Bilateral TKR Got out of surgery at about 5pm 6/4/2013

[Lmarshall]

Trying very very hard! 2nd hardest thing I have done in my life....1st being BTKR

 

[harplayer]

Wow Luisa!
Keep up the good work! Your goal of remaining smoke free is wonderful and you are a strong and remarkable woman! I am in awe of you!
I know that we can do this...one day, one hour at a time

 

[harplayer]

By the Way...
Got my 1st hospital bill today...one knee...over 40k. OMG!

 

[Lmarshall]

Omg!! I think I am getting my itemized bill tomorrow...will let you know how much bilateral was.

 

[skigirl]

Luisa, if you need help, have someone get you some patches--- I am sure your GP will happily give you a script. It is better to get help than to smoke again. I have to admit that I could not have a friend who smokes---I have asthma---it bothers me when it is on people's clothing. I think I am a canary in the coal mine--think about your lungs. K

 

[gazelle7777]

I just got a phone call from my Dr's office. I had placed an order for my pain meds for the week...and asked if they could prescribe something for at night when I hurt so much and can not sleep....the answer I got was:

YOU NEED TO STRETCH MORE.???? I am thinking. ...Huh?

That was the answer to my getting something seperate for nighttime only.....

I told them I WAS. stretching and I was doing PT...She said "good".

I guess I will not find anything along with my pain meds for nighttime.....

What is wrong with this picture?

I am not a drug addict, nor would I ever take a pain med unless it was necessary. I just do not get IT.

 

[harplayer]

Gazelle,

OH NO!! Wow...you have been seeking their help with this issue almost since day one! I am so angry and frustrated with your doctor's office!!! I wish there was something I could do to help!

 

[gazelle7777]

Gazelle,

OH NO!! Wow...you have been seeking their help with this issue almost since day one! I am so angry and frustrated with your doctor's office!!! I wish there was something I could do to help!

Thanks Harplayer. I have to admit, the care in the hospital was very good, the Dr., his availability though out this whole thing has been awful. It would be interesting to talk to other patients and see what their story was. He may be good at what he does...but he seems to not have a good caring bedside manner. I think both are important.

 

[skigirl]

Do you have an internist orGP that you see on an ongoing basis? If so, call them and talk about the problem or make an appt. My own doc gave me Tramadol when the OS told me I no longer had pain!! Told, not asked.

 

[icecoldtony]

Hi Gazelle, I'm amazed at you and all the others who have had both knees done at the same time. I had a right TKR on June 5th. It has not been fun. My leg swelling was awful for the first 4 or 5 days. I did some PT but couldn't really move my leg much. My PT kept telling me to do what I could without hurting myself and to keep the ice and elevation going all day every two hours. I stopped using the walker at about 2 weeks after surgery. I'm now using one crutch. I do all the exercises my PT gives me and also am using a cpm machine. The cpm machine really seems to help. I ice and elevate after all exercises and cpm use. The disruption of my normal sleep has been rough. I usually sleep for about 3 hours and then leave my bed, so I don't disturb my wife, and go to another room and try and get some sleep. Sometimes it works but usually not. So I spend the rest of the night on the computer or watching some tv. My doctor gave me 120 oxycodone pills when I left the hospital 3 days after surgery. I took 2 pills every four hours for the first week. The side effects are not good for me though, especially the constipation. So I'm now taking 1 every 6 to 7 hours. I make sure to take 1 an hour before PT though. My knee seems to be healing and progressing very well. At least that's what they tell me. I go in this Friday to have my staples removed. I'm so looking forward to a good night's sleep. As for insurance I have Kaiser. My out of pocket expense would have been $250 but since my wife also has the same insurance on me I paid nothing. Hospital costs are outrageous. I'm fortunate.
Good luck and hang in there. I really admire all of you who have had both knees done at the same time. The pain and discomfort with just one is more than I want to admit. Hopefully it won't be long before the hard and bad days are behind us and all we will think about is how good our knees feel.

 

[Lmarshall]

Oh no Gazelle, I feel terrible for you. Thatdr has no clue how much pain is involved. Can you try youre internisyt, OR can you contact a pain management dr in your area ?

 

[gazelle7777]

Do you have an internist orGP that you see on an ongoing basis? If so, call them and talk about the problem or make an appt. My own doc gave me Tramadol when the OS told me I no longer had pain!! Told, not asked.

I do not have a GP.. What is tramadol? Why do these Drs act this way about not giving anything or pain?

 

[skigirl]

Tramadol is a mild synthetic opiod. The scripts for it can be called into the pharmacy. I took it myself from about 3 weeks to 5 or 6 weeks. It did help with the nagging aching pain and I was not a zombie.

