Four months out and all of a sudden PAIN

[schoust]

Hello all! Well I have to say that I am somewhat pleased with my results up until yesterday I was doing fantastic and according to my OS ahead of the curve for people that have had severe trauma in the past! I am an Hvac tech and do a whole lot of ladder climbing and to be honest I always had a bit of pain but nothing like before the surgery. IMHO the surgery was a complete success despite the fact that I had to have an Mua procedure. All in all I am very pleased with the results up until yesterday. Well I guess I should have taken it a bit easier?? I was climbing a six foot ladder for what I would say was the tenth time of the day troubleshooting an issue in the drop ceiling when all of a sudden I felt this pain that I have not felt as yet?? It was coming from beneath my knee cap?? Well today I took it easy and for the most part chilled with the ladder. The pain is still here though. Has anyone experienced this sort of pain? I did not call my Doc because I didn't want to be hasty but I am not liking this at all!! Heck just last week I was inquiring about skiing now I am back to the worrying!! Please tell me I didn't screw my self up? You know I longed so much to feel better and to be the athletic person that I was once. But I am afraid that this will never be and I will always need to be aware that this knee is artificial and will never even come close to being what the real thing was at one time. I will say this surgery is without a doubt worth all of the pain and agony!!
Thanks R.S.

 

[JudyS]

Hi R.S.

I am a hippy about 5 months post op. I can't comment on your knee pain . Except that I am dealing with knees now and will have my first knee surgery on Dec 17th.
But as far as my hip recovery, I do have little twinges here and there. A few times in the recovery I had pretty severe pain. I attributed it to doing too much.
I am not sure where you are in your recovery. If I were you and feel it is not getting better , I might make a call to the doc tomorrow morning, just to reassure yourself so YOu don't have to worry through Thanksgiving!!
Good Luck
Happy Thanksgiving
Judy

 

[gloucesterman]

Hello Ralph, I was wondering how things were going for you. I am happy that it is mostly good news. Have you tried icing and elevation after work? You may have just tweeked something and caused some inflammation. On occassion I have a stabbing pain in the area of my tibial stress fractures when I move my leg is a certain direction. But in my case it is all the bone grafts and trabecullar metal block under the knee replacement still healing. Hope you are better after some R&R!!!!
gloucesterman

 

[Josephine]

Well, schoust - I've said it SOOO many times on this forum and you know I'm going to have to say it again - four months is VERY early days and no way should you be up and down ladders like that!

Talk about pushing your luck! I bet your surgeon would have a fit if he knew!

So, when you've rested your tendonitis and got it settled down with ise and NSAIDs or whatever works, stay away from the ladders for at least another month. And if the pain doesn't settle by the weekend, go see your doctor.

 

[schoust]

Well Guy's it's like this I am one of those people that really enjoy working at his job and without a doubt I should be moving slower and doing as I have been told to do! But I am very stubborn and I am also enjoying my new found freedom and to be honest the knee was feeling great! Yea I still take something for pain but who cares!! I am providing again for my Wife and Children and with out a doubt this is the very most important thing in the World to me at this time of great upheaval! Yes I know Joanne I am pushing the envelope as I have done my entire life I can only help that what I am feeling is just a little tendinitis as you have said?
Thanks Guy's Ralph

 

[Josephine]

I would say without a doubt! BUT it's a warning sign that you are doing too much. Being enthusiastic about your job and all is fine and very laudable but if you're going to end up back off sick because your knee can't take what you're demanding of it - well what's the harm in a period of 'light duties' in order to ensure that freedom comes in a more reliable form?

Like I said - 4 months/16 weeks is very early days yet. Be kind to your knee and be kind to yourself!

 

[AlaskanTKR]

Shoust -
Ok - Slow down just a bit guy! We don't wanna break these new knees of ours! I hate that I can't ski right now (opening day was yesterday! and it was AWESOME fresh powder - whole mountain opened and my kid was practically in tears cuase we weren't there!) but have realized I am really not strong enough to ENJOY it yet! As far as the ladders at work - SLOW down! If the pain doesn't go away chat up the OS - you don't want to have something go wrong with all that pretty new hardawre. i have had some interesting "cramps' and stabbing pains - but they go away really fast. Sometimes if i sit too long my tibia feels "sore" but other than that no major pains - 4 months was my big turning pint!. Reconsider the skiing and head to the gym and get STRONGER so that when you hit the slopes next season you can enjoy them! (Just my advice - i got to use this really cool ski machine at PT and really realized that I would not be able to make it down the terrain quite yet and ENJOY it! - And thats why I ski-- enjoyment!) my challenge for this winter is to hit the gym on a regular basis and really build up the legs for next season!

