TKR chubby but still changing my life through TKR

[horse lover]

Hi, this forum is great for questions and venting if needed. I too have issues with my weight at 5"5 and 230 lbs. My OS does not harp on me about my weight, but does encourage me to try and lose some. He is right in saying that it would help my new knee last longer and help the old knee as well. I am 5 months out and now that I am getting active again I am having some new pains and some scrubbing in my knee. Going to the doc on Thurs to hopefully see what is causing that. You are blessed to have a job where you can see about yourself. I have not been able to go back to work yet, everything I find requires standing for a shift and I just don't think I can do it yet. The emotional ups and downs will get better, I did my share of crying too ! Best of luck to you with this new journey in your life !!

 

[Brownie51]

Gosh is what is wrong with these doctors and the pain meds? Have they forgotten they used power tools on your leg? I'm sorry your doctor is so stingy Sophie!
Horse-what is "scrubbing" in your knee?

 

[horse lover]

Brownie, I have NO earthly idea, almost like when your car brakes scrub, not squeak but that scrubbing feel. This is the best I can explain it. There is no telling what I have done to it !! LOL !!

 

[Roy Gardiner]

. I too have issues with my weight at 5"5 and 230 lbs. My OS does not harp on me about my weight, but does encourage me to try and lose some. He is right in saying that it would help my new knee last longer

Hmm, is he? 230lb isn't heavy in absolute terms, so the stress on your knee isn't catastrophic, I'd've thought. It would seem to me that whilst being overweight does have its problems, wearing out your new knee probably wouldn't be one of them.

Not trying to be negative here, rather the opposite.

 

[sophie03]

Trailspud.... You and I had surgery the same day. Just checking in to see how you are doing. Hope you are progressing well. Let me know.

 

[trailspud]

Sophie,

I am posting in my recovery thread, but I am doing very well. I had a RTKR in late August so this one is my 2nd. This time I had a Conformis individualized implant. As my doc and others predicted, recovery is quicker this time. By two weeks I had minimal swelling and pain. There is much less soft tissue disruption and less bone resection with this surgery, but it is still a TKR so most of each day I'm taking things easy. However, I am already in the gym and able to do the elliptical (30mts yesterday) and cycle lightly daily at home. I still have some pain, but I have a fairly high tolerance so I am down to 3 Lortabs/day. I use the CPM at times just to quell the minor pain that comes from stiffness. I am also taking Naproxen (1000mg/day) for inflammation, but I will stop (or take a break) in a couple more days.

I do hope this surgery helps you change your life as your thread title indicates. Check out RestAssurred's thread for inspiration if you have not done so.

I'm back to work in a couple of days, but I will follow your recovery postings. I look forward to your success.

 

[maryo52]

Sophie, doctors are currently practicing in an era with growing narcotic use, genuine need, alarming addiction rates, and a phenomen of "drug seekers." As a result, doctors have gotten pretty finicky about their narcotics prescribing. Where I live, you can only get one vial of percocet with a paper scrip with no refills. If for some reason your ortho decided not to re-prescribe, then go to your family doctor. Most people here have found it easier to work with their regular doctor for pain management.

It's funny being 61 and worrying about appearing to have a drug issue. I'd feel better if once in a while someone would card me! In my case tylenol does nothing, my heavy ibuprofen habit in the middle stages of my bad knee resulted in my no longer getting pain relief from ibuprofen. So I occasionally take 1/2 percocet for knee or other pain that's bad enough to disrupt my sleep. Fortunately I have a few leftover from a post-op prescription. I dread going to my doctor and asking for a prescription for percocet because that in itself makes me feel like a drug seeker. Oh well.

BTW you had an earlier question about dosing your percocet. For some reason people don't think to take 1.5 tabs of pain killer, or as pain diminishes, 1/2 tab. They have a line right in the middle to make it easy to break in two. But doctors never cover this as an option.

 

[Shellbelle]

Hi Sophie! I had my RTKR April 25, and today is 10 days post op for me. I am 5'7 and 230 lbs, and my OS never ever said anything about my weight during the year leading up to the replacement, other than to congratulate me when I lost about 20 pounds last summer. It all came back during fall and winter due to a separation, move to a one bedroom apartment and just the regular "winter" coat!
I so am looking forward to my new life which will include a knee that does not hurt with every step and does not wake me up several times a night aching and hurting so bad it makes me whimper.
I am following the Mantras to the letter. I feel by doing nothing I am doing something! I visualize my knee all shiny and smooth and all the tissue healing and stretchy. Giving up control was a bit hard, but my upstairs neighbor came down today and scrubbed my kitchen and bathroom floor with one of those floor steam machines and vacuumed for me! She sent me to my room to do my CPM so I wouldn't have to watch her and feel out of control while she helped me. I love her!
I live in California, about 1 hour east of Sacramento in the foothills. Woke up to overcast skies and a breeze. It feels like the coast, so I am pretending I am in San Francisco. I have beach waves and seagulls playing on my phone (it is an app called Sleep Sounds) and I have to say, I love today!!
I look forward to following your recovery thread, and sharing in the highs and lows of this process we are going thru to help change our lives.

Hugs to you

 

[sophie03]

Thanks so much for the replies. It always humbles me to realize that people who don't even know me take the time to offer their advice and support. Tomorrow will be officially 4 weeks post op. I am still having PT three times a week at home. PT is going well and he doesn't push me at all - but I still seem to be so sore for the rest of the day after PT. Is everyone else like that? I am starting to try to transition to the cane from using the walker. I do well with it for a few minutes but then I get this pain right below my kneecap that is pretty intense and I feel it whenever I put any weight on the knee. Don't know what that is about. So glad to hear from you folks who had surgery right about the same time as I did. We will conquer this journey together.

