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TKR CaliGirl's post op journey.

I see nice, clean scars like that and feel a little pang of envy. Mine started out okay, then went hypertrophic. Thank you, ancestors! :tada:
 
I am so glad you are doing so well...I hope I do as well as you...Your scar looks really good @CaliGirl
 
Today's milestone - I was able to sleep on my side last night for about an hour and a half. Slept on my right side with my surgical left leg on a pillow.

Tried lying on my left side with the pillow in various configurations, but the knee was not happy with that.

Woke up with my pain level at about a 5 to 6, which is high for me first thing in the morning. Perhaps my knee wasn't quite as happy with the side sleeping as I thought - or was REALLY unhappy about my attempt to lay on my left side.

Took half an oxycodone after breakfast and took a 3 hour nap in my recliner, with the ice therapy machine going full blast. Feeling much better now.

The only pain meds I have are the 15 mg oxycodone, which is pretty much overkill most of the time, and Norco 5-325, which does nothing for me. I'm frustrated, since it is in my chart that Vicodin doesn't work for me. I'd never taken Norco before, so I happily accepted the prescription from the PA. After I got no pain relief at all from the Norco, I googled the active ingredient. It's the exact same active ingredient as Vicodin, just with a different level of acetaminophen. I messaged the surgeon's office about this on Monday morning, and it's almost 5 pm on Wednesday and I haven't heard back. I thought I would be working with a pain management doctor for my meds, but that was apparently only in hospital.

If I don't hear back from him tomorrow morning, I'm going to contact my GP and see if he'll prescribe me something. I signed an agreement with the surgeon that I would only get my pain meds through their office, and only through one pharmacy, but this is ridiculous!
 
CaliGirl said:
I signed an agreement with the surgeon that I would only get my pain meds through their office, and only through one pharmacy
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He sounds like a control freak. You have a right to choose what you consider to be best for your knee and your body - particularly as your surgeon's PA has prescribed medication that is inappropriate for you..

You also have the right to ask to see a pain management doctor.
 
I had 10 mg of oxycodone and ½ of that worked better for me than Norco. Maybe he'd change to that and you can take half - definitely less of the grogginess for me that way.


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I hope you can get this all figured out..and soon. I don't at all understand his reasoning to make you agree to only get meds through him and the pharmacy he chooses. Sounds fishy to me, but I'd tend to go along with my OS as long as he made sense and wasn't trying to control my life or get kickbacks, but indstead maybe trying to keep his patients from getting too many meds without his knowledge as a safety measure. Let me know if you get it taken care of. I'm in a similar boat; the Dilaudid isn't quite doing it for me every time. I've heard of people who doctor shop, and if he does this to keep drug seekers from overdosing or people without any problems from developing them, Sometimes it takes enough pain away, other times it doesn't.......like right now. I'm interested to see what your doctor does for you and how it works. Granted we're different people with different knees, but it's often helpful to see how others manage different areas after knee surgery. Good luck and keep us posted. Kim
 
Congratulations on sleeping on your side, it will become longer as time goes by, I manage about 1 hour on my side then I can get about 3/4 hour on my operated side glad we have a 6ft bed as I have pillows on each side of me I like the pillows with small foam bits in your knee just sinks in to position, after the dog gets on the bed then I think there's just enough room for my hubby, I hope you get your meds sorted soon x

LTKR 11 May 2016
 
Sorry, I wasn't really clear about the agreement. Yes, it was to keep patients from getting a whole bunch of pain meds from a whole bunch of different doctors. I see the logic in that. The pharmacy thing is the same. I have agreed to get all of my meds filled at one pharmacy, but it's a pharmacy of my choice, not my doctor's. Again it's to stop patients filling multiple prescriptions from multiple doctors.

The lack of response to this issue from his office is seriously frustrating, though. I'll let you know what happens today.
 
Glad things are in the beginning stages of improvement as far as sleeping on your side Gaya- boy, do I miss that! I was a little jealous reading about your ice therapy machine- I need one of those- lol!

