TKR Keith55's 2011-2012 Pre-Op Questions

Have a shower instead! I wouldn't recommend trying to take a bath for the very :wink1:reasons Janet gave.
 
I was told 12 weeks but did it at about 9. It wasn't pretty!
 
Use a bath seat/chair and a sprayer on a hose. And still as everyone has said, have someone on hand to hang on to you as you step in and out of the tub.
 
Thanks for replies - how about later on (e.g. 6 months) in normal recovery - no problem?
 
When I had a foot injury repaired several years ago, I had a big claw-footed tub in the bath. I found it very difficult to negotiate the tub. Mostly because I was very insecure about falling since I live alone. I very quickly brought a contractor in who removed teh tub adn replaced it with a fabulous walk in shower. So this time around I am set. Whew! A relief
 
Keith, I'm 4 months now and it's been fine for a couple of months now although I do hold on to the sink as I step over the bath, carefully!
 
My shower is on the bath so I will have to at least step over the side to get a proper wash I am assuming that it will be possible to do that a very long time before you can lie in the bath
 
The info in this thread is a bummer! Give up baths? For me, showers = personal hygiene and baths = an ahhhhh relaxing, de-stressing, slice of heaven! A good book, a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and the the big, jacuzzi tub...well, it is simply orgasmic! Please say it isn't so!
 
The info in this thread is a bummer! Give up baths? For me, showers = personal hygiene and baths = an ahhhhh relaxing, de-stressing, slice of heaven! A good book, a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and the the big, jacuzzi tub...well, it is simply orgasmic! Please say it isn't so!

Well, you'll just have to find THAT somewhere else for awhile! :blush:
 
My shower is on the bath so I will have to at least step over the side to get a proper wash I am assuming that it will be possible to do that a very long time before you can lie in the bath

I have the same situation though I do need to renew the bathroom. I thought I'd wait until I get through TKR whether to stick with shower over bath or change to a walk in shower. I prefer to keep the bath but I could live without it in exchange for being able to walk and be without pain.
 
I have a walk in shower, a bath, and a bidet, so I feel sure I will manage, but I just love my baths and will not be happy until I can get back in there. I have recently had the bathroom refitted and the bath was put in as low as possible because with my existing knee damage I wouldn't be able to get in and out otherwise. I do hope it will be either easier, or at least no harder after the TKR.
I think probably a small plastic seat to go in the shower might be a good idea.
 
The first couple of times I found myself being a little uneasy. But in time its just like old times. I had a hand held shower head put in so I could stand or sit and still get wet. Also I could aim it at the muscle that hurt so it could get warm or message and feel better. A shower is easier to get in and out but I don't have one. I have a workout place not to far from me and I would walk to it when I was strong enough and take a shower and sit in the saura and relax. However when you are taking medicane be careful because some pain pills can make you very weak when you get warm. However the first shower after operation is GREAT! All will work out but do take care and be very careful. :doggieshmooze:Tashia:flowerysmile:
 
Have a shower instead! I wouldn't recommend trying to take a bath for the very :wink1:reasons Janet gave.

X2---right now, I would worry more about safety---until you are flexible enough and strong enough, i would think that a shower should suffice and a bath can wait.
 
I have a shower over the bath and a bath board. So the plan was initially to take a shower either sitting down or standing up. There are grab handles (put in by social services) and I was thinking I could manoeuvre myself onto the bath board then haul myself up using the grab handle. I have a non-slip bath mat. Would that be viable? The shower head is detachable but I have to switch it on standing up - I could do that before sitting on the bath board.

I live in a first floor flat. There are three flights of stairs between the front door and my flat (which is all on one level). There is a lift and three steps down from the lift to my flat. Problem is the lift is not opening on the ground floor currently. I've been nagging the managing agents about this for ages and they know I have a TKR planned. Three steps seems doable post-op but 16 in 3 flights - that is not so good.

Please don't respond with an unthinking "don't worry you'll be alright". This is a practical question. Has anyone got any experience of dealing with steps immediately post op i.e. on return from hospital. I know they train you to go up and down steps but I've seen the pictures - they're only little artificial flights of say 3, 4 or 5 steps.
 
Well, I don't have first hand experience yet. But here's my 2 pennies worth....

On the bath question - if you have good upper body strength and the grab handles are strong enough to take your weight, then your plan might work. But if it was me, I wouldn't want to take the risk. In my case although I have a bath board taking a bath is just not an option as there is no way I could lift myself out. If you really want to take a chance, I would make sure that there is someone there to help if you run into trouble.

With regards to those stairs. 3 flights of stairs I too would worry about! I find the task of getting upstairs daunting enough as it is - and that's pre-op, one flight of stairs. You need to nag the managing agents until they got it sorted. Isn't that what they get paid for? Surely from a health and safety point of view they are legally obliged to have the lift in working order, particularly since they know about your upcoming operation. Is there anything in your contract in that respect?
 
Thanks phoenixx29 that was good advice. I meant taking a shower though not a bath i.e. sit on bath board then haul myself up to a standing position to take a shower - or take the shower sat on the board. I'll have to be able to get myself on and off the bath board though.
I've chased the agents and the lift is working at the moment but I don't think any permanent repair has been done.
 
I live in a first floor flat. There are three flights of stairs between the front door and my flat (which is all on one level). There is a lift and three steps down from the lift to my flat. Problem is the lift is not opening on the ground floor currently. I've been nagging the managing agents about this for ages and they know I have a TKR planned. Three steps seems doable post-op but 16 in 3 flights - that is not so good.

Please don't respond with an unthinking "don't worry you'll be alright". This is a practical question. Has anyone got any experience of dealing with steps immediately post op i.e. on return from hospital. I know they train you to go up and down steps but I've seen the pictures - they're only little artificial flights of say 3, 4 or 5 steps.

Yes, the steps they train you on are only 3-5 steps, but that's really enough to learn how to do them. I found once I knew how to navigate, the number of stairs(within reason) didn't matter much.

And I do have experience with this, I live in a split -level(2 story) house. There are 7(I think, need to count) steps on each flight, so I'm doing 14 steps going up and down. I used a cane for the first 6-7 weeks just to feel safe, and was fine from the day I got home from the hospital.
 
Thanks lh25 - but of course not everyone's recovery experience is the same.
From another forum someone commented:

"It will be very difficult to care for yourself straight out of the hospital, partly because of drowsiness from the pain meds, and partly because you will be on crutches and unable to carry anything, and it will be too painful to stand up for more than a few minutes at a time. Stairs and bathtub ledges pose a danger, as you will only have one leg you'll be able to stand on and thus can't transfer your weight very safely.(Forget using any area rugs - they are a real tripping hazard.) It can be hard to get to the bathroom quickly enough, so a bedside commode might be needed. It would have to be emptied and cleaned, something you won't be able to do during the week or so you need the commode."

Fortunately my bathroom is right next to my bedroom. My sister cannot come to support me during recovery owing to her own health problems. Others on this website have told me I'll be able to look after myself but that is not the story above.
 
A general point which is not aimed at anyone in particular - nobody is perfect least of all me.

I do wonder if some posters on this website suffer from "optimism bias".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias

A sort of "yeeha" go for it - in fact why not have all your other joints replaced at the same time to save too many hospital visits.

Then there are the contradictory "the surgeon was amazed I wasn't already in a wheelchair" stories. Now osteoarthritis is a slow but sure degenerative disease. So if such stories are true there must have been a significant period when the person chose to delay joint replacement despite suffering from arthritis. This contradicts the yeeha go for it mentality.

Thankfully there are many posters here who are realistic about this whole subject for which I am very grateful.
 

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