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

[gazelle7777]

DAY 31

Today is my first day off of warfarin, I was able to have some of the natural supplements I had to quit taking for well over a month, and a nice cup of green tea! Tonight I will have a tossed green salad with spinach and avocado! Oh my gosh that sounds SO GOOD!

The information you all have given on gate, walking etc has been most helpful. I have two knees with totally different personalities...my left knee is the angel, my right the Devil. The right knee was the BAD knee of the two. Does not want to bend, hurts the most. It is going to be the difficult child.

I felt a bit of depression today. I think everything I have gone through , all the drugs, and NO SLEEP, is catching up with me. I do not sleep and get up about 4am... I am looking forward to months down the road when I am walking my golden retriever, Lola, for the first time! Or that day when I realize that my knees are not the first thing I think about in the morning...maybe not think about all day!

Thanks for posting and sharing your most helpful tips and suggestions.They will help me as wells as others who read this thread as they prepare for their journey .

 

[gazelle7777]

! here I am horning in again. Tim is correct re: shoes. In fact I just got back from the podiatrist with my new set of orthotics to correct my excessive pronation. Walking already feels better & I haven't even broken these devices in yet.

What a good idea!

 

[new knee in June]

Hello gazelle,
You are definately right about the lack of & pain pills. It really can do a number on our physics.
I am up every morning at 4:00 if you ever want to talk you have come so far.....& I can picture you taking Lola
For a walk in the near future but for now we need to heal.....time & patience are our two best friends.
Hugs & best wishes coming your way......diana

 

[Lmarshall]

OMG gazelle, as I caught up on your thread I could see the parallels in pain, difficulty with meds, and slow but steady progression to a wonderful positive attitude. I have just started turning a corner and although I k ow ill have setbacks, I also am beginning to see the tiny light glimmering at the end of the tunnel. I too am waiting for the day I can walk 1 of my 3 golden retrievers, Jax, Lucy and Boone. By the way, they have been taking turns lying in bed with mommy and getting loved on!

 

[gazelle7777]

Day 33 July 7, Sunday

Well I feel I took a step back today. Yesterday I was feeling pretty positive and did my bike workout- just rotating the pedels to get the full movement. I must have overdone it... as last night I was MISERABLE! My right troubled child just does not like to bend.... and kept me up all night until I again got up at 5AM. No sleep. I feel wiped out.
So I will rest the knee today... I go to PT tomorrow I just hope it feels better by then. I am not sure if my depression is due to the pain... or just the surgery in general. I have never felt depressed or down ever. I would hear people talk about it and I just did not understand until now.
I know it will get better.... I just hate the nightime as it is so long and painful. I have really tried to cut back on the pain pills as well which I think is contributing to the depression some... but if I do not cut back and soon stop them, my Dr. is going to cut me off here in a couple of weeks. Everytime I call to refill they make me feel like dirt.

Thanks for listening... even if there is a cloud over my head today... I will look forward!

 

[gazelle7777]

OMG gazelle, as I caught up on your thread I could see the parallels in pain, difficulty with meds, and slow but steady progression to a wonderful positive attitude. I have just started turning a corner and although I k ow ill have setbacks, I also am beginning to see the tiny light glimmering at the end of the tunnel. I too am waiting for the day I can walk 1 of my 3 golden retrievers, Jax, Lucy and Boone. By the way, they have been taking turns lying in bed with mommy and getting loved on!

We will have to send iPad photos of our babies! Wow three Goldens! Lola is such a spoiled child... I do not think she would want to share her toys! Lola does not get up on the bed as the bed is too high, but she peeks here sweet face up to look at me with her donut toy in her mouth and growls happy little growls and lots of waggly tail. I am sure you know the "golden Talk"!

 

[Roy Gardiner]

I have really tried to cut back on the pain pills as well

Please don't.

my Dr. is going to cut me off here in a couple of weeks. Everytime I call to refill they make me feel like dirt.

This American obsession with drug addiction is bizarre -- or maybe he's scared of a lawsuit if you do become addicted.

But they should AFAIK give you the correct prescription if you're in pain.

Please try not to be depressed (easy to say I know) this recovery thing is a rollercoaster. You're dead right just to stop doing the thing that hurt you, too. For ROM work you need to do just a minute at most of rotating the pedals, resistance-free and with no pain.

