TKR Daystar's Diary

[Whisper]

@Daystar, I've been keeping up on your thread and was glad to hear that you were able to talk to your pharmacy and sort the meds out. Hope you are doing well this evening.

 

[Quasi]

@Daystar, I have read all your posts and want you to know that I have been praying for you all along. Since I have been working full time, and still am not sleeping , although I am resting, I have fallen asleep after I've read everyone's post, but haven't been able to send everybody well wishes. I am so glad you are now taking your klonopin!

I am on my 9th week, or maybe 10th, and my anxiety level has been higher since this surgery than I can remember. I thought I would be zipping around, back to my usual old self by now, but nooo! I am stills going to OT two times a week and my knee has severe pain below knee cap. I have been having these weird bouts of sudden like electrical shock pains that jolt me from my chair or bed. The first episode started Friday before last, and about every four hours a series of these pain jolts would come on suddenly out of the blue! Took a pain pill, iced and I could still feel it, every time my heart would beat for about a hour. This lasted thru last Sunday night. Then they just stopped! Well, yesterday, Friday, they started again! Not as frequent but painful and alarming. I don't know what it is and my 0S left the practice to go to another state. So I have not met found a new OS yet.

Still having pain, but mostly only at night and pain level highest at about 7 so I continue in pain meds, just not as frequently. My other knee now has fluid on it and is swollen. Much of this is due to the fact that I had to return to work so soon after surgery which my OS told me would happen.

Needless to say, I am a bundle of nerves, well, maybe more anxiety each day, and very unhappy at work, which is so totally not like me. I have been praying about my job, and realize I am doing way too much. So each night I come home I feel exhausted, both knees are swollen, and painful and I have to immediately get ice on them. Then I fall asleep, wake up around 11pm and do not get back to sleep until around 4:00am, then up at 6:00 to go to work.

The doctors that I work for have been very aloof with me (I've known them for over 15 years) so I finally went to one of them and asked him what was going on, wondering if I had done something wrong. Oh my, he told me ever since I've had my knee surgery, the office has not been the same! And here I am going back to work after 3 weeks to make sure they had enough help,

I don't understand any of this, and to think if I had stayed home to recover properly I would be way ahead with the healing of my new knee, and my other knee probably would not be hurting at all. I am sad and hurting, I hate to pour all this out, but DayStar, I know you understand exactly how I'm feeling. Please pray that God will send me a new job to go to, and/or provide a job for my husband, so one of us can bring some money home. I would never have had my new knee done, if I had known all of this would happen. I pray The Lord gives me strength to get through the next week, as I am having anxiety and panic attacks almost daily.

I pray for you a better day each day. I pray for all of your nausea to go away, so the pain medication can give you relief, I pray that you will heal quickly and that your kindness and concern for others does not go unnoticed!

Thinking of you, and praying for a less painful day for you! As always thank you for listening to me when I am so down! Your friend, Jo Anne

 

[madinana]

@Daystar my thought and are with you Take care of yourself

 

[gr82cu2]

Cindy, how did the rest of your day go? Did you get some relief from the nausea and get some pain meds in? We're thinking of you!

 

[Josephine]

I didn't get any spare dressings, and the instructions are to leave it on for 7 days, which takes me one day short of my first appt with OS.

Well, one extra day isn't going to matter, honey, nor even two. Most OS of my acquaintance won't have their dressings touched for 10 days!

I'm hoping that will help with breakthrough pain

You know, I keep seeing this term and never heard it before I come on BoneSmart. There is no such thing as 'breakthrough' pain. It just means that your usual pain meds are inadequate either themselves or in the way they are being taken.



@Daystar forgive me for derailing your thread but I have to answer @Quasi here

I thought I would be zipping around, back to my usual old self by now, but nooo!

NO-ONE is zipping around back to their old selves at 9 weeks, sweetie. No-one. Generally we don't reach that point until around 16 weeks.

I am stills going to OT two times a week and my knee has severe pain below knee cap.

OT or PT? I'll find your thread and leave you some questions (again!)

Took a pain pill,

'A' pain pill? Which one?

Still having pain, but mostly only at night and pain level highest at about 7 so I continue in pain meds, just not as frequently.

And what does 'not as frequently' mean?

realized I am doing way too much

No kidding!

I finally went to one of them and asked him what was going on, wondering if I had done something wrong. Oh my, he told me ever since I've had my knee surgery, the office has not been the same! And here I am going back to work after 3 weeks to make sure they had enough help,

Well, honey, you learned something I'm always telling my OH patients when they express such loyalty to the company they work for. It's wasted effort. All employers, no matter how kind and accommodating they appear to be, if an employee dropped dead in the work place, that business would just march right over their dead body and carry on with business as usual! And to those who believe that their employer is different, wake up! They're all the same - they have a business to run and more than just you depending on the continuation of it. Company loyalty is one thing but look after yourself first because they won't and it's not their job to anyway.

