of us staff members, some of whom are medical professionals in the orthopedic field....but most of the folks are just like you who have been exactly where you are in recovery. They can sooooo relate to how you feel. Some have even had spouses, family and therapists who don't quite grasp the concept of the pain a TKR can bring for a while.

So, while it may be easy for your family or therapist who have not had this surgery to tell you to push through horrific pain, it frankly is not the best for you and your recovery. At least for the first few months, gentle bends and stretches are best. Your knee is angry, swollen and injured. It must have quiet time to heal before you go to pushing on it to the point of real serious pain. It will not "freeze up" if you stay on the gentle side. But, what it will do is become less irritated and swollen, which in turn will allow you to feel and move better.

I do feel one of the things that is impacting you is pain management. This is priority number one. You need to keep your pain levels at about the 4 level or less. You do that by taking your pain meds on a schedule all through the day and night. Since they only last about 4 hours in your system, you should be taking something every 4 hours. Do pay attention to the acetiminphen (paracetomol) as you are only allowed 4000mg in a 24 hour period.

The ice is also a fabulous resource for pain management. Keep it on your knee any time you are not up and about. Sleep with ice packs on front and back of your knee. It is not uncommon to need icing like this for three months or more!!! It helped me sleep...amazingly, since I HATE to be cold! But it works on an angry knee. Just be sure to have a towel between the ice source and your skin to protect it from freezer burn.

Your wife and daughter may be rather anxious about this recovery and that could cause their emotions to run a bit high. After all, you are a "manly man" and seeing you in a rather vulnerable and disabled state may be scaring them. I'm sure they want you back to normal as quickly as possible and that may cause them to put a little push on you as well. You need to resist this, though. Because the reality is that pushing too hard in a TKR recovery actually can slow things down and make recovery longer. So work on reassuring them that you have things under control and you're getting better....even if you don't feel like it at that moment. They haven't been through this. They are not walking in your shoes. And they just don't understand. Come here and wail and whine if you need that (we all do, you know!). We DO understand and we'll be here for you.

I also suggest that you contact your surgeon and talk about the therapist's protocol. I have a hunch the surgeon would not want his beautiful surgery strong-armed by an over-zealous therapist. And, if you take the initiative and talk to the doctor, then the therapist has become a rather toothless lion with her threats!

Hang in there....we really ARE on your side....honest!
 
I have to agree with everyone else, of course. but mostly I draw from my own experience. I took Percoset every four hours for the first two weeks---even at night, i would set my phone. I really had no pain to speak of, as long as I took my meds. When I went to pt, they massaged and stretched my knee. I did gentle bends, just to the point of discomfort. I NEVER had any pain in pt.

Now, the rest of my story: at 8 weeks, I went on a 20 mile bike ride. at 3 months, I hiked for 10 miles at 5 months I began to ski---I am a ski instructor--and I skied 100 days that winter.

Your therapist is funny---did she have any training? Maybe you should call the national health about her lack of training and factual information?
 
@skigirl
Hi Kelly,

I am amazed at the fantastic progress you made during your recovery.
At 8 weeks my OS will decide if I can drive- have a stick shift car, as do most cars in Europe
- he sometimes doesn't clear patient for driving for up to 10 weeks .

Maybe, because your are a ski instructor your quads & Hamstring muscles recovered very quickly.
My hat is off to you for getting back to normal so fast !

Take care,
Cathie :flwrysmile:
 
I am strong--but 10 weeks seems excessive to me---but then you know how we Americans are about our cars!!!

Basically we live in a land with very limited public transport---and, in a small town in Montana, none! I live about 4 miles from the pt---so, I drove at day 8. I do have an automatic car.

With my first tkr, I had a stick shift truck with a horrible shift!! I drove at 2 weeks.

In the states, people try to wait until they are off the opiods. I had switched to Tramadol before driving both times. so far, it is okay to drive with Tramadol. and, I do live in a small town, out to a four lane road for 3 miles, then on small town streets.

It is much harder to drive in Europe with all those cobblestones!! and, don't you drive on the wrong side of the road in Ireland? I nearly killed someone in England!! Do you have public transport to the pt?
 
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I was driving at about 5 1/2-6 weeks after my BTKR---my first little set of errands---that took about 45 minutes or so---completely wiped me out.

In the states, people try to wait until they are off the opiods.
Yes, you should be off of any narcotic pain meds---and strong enough to perform an emergency brake---pushing "the pedal to the metal", so to speak.

Everybody recovers differently, and, therefore, the times that we return to being behind the wheel also vary, too.
 
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I do read your replies as I struggle during the night to sleep.....it's a comfort to know other people have been. We're I am now and gotten better...my news didn't get any better..today I was examined by an eye doctor,the day after my op I had a really rough nite and I sneezed so hard during one attack ,,it left me with black floaters in my eye...My doctor has confirmed I now have a detached retina....and guess wot?? Yup yet another operation very soon.....

