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TKR Getting my Life back on May 1

My OS just came in on a day he wasn't on call to check on me and show me his little 15 month old daughter. His wife is a best friend of my daughter -- they went to medical school together. He is very pleased with how I'm doing. But he also said he thought the little pain I was having now had a lot to do with the fact that I was in so much pain before the surgery. He said that the arthritis behind my patella was as bad as it gets. And it was pretty bad in other areas too.
 
I have virtually no pain until 3 am the day after, when the nerve block wore off -- and I was able to easily raise my leg and move it until then, too. I didn't have significant pain after that, but the leg stiffened up considerably, and I needed more help to do the leg raises. I'm making good strides in all aspects of physical motion in the one week post-op.

I hope your trip home goes well. I could have gone home the day after, but staying one extra day felt much better. I definitely was ready to come home on Friday (surgery on a Tuesday morning). In fact, that was the first thing I asked the doc when he came into my room early Friday morning -- "May I go home today?" Yep. After he left, I got dressed and prepared to go home after the physical therapist had one more session with me.
 
Yep @PolarBear60 . That's about what will be happening with me. Surgery was Friday morning and I will go home Sunday mid-day. Seems better than going home Saturday! Soreness and stiffness still minimal about 25 hours after surgery but being very careful to elevate and ice almost continuously when I'm not walking around. I'll see the pt this afternoon and in the morning before I leave.
 
Exactly what I'm planning to do, @skigirl ! Relax and chill out with my Iceman machine which I've been using nonstop here at the hospital too. I love it! Taking two percocet with tylenol in them every 4 hours and am pain free.
 
Congrats on a successful surgery and start to recovery! Patience is a virtue in this journey.....
 
amab said:
Congrats on a successful surgery and start to recovery! Patience is a virtue in this journey.....
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Gonna be my biggest challenge. I'm not the most patient person in this kind of situation but I am bound determined to do it this time!!

Roxie
 
Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. So set short term goals for yourself if you need to and are goal oriented. As a teacher you must have taken the last month off school. That's what I may do next year if my left knee can hold out till then.
 
The biggest thing is the single thing that I also struggled with as well. The percoset also made me pain free---which made me start thinking that I was on my way!!! That I was soon to be "ALL RIGHT". Of course, i was not and it took the same amount of time for me as for everyone else. So much time sitting around---I did learn to knit and I did do some arranging of photos that I had put off for 15 years!!! But, it is a struggle to do what you can without injuring yourself with too much.

My doc told me for the first three weeks, I should be elevating my knee for 89% of my day---so there is your first short term goal.
 
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My short term goal was to dye my hair while I was away from work! The infection showed up and I never even got to a store for 3 months after the original surgery. So I'm still gray 17 months later...☺️
 
So glad things are going well.
 
Loaded up in the backseat of my car with my leg elevated and iced for the 3 hour ride home. Very little pain and walking with a cane. Had a little incident last night where I got very lightheadedness and dizzy sitting up in a chair eating breakfast. Guess I passed out briefly and scared my poor husband to death. Bp and heart rate were fine and the nurse said it happens often as a delayed reaction after a spinal. Something about the blood vessels dilating. I was fine immediately after and it never happened again. Sure was scary though.
 
Take it easy on that car ride---I am looking forward to reading more of your progress---psychologically, it will feel great to get home.

Patience is something that I would say that we all have had to deal with and locate deep within ourselves during a TKR or a BTKR recovery.
Kansas Teacher said:
Setting short term goals is exactly what I need to do!
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I would not even set goals---the surgical knee has a mind of its own, and you just need to take it one day at a time. There will be good days, great days, some periods of plateaus, and some days that are nothing but garbage.

You just strap yourself into the roller coaster ride called recovery and let it take you where it wants to go.

.Remember,
[Bonesmart.org] Getting my Life back on May 1

Patience, Grasshopper, Patience!!!
 
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Car ride is going well -- we're about 30 minutes from home now and have stopped twice so far so could walk around a bit. Kind of drowsy now because I was due for a percocet about an hour ago so I'm nodding off now. We have a 110 volt plug-in in the car so the iceman is working its magic!
 
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How great to be able to use your ice machine all the way home!! Bravo for you. By now you're probably snug in your own bed and hopefully resting peacefully after that long trip. Take it easy for a bit. You're in no hurry with this recovery. As Tim said....patience is the watchword for the next several months.
 
Well, I guess this is Day 3 of recovery since surgery was Friday morning and it's Monday now. We talked about short-term goals a couple posts back and I guess I need to make my first short term goal to remember to take my pain meds on time! I set up a reminder on my phone -- great idea whoever it was that suggested it. However, my sweet husband did not realize I had done that and moved the phone into the other room so the incessant noises it makes would not bother me while I was sleeping. I felt great and slept like a baby and, unfortunately, the incessant noise that would have been my medication alarm did not wake me up either. I should have taken it at 2:30 a.m. and did not even realize I hadn't taken it until 6:30 a.m. so I essentially missed an entire dose. Good news was that I wasn't in a whole lot of pain, surprisingly, so I just got up and took it and am right back on schedule without it setting me back too much. Needless to say, we've had a short -- but pleasant -- conversation about keeping my phone handy from here on out!

I haven't done much since getting home -- mostly just a walk through the house a few times using my cane. I feel almost completely pain free. The percoset is making me a little itchy but not as bad as hydrocodone does. Tomorrow I start PT so we shall see how that goes.

Roxie
 
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