 

[gazelle7777]

Hi Roy! This morning I took one 5mg Oxycodone and right now I am feeling much better than when I wrote my above post.. I wish I knew what to say to them when they act so put out when I want to renew my med prescription. The assistant told meI would be cut off at 8 weeks..about three weeks from now. That is why I have been cutting back...to kind of stock pile a few.... I know I am just a name and number...I have not even seen or heard from the surgeon since just minutes prior to surgery. He left town after doing my surgery that week and I have not heard a peep out of him since. I go see him for my post op on July 28th. Isn't that where they pretty much say good bye and pay your bill? LOL! I am not impressed with his bedside manner, no matter how great a surgeon he is known to be.

Yes - I did the bike for 15 minutes.... Thanks for the heads up Roy, I will take it easy from now on and not push so hard. You have a lovely Sunday !

Say, what does AFAIK mean?.

 

[bottomshollow]

If you cannot get your OS to renew your prescription, talk with your GP. Very possibly you'll be able to get a couple of scripts filled by him/her. Unfortunately, most OSs have never had a TKR themselves and they don't have a clue about recovery. Once they give you the new knee and there are no problems with the implant itself and no infection, they are done. The rest is pretty much up to you.

 

[new knee in June]

Hello gazelle,
So glad you took more pain meds. call to get your prescription before your 3 weeks are up.
When you ask say is this the last script I can get. I can't believe you will just be cut out without a stepping down med
If they say no more meds at all, please contact the patient advocate of your hospital. Hopefully they will fight for your comfort.
You should not have to be worrying about this
Now, I don't want to complain, if this weather does not break soon ( 90's for 2 weeks now) I truly feel I will go
All my best to you.....diana

 

[bottomshollow]

It's supposed to be hot---it almost always is every year that rolls around!

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Say, what does AFAIK mean?.

As far as I know.


Any abbreviation like that just type it on its own into Google.

 

[new knee in June]

Good morning gazelle,
I am answering my question on anti- depressants here on your forum I am doing great, my p.t says she is
Amazed with my progress, I am in no pain, so we might ask what is my problem....physically I am great,
Mentally I am in a lot of pain....lack of sleep, pain meds. Not being able to do what I want when I want,
Watching my family go about their day working & having fun. This surgery has made me unemployed &
Without a pay check (my boss is great & I can go back when I want). But I am p.t so I don't get paid.
I can go on & on...but, you know the feeling.
I just weeded my garden & feel so happy, just to be outside.
But, I know I could be better..so I will be picking up celexa ( 10 mg ) today.
I will let you know if there is an improvement.......3 weeks of crying over nothing is so tiring.
Sorry about the long post,
Take care & give Lola a nice pat from me

 

[gazelle7777]

GoodMorning newkneeinjune! We could mirror one another ! I work three days a week, am off for the summer to heal, have no pay check. I am debating about not returning at all. I have worked there 23years, full time, partime just the last 2years because of my knees. I really am burnt out on the place...would not mind taking a year off to totally heal, mentally and physically . Yes, let
Me know how the anti depression drug works. Best to you!

 

[MissJ]

Hi Gazelle -
I echo Bottomshollow: don't go to the OS for pain meds. Move over to your GP or a pain specialist. I am still taking pain meds, generally in the evening (I really needed them last night after my first day back to to work) but am on hydrocodone which I believe is still classified as a narcotic but to me just seems like really, really GOOD Tylenol - no stomach issues, I can function, etc. Everyone's going to want you off of the Oxycodone by 8 weeks.

This American obsession with drug addiction is bizarre -- or maybe he's scared of a lawsuit if you do become addicted.

I couldn't agree with Roy more on this one. Add in the fact that Americans are ridiculously focused on "just doing it" -- pushing the envelope, wanting to perform at a higher level that is possible, and generally just not being very kind about our own recoveries. Roy often reminds us we are not in training, we are healing!
j

 

[gazelle7777]

DAY 35 Tuesday July 9th
Good morning! Another restless painful night.... oh how I dread the nights.. I had a strenuous PT yesterday... my evil knee( the right one) just did not enjoy the therapy... it needs it as it is lagging behind my left knee( the angel). I knew when I got home I was going to hurt... and I feel that way today. So a day of rest and then back to PT again on Wednesday...
My PT person is trying to help me with gait, balance, and using my knees as I walk. I walked stiffed legged for so many years, I forgot how to walk. This is truely what my biggest problem is going to be. At this point I am nowhere near ready to go back to my retail sales job and work an 8 hour shift walking all over the store... I really do not see a September return to work. But, perhaps I will have a miraculous turnaround here soon and surprise myself.... I stay positive!
Just got the bill for the cost of three days at the joint clinic hospital. This does NOT include the costs for the actual surgery which was $10,000 on a seperate bill. The hospital bill for three days was $150,000 for my Bilateral knee replacement. My out of pocket expenses approximatly total for both the surgery and hospital stay combined will be about $5000. Not chump change but definatly not the heart stopping amount if someone does not have insurance. Unbeliveable.! I imagine if someone were to do both knees seperetly, they would be paying another $150,000 for three days stay---??? So it pays to do them together if at all possible.

going to call in for my meds for this week... and hear the run down of how I am going to be cut off soon... I was so thankful to have them yesterday after my workout... OMG If I did not have them I really would have been in such pain. I try to only take 1 or 2 at the most in a 24 hour period on days I have no pt and depending on how much activity I do.
This issue of making someone feel guilty for needing pain meds is probably the most irritating part of the whole program for me. A real eye opener as far as the medical system and major surgery.

talk to you soon!