It's weird and wrong to me that there are 2schools of thought about this whole tkr situation..my of won't let me elevate..has taken 2 doses of morphine off my meds...manipulates my patella in a non gentle way....and makes me do 4reps of ten exercises daily....

But bonesmart want me to take it easy..elevate and ice...take all my meds...etc etc.....it's confusing and its so. Opposite of each other....I am secretly taking the middle path..l am elevating and icing the bonesmart way...and resting wen I can...I do half the exercises I've been given..but I have to see the pt it's the price I have to pay..rock and hard place spring to mind..I cannot keep away from this site as the advice and general help u have offered is overwhelming thank u....I am now a confirmed nite owl poster x x x x
 
I have the Pink Panther theme song in my head as I think of you an your night wanderings on Bonesmart!
Glad you are able to read all the wonderful posts, and post how you are doing.
You are doing the best you can.
Glad you are here!


Sent from my iPod touch using BoneSmart®
 
I like your "halfway" approach. Sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do to survive. You'll know when you're overdoing it. You'll have pain and swelling. If that happens, just try to cut back on something, ice like crazy and take something for the pain on a schedule. Each week will bring improvements......you're going to need a lot of patience (something that is hard to come by for some of us....me included!!).
 
Hi Billy Respect. You found a way between that rock and hard place. I couldn't agree more that it is so confusing having 2 schools of thought on TKR recovery. But as it stands you have a large number of people who have gone through it, saying exercise of course , but in the early stages in particular, do it gently and never to the point of pain. On the other hand you have one physiotherapist (who is into blackmail) advocating an aggressive regime.

As you are in control I think your middle path is a sound approach, particularly if you change PTs. Also as you improve you can tweek your recovery plan so that it is more tailored to what you see works best for you. You might find it helpful to make notes as to how your knee feels after you have done certain things. That should help inform what you do, how much and when.

There is more than one way to skin a rabbit:wink: Carol
 
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Good to see you Billy. I'm amazed you're not advised to elevate. All round my hospital there were posters advocating 'toes above the nose' position. And when in hospital my best friend was a cryo cuff ice machine. Ice helped me feel better, as did medicating. Do the exercises, of course , but not till you're screaming in pain, that's counter productive. You'll soon know if you've done too much, and we all do it on a good day and suffer the next. Sorry about your eye. Depression also set in for me when I could see no light at the end of the tunnel but it is there, and you will start to see it (no pun intended) before too long. Hope all goes well with eye op.
 
@billywhizz666

Hi Jimmy,
The middle ground and relieving on your instinct is a good approach.

At the moment, your detached retina will need to take priority, and having had an Aunt & good friend who both had surgery for detached retinas. Part of their recovery was plenty of living down and limited activity post-op.

Best wishes for a successful outcome with the detached retina.

Take care,
Cathie :flwrysmile:
 
aahhh @billywhizz666 sounds like you are having a bad time, sorry to hear about your eye hope it gets sorted soon. honestly I can't believe you haven't been told to ice and elevate I was told in hospital and even at just over 5 weeks the physio checks I am icing as much as possible and elevating when sitting it really does help with pain and swelling
please try and stay on site as it does offer support from fellow new kneebies
good luck with it ll
 
@billywhizz666 It does sound like your having a rough time. I hardly do any exercising at home. I mostly just walk and pt take care of the exercises. I am 5 weeks 2 days post and my rom is 124 and extension 0. If your pt is that hard on you I wouldn't do any more at home. Just my opinion. Take care.
 
I agree. Cheat on the exercises you do at home. Just nod your head when they ask if you do them! I am in the U.S. and had a wonderfully kind PT. my Rom and recovery was great. We understand the difficult position you are in and are here if just to listen! Do hope you feel better!
 
So glad to see you back and posting @billywhizz666 ! Middle ground is better than no ground - well done! So sorry about that eye problem though. You certainly don't need more to deal with at this point. But the technology in that area is also truly amazing and I am sure all will be sorted. Take care and rest easy for now!
 
When my husband had a detached retina, he had to lie in a dark room for almost a week--no activity at all. Hopefully things are more advanced, but don't worry about the knee if you do have to rest more.

I never did any exercises except at pt and my knee is fine.
 
Billy, one thing you'll want to do is have a serious talk with your eye doctor about activity after the surgery. Yes, you'll still need to do those gentle bends and stretches we talk about. But I'm betting your eye surgeon will put a stop to those therapist-induced sessions where you are in extreme pain. Straining like that will probably not be good for your eye after sugery...just a thought of another way to skin that rabbit!!! :wink: And one your family will probably go along with too! :cheers:
 
I'm glad you are still staying with us. Your approach now is quite sensible and means you are controlling your recovery! Good for you!
When is the eye surgery? I love the idea of a serious chat with the doc so people stop forcing you to do painful things. Eye specialists are really great with all the techniques they have today. Probably know more about your situation than that awful PT!
Stay with us and hope ever.
 

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