down day :(

[Susie Mac]

Everyone,

I completely sympathize with the frustration of it all. I have never had a recovery like this in my life. I find myself becoming more and more depressed at how slow it is. I had BLTKR 12.20.08. The pain is constant and I’m the worst pill popper, can’t do it on time…so usually waiting for the pills to kick in. It’s like a rollercoaster ride of pain. I have some clicking but it does not bother me. I had clicking before surgery and that was very painful. I just ignore it; as long as there is no pain I don’t care. I read all this information and it’s so good…it’s been a place to go when I feel really down. I would like to know when I should start to get some real relief. When can I get out of bed in the morning, put my feet on the ground and take a couple of steps and feel really good. Right now I wake up (from barely sleeping at night) put my feet on the floor and brace for stumbling, tight calves, and sore feet. I’m 43, I’m in good shape….I would love a couple of good days…
Sorry to whine so much I’m having a very bad day and need a pick me up!!  Thank you for listening.

 

[Josephine]

Sounds like you're not following a good pain med regimen. Time for the Josephine pain chart.

You see, there is a right time to take pain pills and a bad time. Leave it too long and the pain has spiked so it takes that much longer for the meds to kick in. You can't get around this. You have to learn tp anticipate and pre-empt the pain spike. Don't let it spike too much before you take the pill. The graph tells you why.

 

[Doug]

Susie, You're still in the early stages of recovery. The best thing you can do is keep doing your therapy, elevate and ice. So much is done to our legs when during the operation it just isn't going to get well too quickly. Also, as happened to me, when they replaced my knee, it realigned my leg. I had to do some serious painful stretching to get things back..
I think for me the four month point was a big jump forward with me. then you'll find yourself doing things you couldn't do before. Like stepping up on a curb with your new knee.
Hang in there, keep working it...The stationary bike was probably my biggest friend the first six months...
Don't worry about whining...I've done my share on this forum.
By the way, I'm now 14 months post op.

 

[Judles]

Welcome Susie! I'm a hippie, but since you have bilat knee,,,,,wow! You are still so early in you recovery,,,, You definitely need more time and patience! Have you read some of Monday's posts,,,,many of us were having our own pity parties! That's normal!
The beauty of this forum is that you're never alone here! We all have our ups and downs, good days and bad!
We love to cheer each other on! But the BEST part of the forum is our moderator/nurse/mentor ;Jo,,,,,who keeps it all together, and offers us the most sound advice! Jo,,,,,we're still trying to find that beautuful crown for you!

 

[aussie]

Hang in there Susie Mac, it truly does get better. I agree, this recovery is nothing like I have experienced and I thought it would never improve, but it does.

It's hard to put a timeline on recovery as everyone is so different. I could do things at an earlier time than others and others were ahead of me in some things, just couldn't pick it.

Best wishes to you.

Chris

 

[JudyS]

Susie Mac

It will get better and you are vey early in recovery.
I am a hippy and at 3 months waas allowed to return to all my activities, except running.

I was at a friend's house(my only friend in socal) at about 6 months time. I had hiked to the top of a favorite, yet challenging mountain . Someone was commenting that it was amazing as I had just had a hip replacement. My comment was , oh it was no big deal, the time to recover went by so fast and on and on. my dear friend, Rose, looked at me and said remember how you thought it was going so slow and yu would NEVER get anywhere at that pace!!!!

You will be saying that before you know it. I am 51 by the way and have always been in excellent shape.

Judy

 

[tigerm49]

Susie Mac
I'm at almost 12 weeks now, and can tell you that things will get better, even though i still have my up and down days, i see small gains, feeling down and wondering if your ever going to get better is normal, take your meds and keep up with your PT and you'll be walking all over the place before you know it. Hang in their.

Mike

 

[Simon]

Susie Mac

If you are not into taking pills or wait to long to take them ask your doctor for sustained release meds. This way you just need 1 in the morning and and 1 at night (12 hours apart). I took one at 8 am and 1 at 8 pm. This can be MS Contin or Oxycontin and the dosage can be any where from 5 mg per pill up to mega doses. Then you need a lower dose less powerful for breakthrough. This worked great for me.

Simon