I'll see you on your thread, honey - okay?

 

[gr82cu2]

I'm not going to tag Josephine because she hates being tagged in the course of a conversation but she reminds me of a mean old nun who cracks her students on the back on their knuckles with a ruler in class to get them to pay attention. And yet somehow, her students all love her to bits because they know she has their best interests at heart. Thank you for helping us all Josephine!

 

[gr82cu2]

Good morning Cindy! Any better today???

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar Hope you have a great day today! Sending up a prayer for you!

 

[Jozilla]

Ditto. Thinking good thoughts and prayers to you.

 

[Daystar]

@Quasi Jo Anne, I'm so, so sorry to hear what you are going through! Forgive me for not answering sooner. I haven't been keeping up on BS or FB. I am praying for an answer to your job situation. How can they be so unfeeling? It's revolting. Surely it is possible to care about your business and your employees at the same time. I pray for your anxiety level to lower. It's so hard.

 

[Daystar]

@Josephine I can't deal with getting quotes right at the moment, so I'm just going to comment. Mainly will say that I heard the term "breakthrough pain" when I was doing medical transcription for six or seven years. I quit two years ago. A lot of dictators used it in the medications section of a report. Maybe it's an American thing.

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar How are you today?

 

[Josephine]

Mainly will say that I heard the term "breakthrough pain" when I was doing medical transcription for six or seven years. I quit two years ago. Maybe it's an American thing.

Oh I know that! But I still never heard it before BoneSmart!

I can't deal with getting quotes right at the moment

Never mind - we've rolled the forum back to the previous skin for the time being.

 

[gr82cu2]

@Daystar Cindy, is your nausea or pain any better today? I hope you are feeling better. Did you get a chance to try the ginger remedies I left for you?

I have to admit I never understood the concept of "breakthrough pain" either. Pain is pain, right? Unless it refers to pain that is occurring which should not be when on a pain medicine so another pain med is given to deal with it?

 

[Josephine]

It still just means the first pain med wasn't adequate for the job.

 

[lorl]

Hello nothing more I can add except love and prayers. So much good technical advice from the experts, they know so much, know the things to ask, have been there done that, greatly reassuring to us all to have ready access to their knowledge .

. Though isn't it a wonderful blessing, with people in the northern hemisphere and me here down under with the different time zones you are most likely being covered by 24 hours prayer. Some time the timezones work for us.

Love and prayers for right answers and speedy solutions. Luvlorl

 

[Daystar]

I'm sorry I write and then disappear! The emotional aspect is at least as hard to deal with as the physical part. I am not having much of a problem with nausea as of yesterday or today. I still tend to get a little queasy when I exert myself physically. I have always been like that for some reason. The first time I went to the Medically Adapted Gym run by a local physical therapy business, I got sick to my stomach and faint just from moving my legs out to the side. Had to stop, rest, and go home. No problem after that. But the OxyContin and OxyIR don't seem to cause a problem if I eat something before taking them. On the other hand, they don't seem to do a whole lot for my pain. The first time I took the OxyIR two days ago, it knocked me out and the pain was almost gone. The next two times I have taken it, it has done virtually nothing. Nights are hard because I'm not sleeping well, and my anxiety gets worse then, and so I start dreading nighttime, and get a vicious circle going. Also, the sciatica just won't quit, and I get locked into thinking about that.

I'm doing my PT exercises, which are gentle so far. PT said my extension is 0, so I guess that's good. When I stand and walk, I can pretty much straighten my knee which I haven't been able to do for years. And my lower leg, thigh, and back are all lined up. It isn't comfortable, but at least we should be heading in the right direction.
The reason I can write now is because I took half a Klonopin a few hours ago. I wish I could get over my fear of the Klonopin.

Thank you from the depths of my heart to all of you who have written. @tiredwife Your husband's second TKR is coming up quickly, isn't it? I want to follow everyone's threads, but I feel so fragile emotionally at times. I also feel very selfish, as I'm taking without giving very much. I hope that this knee will improve greatly over the next few months and then I will be able to offer encouragement to the newbies.

 

[Daystar]

It still just means the first pain med wasn't adequate for the job.

It sounds like they kind of plan on that happening, though, and take a chance that the first med might possibly provide relief, but if it doesn't it isn't their fault, it's the fault of the original med. The docs are trying to stay on the underside of pain relief. Just barely eke out enough relief, never venture toward "too much."

 

[Daystar]

@lorl Thank you, Laurel. You are a great comfort to me. I love that smiley and keep watching the two faces.

 

[Daystar]

@gr82cu2 Janet, I think I missed the remedies you left for me. How sweet of you! I think my stomach is doing better for some reason. Maybe a result of prayer.