TKR Daystar's Diary

[Jane B.]

Daystar, Connie has a good point, one that I'm going to follow up on myself. I have hip bursitis and it was bad going into the surgery. I didn't want to get an injection that close to surgery. I can feel the referred pain from my hip into my knee, and sometimes it's worse than the knee pain itself. Since we are so lucky to have joint replacements, we usually present with a bucket of other issues.

Anxiety and depression: I worked for many years in women's health. One time the head nurse asked for a show of hands of how many staff members were on an antidepressant. Almost every hand went up! I've always felt that anxiety is terribly misunderstood and under-treated. It couldn't possibly be because more women experience it, would it? I'm glad you found a medication that helped. Keep searching for a good psychiatrist. There are a few out there.

 

[ConnieJOS]

@Daystar My hips are doing great! I had one on March 17 and the other on May 12. Much shorter recovery time than the knees. They don't bother me at all any more.

 

[Remy]

This was such an interesting post/thread. I am scheduled for TKR on December 1st and was/am kindof freaking out. I do like to read the worst case scenario things so I know what I may experience -- at least that way I am a little more prepared instead of freaking out! I see the pre-op nurse today and will have some medication questions now. Thanks for the post and replies. You are certainly a bunch of caring, informative people. I continue to read the posts and hope to continue after my surgery. Thanks!

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar Checking in to see how you are doing. Hope it is just something pulled and not a hip going bad! Hubby goes to back to work Monday. I really hope he doesn't overdo it! Hope things are going better for you!

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar Happy Halloween!
broken link removed: https://songsark.com/

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar Just checking in, hope all is well with you!

 

[Foxsea]

Dear Daystar,
I have thought of you but could not find you. We had our LTKR's on the same day, I believe, 7-29. I lost track of you but finally happened upon your thread today and I'm so happy to have found you once again. I read your comments about your surgery, etc. I am very sorry you had to go through so much with regard to anxiety. But very glad your knee is progressing well. I had my LTKR, was in the hospital 2 nites and then went to a SNF for two weeks which was very helpful. Then I had 3 weeks of PT at home. Ended up taking Coumadin because of a blood clot. I've completed 5 weeks of PT and my ROM was 110. I'm now doing home exercises guided by my PT. It turns out to be quite a long experience. I too have lots of stiffness in my knee but just keep pushing along and hoping I can get my ROM up to a decent number. Another problem is with my painful back which I hope can be helped by the back exercises I'm doing. I take 2 Tylenol/day and one Norco 5. It was great to find you and I'm wishing you the best and sending prayers for your complete healing.
Sincerely,
Foxsea

 

[Daystar]

Hey, hi to @Jane B. @ConnieJOS @Remy @tiredwife and @Foxsea! I appreciate all your comments. I don't think the pain at the top of my leg is coming from hip arthritis for a variety of reasons. It is slowly getting better, but it is very easy to reinjure it. My surgical knee is pretty much the same. It hurts when I get up from a chair (the soft tissues, not inside the joint), but I don't have any problem walking with it. In fact, it feels good to be able to straighten my knee completelyafter so many years of having it bent. I need to work on strengthening that whole leg, though, because it isn't strong enough to be the nonsurgical leg yet. Not that I am close to being ready to replace the other knee! I'm going to have to start tapering off two of my psych meds soon and hoping I don't get withdrawal symptoms or rebound anxiety. I go down very slowly. I hope you all are doing well. Thanks again for writing.

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar So good to hear from you! Glad your top of the leg pain is getting better, just take it easy and don't aggravate it! It takes time for your knee and leg to recover after TKR, don't rush it! Taper off the meds slowly, best of luck!

 

[ConnieJOS]

@Daystar
I'm sure you are right! You know your hip and your body better than anyone! And as for new surgeries, you are the only one that knows best for that too. Just because I chose the lunatic method :rolleyes: of doing them so close together, I know it's not for everyone! You will decide what's best for you. I'm glad to know that your hip is improving, and I hope that becomes more and more evident each day.

Thanks for posting. I hope you have a good night.

Connie

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar Stopping by to say Hi! HUGS!

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar wishing you a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Foxsea]

Dear Daystar,
Just stopping by to say Hello and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our knees are now four months postop and hope you are making good progress. Take care and best of luck with everything!
So nice to hear from you.
Foxsea

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar just wanted you to know you are still in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[tiredwife]

@Daystar Stopping by to see how you are doing?

 

[Foxsea]

@Daystar - Just stopping by to say hello and hope all is going fine for you. Foxsea

 

[Daystar]

I don't know if anyone will see this or not, but I'm going to post anyway! Today is the one-year anniversary of my LTKR. I wanted to post something positive, because it meant a lot to me last year to see people reporting on positive outcomes. My knee is great. I hardly even think about it. I'm surprised when I read about having had so much pain the first few weeks after surgery, because I didn't remember that. It's long been over, including the sciatica I had at the time. I'm scheduled to have my right knee replaced on October 5, and I'm much more relaxed about it this time. I was terrified of so many things before the last surgery and was trying to think of all possible eventualities and prepare for everything ahead of time. Almost nothing that I worried about happened, as it turns out. The "only" thing that did happen was a lot of medication-resistant anxiety which was way, way worse than anything that happened with my knee. Hopefully that won't happen with the next surgery, not to that extent at least.

I'll get back on the pre-surgery forum in a month or so. Best of luck to everyone who is preparing for or recovering from surgery!

 

[Slainte]

Nice to meet you! So nice to read a happy ending. I am almost three weeks out from my TKR, and am considering having the other knee done soon. Maybe we will be knee buddies!

 

[PolarBear60]

Thank you, Daystar. Very happy to hear your update, and we'll look forward to supporting you through your second surgery.


Jean

LTKR (Stryker Triathlon): 21 April 2015
Right Knee Arthroscopy: 25 July 2006
Left Knee Arthroscopy: 10 February 2005

 

[Jane B.]

Wonderful news, Daystar! Good luck with number two.