PKR Comparing recovery from 2nd partial knee replacement to the first

Pghkid

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Thanks for passing on your experience. I had the Pkr surgery Oct 31(Thursday) at 10:30 am. I was given a nerve block and another spinal shot. Surgeon said things went perfect. I did therapy the following morning with the nerve block still inserted. I did great at the therapy pulling 123 degrees and had no problems. Was thinking this was a breeze. Then the nerve block was removed. That afternoon I did a 2nd PT and oh my reality hit home :) The PT was excruciating at best. The rest of Friday and Saturday were OUCH. Bending the knee for therapy was about the most pain I’ve ever felt in short burst. But now it’s Sunday and the swelling has decreased a little. I’m getting around trading off between walker and cane. Did PT twice. Still extremely painful when bending but maybe just a little less than prior day....so that’s a good thing.
 
You'll notice that I have copied your newest post and started your recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you have your own recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • With your own recovery thread, you will see the posts and advice others have left for you.
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.
 
:welome: @Pghkid, to the other side! Glad you joined us!
Still extremely painful when bending but maybe just a little less than prior day.
No need to push ROM, your knee is injured, inflamed, and swollen, blocking your ROM. Suggest you focus on healing and letting the swelling go down. Your ROM will be there, it is just waiting for healing and swelling to resolve.

Here is your copy of the Knee Recovery Guidelines, the articles are short and will not take long to read.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access these pages on the website


The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds


We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
On Oct 31 I had a partial knee replacement on my left knee. After 7 weeks I would say I was at 90% recovery. I have little pain most of the time and I bike for 15 minutes and on no drugs.
On Dec 19th, I had the same procedure performed on my right knee. I am now 5 days out and the 2nd one is progressing much better than the first.
The main differences is the first one I was given a pain block prior to surgery that was removed about 21 hours after surgery, and I am also on tylenol and Oxi-Codone. The first week I was in constant pain(9-10), got very little sleep, and could not do the recumbant bike until around the 10th day, and my knee/leg was quite swollen.
Now on the 2nd surgery, the one difference is I am also taking celebrex along with Oxi and Tylenol. And one other adjustment is I take tylenol-pm about 30 minutes before bedtime. My pain level never exceeds a 3 and I am sleeping great and I am doing 5 minutes on the recumbant bike and I can walk up/down steps normally and my knee swelling is much less than the first surgery. My PT is very impressed with the differences.
 
Welcome! I also have 2 pkr’s (described in my knee thead). Are yours lateral or medial or patella? Mine are both lateral. I have had more pain with soft tissue injuries than the 2 pkr’s.
Thanks for sharing. Look forward to your updates.
 
@Pghkid
I'm glad this recovery is going well. Do try not to compare recoveries, though, because every one of them is different.

You'll notice that I have merged your two threads together as we prefer that members in recovery only have one thread. Since your first thread was so short, it's much tidier to have everything in one place.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this one thread. If you would like a new thread title just post what you would like it to be and we'll change it for you
 

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