Docs right now are under a lot of pressure to moderate their use of opiods because of the problem of so many people becoming addicted. Since you have had major painful surgery--you would think that you are not counted in their numbers, but unfortunately this is not true. My own doc was also stingy with meds. I had much better luck with his PA who would proscribe 40 or 50 pills at a time. I did call my Internist at the end and she gave me a script for Tramadol. (it's brand name is ULtram).

 

[gazelle7777]

day 22

I felt good yesterday for the most part. I probably walked and got around more than any other day so far. I also walked without the walker or the crutch in the house--- in the kitchen and from room to room slowly. My legs were VERY tired by evening, but, I was happy to see some progress. Mind you I am not walking correctly or normally, but, getting my balance and feeling less of the old bone on bone pain I use to feel and HEAR in my head -- that grinding awful sound of bone on bone.

I put on some pants I bought prior to surgery as my present to myself after I had straight legs again. They looked so nice not having to feel embarresses about my old bowed out knees. I still have some swelling - fat knees--- but, Having straight legs was so important to me... it was a big motivating factor in having the surgery. Oh yes the pain was very motivating and the fact I was headed for a wheel chair.... but vainity was also a big part. I HATED being bow legged.... People are so cruel the comments they would make about my being bow legged... I cried so many times at work in the bathroom from comments customers said about my legs..... But not anymore! Now the problem is that I have lost so much weight--- my clothes fit too big! I have no butt which is the downside( not to be rude) I lost at least 10 pounds and did not need to lose any at all. I am sure once I feel better and get moving more, I will gain some of it back. I look forward to working out again, and rebuilding all the muscle I lost over the last few years in my legs.

PT progresses along. I guess today she wants me up on the bike for the first time. I know it is going to hurt like heck as I am still so stiff. Deep breaths and prayer......

I am on the warfarin ( blood thinners) until July 5th. They can not seem to bring my levels down no matter what they do. I am a difficult case I guess. I have been so good at watching my diet and not eating anything with vitamin K- yet my clotting levels just will not budge. They say some people are just this way. I have one more blood check next Tuesday and then I am done. Thank goodness I had no side effects that I know of being on the Rat Poison..... It was one of the things I dreaded having to do... but with major surgery you follow the rules and go outside your comfort zone so you get the best results possible.

Major surgery is a grow up experience. You realize how much you depend on other people .... and how much you need people. I think in life we forget that and we feel so confident that we can make it on our own. Major surgery or injury is humbling... and actually made me better for realizing how much I love my husband and how much I need him after 34 years of marriage.

I am going to check up on the Tramadol when I go see my Dr. next or if they tell me here in a few weeks they are stopping my Oxycontin. My Dr. seems so difficult on giving this out I need to make sure they do not pull the rug out from under me before I am ready to stop. I have already cut back to 5 mgs of Oxycontin every 4 hours- from 10 every 4 hours and I am only doing 10 mgs at night and on the day I go to PT. I am going on week 4- I worry that each Monday when I call to get my 6 days worth they are going to say sorry we are cutting you off. I would not be surprised one bit.

Thanks for listening!

 

[gazelle7777]

DAY 23

I am having a very good day today! Like something clicked and I feel like a healing has happened. I took the mail out to the mail box for the first time by myself using the crutches. I vacuumed down stairs using one crutch. I actually felt hunger for the first time in almost three weeks. That is good as I have lost way too much weight. My overall pain is less right now at this moment. I am trying to think about bending my knees when I walk. I tend to keep my right leg stiff when I walk from years of doing that because my right knee was so painful to bend. Learning to walk right is going to take time.

I will try to remember this day on a day when I do not feel so good. I know as time goes on I will have more and more good days!

 

[gazelle7777]

DAY 24

PT was so PAINFUL!!! That is all I can muster today. Moving forward to the future and hoping I can one day say that BTKR was the best thing I ever did.

 

[referee54]

PT was so PAINFUL!!!

Please, please, do not let the PT put you through pain. If it hurts, do not do it---take your exercises and routines only to the point of discomfort, and no more.

and hoping I can one day say that BTKR was the best thing I ever did.

You are feeling, in many ways, much the same way that I felt at at the same time in recovery----things will get better, I promise you---but this BTKR recovery is slow and challenging---I have no doubts that you will meet that challenge and reach your destination.

 

[referee54]

23 days out of surgery---a very aggressive type of surgery on the two knee joints---you are still in what many call the "dark days" of recovery; four to six weeks are normally the time when we start to feel better and make slow progress----and yet, even then, we have good days and some real stinkers!

Hang in ther and do not fret---good times are coming, but your knees have suffered serious surgical trauma, and it will take them time to calm down. In the mean time, you just go along for the ride---it is not a ride at interstate highway speed---but, rather, more like the speed of a wagon train way back when.

But, just like those folks in the wagon train reached their destination---so will you!

 

[gazelle7777]

Thank you for those who have given me valuable advise. Thanks for taking the time!

 

[puffin]

take care and do not let the PT hurt you