I'm so sorry you are on the 'medication-confusion-wheel' w/ your OS Gayna. I'm in the same situation here. Grrrr.

One of the last things my OS said to me prior to surgery was, 'I and my team will be with and support you entirely throughout your recovery, you'll be fine'. NOT! I've had to run them down for refills, pleading on their message system to respond. I called this morning to get a refill on my break-through oxycontin (10mgs every 12hrs) to learn my OS is out of the office until the 31st of May and I would have to leave a msg with his PA to see what he recommends. I'll wait all day for a return call and be lucky if I hear back. It's just awful.

Between fighting the PT protocols and trying to stay on schedule with NEEDED pain-meds that our medical staff seems to think we shouldn't need- recovery is allot more exhausting than it need be.

Congratulations on graduating to a cane! YAY-!! It may feel awkward at first- but my body just seemed to take right to it! I'm still recovering from the PT episode and not able to bare weight enough to be back on my cane- but hopefully soon!

Hoping you get your medication delima sorted out soon Gaya. I keep reminding myself, 'the squeaky wheel gets the oil'. Drive them crazy until *they* get it right, LOL!

:tiredwheel: squeak.. squeak.. squeak- LOL!
 
My doctors office said to be sure to allow several days for a prescription refill request. As long as I do that I have no problem. So don't wait until you're out! Assume it will take a few days at least, especially over weekends!


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The PA called me back. I explained that the active ingredient in Norco doesn't work for me. He said take 2. :headbang: Told him I tried that, and although it made me super sleepy, it didn't provide any pain relief. He finally got the message, and is writing me a script for Percocet (which I believe is what they gave me when I had my wisdom teeth out - worked very well). Going this afternoon to pick it up.:chillpill:

@charmed-life this wasn't a refill issue - it was a problem with a new medication, and they didn't call me back for 3 days. That's why I was frustrated.

I did some stretches in PT yesterday that felt fabulous at the time. I've been in terrible pain since last night. Used the CPM machine and it helped a bit, but my knee is not happy with me at the moment. I think the problem stretch was when I lay on my back on the very edge of my bed, and hung my leg off the side. Felt wonderful. I think the problem was lifting it back up onto the bed between dangling. I think that's what my knee is complaining about today.

Rest, ice, elevation, and pain meds, and I'll be just fine. :ice::fingersx:
 
CaliGirl said:
I did some stretches in PT yesterday that felt fabulous at the time. I've been in terrible pain since last night. Used the CPM machine and it helped a bit, but my knee is not happy with me at the moment. I think the problem stretch was when I lay on my back on the very edge of my bed, and hung my leg off the side. Felt wonderful. I think the problem was lifting it back up onto the bed between dangling. I think that's what my knee is complaining about today.
Click to expand...
Ouch! :console2: Lesson learned, I hope?
Your knee isn't ready for that exercise yet, so don't try it again.
Remember this?
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist (PT) - 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
 
Awe Gayna, I hate you're in so much pain from what you thought was a good exercise because it was painless. It's so crazy how easy it is to be going along in recovery feeling so great and in what feels like an innocent decision, your recovery is set back so far. I'm sure at the time you didn't think the stretch was too much because as you said, 'it felt good'.

It seems it doesn't take much at all to insult our recovering knees. And as many times as we've read here don't do it, it's so hard not to feel compelled to exercise. How many folks told you before your surgery to make sure you do exactly what you're told in regards to physical therapy. By people who had a TKR! It was sketched in my brain prior to the few weeks before finding bonesmart. Even though I think I understand the reasons why not to exercise, daily I sit here and have to remind myself over and over to relax & let my knee heal.

It's been 4-days now since my PT episode and I'm still swollen and in pain. Maybe this is what it takes for me to finally 'get it'? I don't know. I do know we aren't the only ones who take two steps forward in recovery, exercise and find ourselves many-many steps back!

Even though your knee is angry- it will forgive you and get back to feeling better soon! Your walker is your friend until you can bear weight on your knee again with minimal discomfort!

