TKR Carole’s recovery thread

[Carole4815]

@LindaO , thanks!!! I am really pleased because it doesn't look even slightly infected, so all those precautions that the hospital took to prevent infections in surgery patients, must really pay off.

The Home Health nurse came again today, and this was her last visit! I am glad because I think she has run out of things to do for me. She said that early next week, before my Wednesday 9/4 appointment with my surgeon, I can remove the rest of the steri-strips or whatever they are called (if any have not already fallen off).

Other than that, I have been sleeping and recovering after all my activities yesterday. Tomorrow, PT

 

[Carole4815]

Ow, I guess I went too far during PT today but still only got an 87 degree ROM, less than the 90 ROM I had on Monday. I just didn't want to let her push to get a better ROM today. Oh well.

I am icing and resting and elevating and will be taking my pain meds. They usually put me to sleep so I just wanted to whine here first.

My PT let me try my rollator walker, because I love it and wanted to know if I was ready to switch to it. But after seeing me with it, she thought "soon, but not quite yet".

So glad I don't have to do a single thing today other than rest my knee. I don't know how those of you with families and pets to take care of can manage all this without going nuts. My sweetie (long time boyfriend who lives next door) is working tonight but that's OK, I am too tired to even converse with him and I have everything I need right here. He put new ice in my ice machine just before he left.

 

[sewhat]

I have an appointment with my surgeon on the same day as you. I hope he takes this tape off.

I want to ditch my walker too. I have a rollator, a Pepto Bismol pink breast cancer one, but I'll just go to a cane and then nothing. I know why you miss it. It's the seat, isn''t it?

 

[LindaO]

Sometimes you just have to take a small step back in order to move forward on the right path! Keep up the good work and you will be on the right path!

 

[Carole4815]

@LindaO , Bonesmarties are so kind! Thank you so much.

Although two pain pills usually knock out my pain almost immediately and put me right to sleep, they didn't quite do that this time. All I did was fidget and try to find a more comfortable position for 2-3 hours. It is still too early to take any more pain pills. But, I figured out what I can do. I had stopped icing because I was shivering with cold (even with the thermostat set at 75 instead of my usual 72). So, I turned the thermostat up even farther and I am icing again, and that is helping fight the pain back without turning me into an icicle this time.

The ridiculous thing is that I really haven't had to deal with much of any pain until now, 17 days after my surgery. And AFAIK the reason for the pain was simply just overdoing and not babying my knee a bit afterwards. Moral of this story: If you overdo, tell your knee you are sorry and baby it a little ASAP. The renewed effort at icing that I just started seems to have had the desired effect already while I was typing this wordy post. Whew.

 

[Carole4815]

@sewhat , I hate canes! I have one that I bought three years ago, but I have not figured it out. I just can't put enough weight on it to do any good before it starts wobbling dangerously. Now, my sweetie uses a cane regularly so maybe he can show me how to use it more effectively. Then again, I don't just have knee problems, I also have slight balance problems and a walker might be better than a cane for steadying me.

I like my rollator walker for three reasons:

(1) because of the seat, you are right, either to sit on if I suddenly feel weak or faint, or to carry things on;
(2) because I can put a lot of weight on it similar to crutches or plain jane hospital type walker, and
(3) because it moves faster and more smoothly than my plain jane walker. But it is not as stable.

Maybe at some point (2) will not be necessary any more once I have two new knees.

 

[Carole4815]

My sweetie called me from work just to make sure I am doing OK. Now you can see why I call him my sweetie! We have been together about 20 years by now and he just gets nicer and nicer.

 

[Jockette]

I hate canes! I have one that I bought three years ago, but I have not figured it out. I just can't put enough weight on it to do any good before it starts wobbling dangerously.

If you need to put that much weight on the cane, then you are not ready for it. Use the walker. It’s a temporary tool to help you.

I rather liked my serviceable aluminum walker. Before my surgery I sewed a cute denim tote to hang on the front of it. I had to modify one of the pockets, it was too wide to hold my water bottle upright. It’s good now!

 

[Jockette]

Ow, I guess I went too far during PT today but still only got an 87 degree ROM, less than the 90 ROM I had on Monday. I just didn't want to let her push to get a better ROM today. Oh well.

Don’t stress out about your ROM. It’s way to early to worry about it or be frustrated that it’s not happening fast enough. There is NO window of opportunity so don’t believe it if they tell you that. My ROM not only improved after my one year anniversary, but also after my 2 year anniversary.