 

[trailspud]

Even gentle PT involves moving your muscles and connective tissues in ways you are not doing otherwise. I get a few areas of soreness. Transitioning to full weight bearing can go slow and your pain is not uncommon. I will leave it to the medical experts to identify any specific issues that you may be describing.

 

[Shellbelle]

I also am a bit sore after PT, waking up those traumatized tissues and muscles is difficult. It seems every few days a pain somewhere goes away and a new one pops up to take its place! I cannot do straight leg raises yet..AT ALL!! It will come, but I can sure feel the kneecap area talking back to me. Then I remember what was done to my kneecap and give it a break! The poor thing was sawed in half the long ways! So yes, ouch. And the pain under my knee cap? I do believe bit of drilling is done into your tibia for both the alignment rod and to set the bottom of the tibial prosthesis before it is glued. I visualize what my bone went through and understand why it gets crabby occasionally!!
Good luck and keep on keeping on! One healing day at a time.

s.

 

[sophie03]

Seems there is always something new popping up on this recovery journey. Now it seems that lately I have been battling bouts of nausea . It's funny because I would understand if they nausea occurred after taking pain meds - but mine is occurring when pain meds are due or when I am trying to stretch the time between doses. If I eat a cracker or two it seems to subside a bit but it is baffling. Nausea isn't a form of pain is it? Could it be that I need to take the pain meds even ii am not in actual pain but only experiencing the nausea? Again, I thank you in advance for your advice and wisdom.

 

[puffin]

Nausea may be a consequence of some types of pain med and also antibiotics - unless you feel that the nausea is brought on by the pain?

 

[Afbrat63]

Hi, this is my first time here, I too had a tkr 6 months ago and the first dr. I saw gave me 3 names for gastric by-pass surgeons,
patted me on my knee and said " loss a hundred pounds and we'll get you that new knee". My husband was flabbergasted and it took all I had to not cry in front of him. It took my several months to gather the courage to get a second opinion and boy am I glad I did. I have lost 10lb. so far, I now go to the pool 3 days a week for 30 min. This forum has eased most of my issues I had after my surgery and I know that I am on the road to a full recovery. In Oct I'll have my other knee replaced and hope for an even better recovery as I know what to expect. Keep up the good work, and as my daughter says to me "mom your not fat. Your fluffy!"

 

[Jamie]

Afbrat63.....welcome to BoneSmart. I'm glad you joined us. It would be a good idea for you to start your own recovery thread and tell us more about yourself. We'd like to get to know you better, but it's not a good idea to do that in someone else's thread. Of course....it's ALWAYS wonderful to post such excellent support as you have provided for Sophie....much appreciated!!!

 

[Jamie]

sophie03 ... you need to give your surgeon's office a call and talk to them about pain management. Please don't wait until you are in a crisis mode needing to refill a prescription only to find that they are reducing it to a point you cannot live with. The goal is to keep you from having a lot of pain and quite frankly at only 1 month out, it's too soon to start reducing meds if you are still in pain. Tell this to the nurse when you call and ask her suggestions. They deal with this all the time.

It's also possible they can give you a "step-down" drug like Tramadol that may do the trick. That's what I'm doing with my March 8th TKR. And, if the discussion fails....then do call your GP. What you DON'T want to do is "just settle" and try to live with the pain. It will impact your recovery negatively.

 

[maryo52]

Are you having any other symptoms if you stretch out your pills (nervousness, anxiety, agitation)? Or is it just nausea?

 

[sophie03]

Afbrat63 - thank you so much for your comments. I see you had an experience similar to mine with your first surgeon. I am so glad you got a second opinion. It is absolutely horrible that these doctors made us feel so awful about ourselves - and made us feel we did not deserve the help they could give us because of our weight. Sounds like you are on your way to a great recovery - congratulations! Good luck with your surgery in October. Please stay on this forum and let s know how you are doing.

Maryo52- it's really just the nausea that I am dealing with. Not aware of anxiety or agitation.

Jamie- you have really hit the nail on the head when you talked about my fears of calling my doc and not having the meds renewed. I am terrified every time I call. In fact, I have to call tomorrow because I will run out of meds by Sunday. I am going to try to have a discussion with the nurse as you suggested. I have cut my Percocet use down from 8 per day to 5 per day. But I really can't imagine cutting it out completely yet. In fact, there are times I struggle to keep it at 5 per day. Well, we'll see tomorrow - wish me luck.

Hope everyone has a good evening.

 

[RestAssured]

Why Hello! I was 435 pounds and 5'9 when I had surgery! I was walking with braces on both legs and a wheeled walker with a seat. The OS asked me "Do you want to live a life of quantity or quality?" That sealed the deal for me! He said, since you have had MRSA 6 times you have a 50/50 chance of an infection. Well he was right. The left knee turned out great, and the right knee is "The Rest of the Story!" I have lost 153 pounds, through lifestyle changes, exercising with a personal trainer, and sheer determination! Life is getting better all the time! Don't listen to the people who try to put you down; they are merely speed bumps in the road of life!

I am attaching two pictures; one at 435, and one at my current weight! If I can do it, anyone can!

 

[reetpteet]

Hello Sophie, thanks for your message saying that you found my thread helpful. Hang in there, it justs get better. I will read your thread & get the whole picture. x