Here's a big 'you're recovering' hug for you!

[Bonesmart.org] CaliGirl's post op journey.
 
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Suz said:
It seems it doesn't take much at all to insult our recovering knees.
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If you just think about how much trauma your knee suffers during a replacement, it isn't so hard to understand. A TKR is major, major surgery and you can't expect your knee to just bounce back quickly.
It was cut open, and had tissues pushed aside; your kneecap was probably turned over; the ends were sawed off two large bones and then they were re-shaped, to fit the implants; you may have had the back of your kneecap replaced with a plastic button; a plastic spacer was inserted, between the two metal implants; then your kneecap was turned back over; your soft tissues were put back in place; some tissues that had been cut are stitched back together; your skin was put back in place and stitched, stapled or glued back in position. That's surgery deep inside your knee, even though you only see the scar on the surface.
Is it any wonder that your nee is "touchy" afterwards?
tjcteacher said:
Everybody out in the world outside of BoneSmart says "be sure to do your PT-it's crucial"!
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I think that's part of a great big confidence trick perpetrated on everyone, particularly in the USA. Of course the PT therapists think that their intervention and supervision is essential, because that's what their training told them. But really it's not. Nature is very good at doing the job of healing, without intervention, if you allow it to.

I did no PT and no formal exercises or massaging at all after both my knee replacements and my knees healed well, have excellent ROM and are strong and reliable.
My surgeon doesn't allow any formal PT for at least a month after a knee replacement and he never uses a CPM. He says that the knee needs all this time, to start on its healing. His patients all do well and he hasn't had to do a manipulation (MUA) to help with ROM for the past three years.
 
Today I'm 4 weeks post op. The time has really flown. Before I discovered this site I thought I might possibly be able to return to work at 4 weeks. So glad I had that reality check before my surgery or I'd be feeling seriously discouraged right now. As it is, I am able to appreciate how very well I'm really doing.

I am now using a cane instead of a walker all the time (except first thing in the morning, at my PT's insistence). I'm routinely getting at least 6 hours of good sleep each night. Sometimes I wake up just uncomfortable, and sometimes I wake up in pain. More and more often I don't need pain meds when I wake up.

My PT has found exercises and stretches that help my stiffness and ROM without causing me pain (during or after PT). When she came yesterday she was thrilled and amazed with how much better I was walking with the cane, in terms of posture, gait, and weight bearing on my surgical leg. With her help I was even able to go up and down my front steps with the cane. Definitely wouldn't try that without someone to hold me (I have no handrails and I'm still quite wobbly), but I was able to walk down the street a bit with just the cane, unassisted.

She encouraged me to stretch frequently throughout the day, as all the muscles in my leg are very tight. The stretches feel great, relieve some of the tight feeling, and help my gait, so I'm being very compliant with that. I'm also doing seated heel slides whenever I'm sitting in a normal chair (rather than sitting in my recliner with my feet up), and even on the toilet. I mentioned this to the PT, and she had me go into the dining room, and sit on a dining chair. She eyeballed my flexion at about 100 and was very pleased with that.

I can sit in a normal chair with my leg down for about 15 minutes before my knee starts informing me it would really like me to return to my recliner now. Car travel beyond a 20-30 minute ride somewhere is unthinkable - well maybe if I sat in the back seat with my leg up, but certainly not sitting in the front. Yeah, no way I could sit at a desk for 7 1/2 hours a day at this point.

Now that I'm using a cane, I was able to make myself breakfast, get myself a drink, etc. The little bit of independence is nice.

I have one more session with the in-home PT, and then will have the discharge evaluation at the end of the week. I already have the prescription for outpatient PT. I think I'm going to go to the physical therapy place at the hospital where I had my surgery. It's pretty conveniently located, they have a good reputation, one of the therapists I saw in hospital does mostly outpatient PT and I liked her, and finally, they have a pool, so I can do aquatic PT once I'm cleared to swim (2 more weeks).
 
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