It’s not exercising that gets our range of motion back, it’s Time:

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Exercise as in strength training is counter-productive and in the early weeks does more harm than good. Normal activity is the key to success.

 

[Ladyala]

Your sweetie sounds like a keeper!!
The 3 steps forward then 2 back situations are certainly frustrating. But eventually the accumulation of forward is more & more noticeable.
Hang in there, you've got this!!

 

[Carole4815]

All this great posting and chit-chat managed to distract me away from that awful focus on pain, while I was icing which helped too. And guess what? Now, instead of being stuck in an ever increasing miserable downward spiral of pain like I was, it really doesn't hurt that much any more. Who woulda thought? LOL Not me. It doesn't even make any sense! But "I'll take it" as they say.

By now, I could take more pain pills if I wanted to (finally!!) but I think I'll wait for another hour and take them then.

@Ladyala , you are so right! He is SUCH a keeper. Love him so much. I know, at 71 I'm not supposed to get all romantic and gushy but he does that to me.
Also, it's encouraging to read that the accumulation of forward is more and more noticeable. I am trying to think in terms of a one year recovery period and how nice my knee will be after more time has passed.

 

[luvcats]

I know, at 71 I'm not supposed to get all romantic and gushy

Who told you that piece of silliness? I think we all need a little more romantic and gushy in our lives!

Coming here and posting and chatting was my favorite thing in the early days, and I'm sure it will be again. It's a great distraction, and you know everyone else has either been there, or will get there.

 

[LindaO]

Never too old for a little sweetness!!
I am sure you do it but just a reminder to put a towel (I used a hand towel) between your knee and the ice. That helped me from getting too cold. Make sure you have enough padding...the cold will keep the swelling down but don’t want to be cold or burn your skin.
Be kind to yourself!

 

[Ladyala]

I think your gushiness is sweet & delightful! Reminds me of giggling as a kid when grandpa called gramma babe, or my other grandpa goosed my other gramma & she would say "Hubert! Not in front of the grandkids!"

 

[Carole4815]

You all are the BEST!

@LindaO , my hand towels are unusually thick so instead, I have been using a cotton lady's scarf (about the weight of a bandana) between my knee and the cold. Usually I fold it twice, so there are four layers protecting my knee from the cold. That seems to work for me.

I didn't have much pain during the night, but for some reason couldn't fall into a deep sleep either. Oh well! Luckily I have nothing to do this weekend but control pain and sleep.

And, in the spirit of ups and downs, I discovered this morning that I can do something new! Suddenly it isn't hard at all for me to slide my leg out to the side and back to a more central position, across the recliner's footrest, without raising it up to avoid friction. That is one of my PT exercises, and it is something that used to require picking up my leg with my hands.

 

[kneeper]

Celebrate those victories!

 

[Carole4815]

My Home Health nurse told me that the adhesive on the steri-strips deteriorates over time, so that all the strips of tape would fall off in two weeks after they were first applied. That would be tomorrow. She said if they didn't, then I should remove the rest myself on Tuesday (the day before my OS appointment), patting them with a wet washcloth first to help dissolve the adhesive.

Meanwhile I started pulling off the ones that had almost completely fallen off (VERY very very very gently) so I have about 1/3 of them removed by now. Amazingly, in my case the adhesive didn't seem to stick to the actual incision wound at all, just to the skin nearby, so they were easy to remove.

I think that even my bare half-healed incision looks better than steristrips, though. Those strips are ugly!! Here's a photo. The dark stuff on the steristrips is not dirt; it is just lint from my extremely clean navy plaid lap blanket.


To me, comparing this photo with the one I posted in the knee scars thread, is very encouraging. It's only been a few days but the healing is easy to see!

 

[ElanorG]

For whatever reason, all my steri strips stayed on. When I had the followup the PA just pulled them all off. None of them were stuck to the staples just to the skin and they all came off very easily. Your picture looks good!

 

[Carole4815]

@ElanorG , that's great! I didn't get my steri-strips until the day my staples were removed, for whatever reason. They do come off very easily. I just took another one off, and replaced the previous photo with one where it has been removed.

 

[ElanorG]

It seems like for most people they just wear off, but mine were stubborn even though I was showering. I guess I am remembering it wrong. He took the staples out then put the steri strips on. So it was my 4 week followup where they came off! DUH!!!!