Call the OS and SLOW down - even if it is just a bit! Keep enjoying your job but remember what we went though and how we really don't wanna go back there!

Happy T Day!

Marianne

 

[schoust]

Thanks for the advise Mare! Don't worry I have no real plans to go ski just yet although I do think about doing some of these things but as of now I think just getting through the daily rigors of my job is enough! As far as that crazy stabbing pain in the back of my knee goes well it's since subsided (thank God) Anyway my biggest complaints these day's are stiffness other than that I guess I can't complain much...

 

[AlaskanTKR]

Glad to hear you are not too serious about the skiing! And really glad to hear the pain has subsided. I live my ski dream by visiting out resort's website (www.alyeskaresort.com) and stare at their webcams thinking about next season!!!! Lots of fresh powder up here - snowing big beautiful flakes here today in south central Alaska! Great postcard picture. Sticking all over the trees. Great way yo spend a Saturday after Thanksgiving. \

Don't push it too hard this week at work!!!

Mare

 

[Patsy Poe]

I had my TKP 9/16/08 after 3week the OS took me off all rx and told me to take otcd witch didn't help at all so i called my family Dr and he put me on oxycodone witch i have been taken for abot 30 day .
but when i looked up oxycodone i really didn't want to take it anymore, but for the last 2 nite it has been h%% if you know what i mean not alot of pain , but haven;t sleep for 2 nite
Does anyone know how long it will take for the stuff to get out of body
Please help
Thanks in Advance Patsy

 

[beachcomber]

Patsy,
Boy, we had lots of discussion on this topic last winter/spring.... there are two schools of thought on the oxycodone.

First, I have to say I thought it was excellent for pain relief. I was on extended relief oxy for several months for knee and spinal pain, then switched to regular oxycodone. I wouldn't quit taking an excellent pain reliever just because you might find some people who have posted about negative experiences on line. I figure there are more complainers on line because people who have positive experiences don't post as often as those who have negative experiences. If you still need it for pain control--- take it.

As time went on, I needed the oxycodone less often for the pain and my body just sort of naturally weaned itself of the meds. Quitting oxycodone suddenly can sometimes lead to some withdrawal symptoms, but backing down more slowly by spacing the doses out and/or breaking them in half is usually kinder to your body.

Other people on the forum chose to quit "cold turkey" and tough it out for a few days of discomfort.

It is up to you--- but I hope you don't decide to suddenly quit taking a medication that you still need for pain just because you read some negative posts on-line. Many people need pain control for months after such a major procedure. When you no longer have the pain you no longer need the meds...

Good luck to you.

 

[Jamie]

Another option would be to switch to another type of prescription pain reliever. There are many and your doctor could recommend another one. But if it's that you are afraid of getting addicted to any prescription pain med, give what Beach said some real thought. You NEED pain management in order to heal properly and quickly. Some folks on the forum had a little more difficulty getting off their meds than others, but I don't recall anyone who was not successful at stopping them. As Beach said, some (like me) chose to go cold turkey and endure a couple of sleepless, flu-like days. Others just cut down slowly and eventually stopped. But it can be done. Don't let the drug information out there on the internet scare you into not taking what you need!

 

[AlaskanTKR]

Patsy -

I was on hydrocodone from July 14 till about November 14th when I got the lovely stomach flu - instantaneous cleansing! unfortunately for about 5 days I felt totally rotten -sweats , etc. i am not sure if it was withdrawls or the crud - but I tend to think about 50/50. Give it a few more days and then the clarity will set in - i feel totally better and way more clear (I will admit I had scaled pretty far back so it surprised me - the withdrawl thing - maybe it was more crud than wthdrawl - don't know for sure!)

hang in there and good luck!

Marianne