 

[new knee in June]

Good morning gazelle,
Could you possibly cut back on p.t...you could ice, elevate & gentle stretching only
I don't want to see you injure yourself or over do it
Thinking of you....
Hugs...
Diana

 

[Dulcimer Diva]

Oh, my, so many issues here to address, so little time...

1) Gazelle, I know exactly what you're going through weather-wise. We lived in Seattle (U. Dist., a block from the Ship Canal) for 7 years, in married grad student housing. Our building (since demolished) was designed by architecture students, presumably those who flunked out. Inadequate wiring, vertical casement windows, so no A/C. The only cross-ventilation we'd have had was blocked by a wall. Nice tall hemlock tree that provided shade for our first couple of months was then removed for the widening of Pacific St. Our first couple of summers had plenty of 90-degree days. We bought one of those "swamp coolers" but our poor little dorm-sized fridge couldn't crank out ice anywhere near fast enough. We settled on holding cold soda pop cans on our foreheads and going to sleep after showering and pointing a box fan at the bed. You have my total sympathy. De Longhi makes a portable A/C on wheels, so you can haul it out & use it only when necessary. (Hadn't been invented in the early '70s, and we couldn't have afforded it). Our little Datsun 1200 had "480" climate control: 4 windows down, 80 mph.

2) Painkillers 30 min pre-PT is a mainstay of the American model of knee recovery. But it's not to get through excruciating pain--it makes gentle and sensible PT more tolerable and allows us to push a bit further into discomfort w/o entering the pain zone. But if one does not believe in structured PT at all, then there is no need to take the edge off. Let's just agree to disagree when it comes to different recovery philosophies. Most of us here in the US do not have the option of adhering 100% to the Bonesmart Mantra--few OSes & PTs are willing to be on board with that.

3) It's not just a cultural difference when it comes to the issue of possible opiate or opioid addiction. It isn't even a matter of personal belief for most American OSes. They're not being puritanical or judgmental. And it's not litigation by patients they fear: it's professional sanctions by professional governing bodies and state licensing departments, and possibly even criminal prosecution. Of course none of us here are likely to become addicts, but just try convincing conservative Congressmen, federal drug enforcement officials and state legislatures of that (especially in states founded by ethnic groups fabled for the stoicism or even veneration of needless suffering of the religions most of them brought across the pond with them). It is undeniable that opioids--especially the long-acting Oxycontin & Oxymorphone--have (along with crystal meth) become heavily abused street drugs of choice as they--when crushed and consumed all at once--produce a heroin-like high at a much lower cost and without having to go into dangerous neighborhoods to obtain. And when oxys are unavailable, any opioids (Norco, Vicodin, Percocet) are in-demand substitutes. It also doesn't help our logical arguments that so many physicians and pharmacies either unwillingly enable addicts and traffickers or are even consciously complicit in filling multiple prescriptions, no questions asked, for drug-seekers rather than pain-sufferers (or a relatively few pain-sufferers whose doctors cut them off too soon). Unfortunately, most legitimate pain-sufferers and honest physicians & pharmacies have become collateral damage in an unfortunately named and misconducted "war on drugs" that focuses on the supply rather than the differing motivations for the demand.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Sandy, I was being a bit TIC with my lawsuit reference, but anyway quite right for calling me

The "War on Drugs" (both in the USA and UK) is IMO the insanity for which history will remember us.

 

[Poof]

Diana,

"My PT person is trying to help me with gait, balance, and using my knees as I walk. I walked stiffed legged for so many years, I forgot how to walk. This is truely what my biggest problem is going to be. "

When I saw your comment, I thought about some advice a therapist gave to me that helped a lot. I had also forgotten how to walk, without a stiff leg or limp. She told me to take my shoes off and walk around the house barefoot for at least 10 minutes everyday and let my feet "feel" the floor. It sounded too simplistic to be true, but it actually worked! I started walking with a natural gait again within a few days of trying out the experiment. Hope it will help you too!

Vickie.