TKR Had a difficult time, feeling better<

[mamazipp]

Yes, my house is in total disarray, with pillows for elevating, blankets to warm me from the chill of the ice machine....total chaos.
But, you are about to have surgery. You must rest today and get used to resting from here on in. And best wishes for a smooth surgery and easy recovery. Take pain meds and let us know how you are.

 

[uva55]

@mamazipp ...today is a lazy day, I'm just going to visit my grandkids for a few minutes and lay out a weeks worth of outfits so that I don't have to be digging for clothes...get some rest yourself, have a great Sunday!!!

 

[frazz]

Im also feeling the exact same pain in the areas you are and I know its because i overdid it on friday :(c
I also feel frustrated at how long this healing will take.

I have to fit for work by August 1st and my job is outdoors and physical Im crossing all fingers and toes I will be ready.

 

[mamazipp]

I'm so sorry to hear about your pain. It's not pleasant is it. So you can trace it to definitely overdoing things.... ...I realize I did a long session on my mini portable cycle and that was probably my undoing.
You have quite the deadline for returning to a job requiring physical demands. That sounds a bit early.
On a positive note I found that after a night of sleeping with ice wrapped around my knee last night, I woke up with less pain.
I'm sure you are icing, elevating, and resting!

 

[mamazipp]

I have iced all night and half the day and that pain is gone. Wow! I'm happy. Time was what it needed. I'm just not good with patience. When I'm in pain I go right to catastrophe and feel like it's forever.

 

[newlybionic]

I'm glad you're feeling better after some rest. You will just have to be a bit patient to get to where you want to be. I know I didn't find this forum until I was three months out the first time and it set me back. This time I've taken it the bonesmart way from the beginning with a much different outcome.

 

[mamazipp]

@newlybionic thanks for the support. Nice to know you have had a Bonesmart success after the standard misery of the "standard" way.
I am really sensing that everyone I know has an unspoken agenda that I should be functioning well now, with no need for coddling. Or is it my unconscious agenda? Hard to sort out but for today, I will rest, ice, elevate and veg out. Maybe tomorrow, too.

 

[newlybionic]

My thread is 'Eight months out and starting over'. Your thread title caught my attention because it was originally titled 'Three months out and struggling'. I have had a revision since I had the original replacement but the initial recovery was hard. It was the no pain no gain kind with lots of pain and lots of crying. You can just read the early pages and you will see that what you are saying pretty much mirrors what I did then.

 

[mamazipp]

@newlybionic I will definitely check out your early posts. Thanks for the info.

 

[mamazipp]

@newlybionic I have just read your entire thread over several days! It was like reading a fascinating story. I can't imagine what you have gone through with that incompetent first TKR then to the successful revision. To have to suffer for 8 months then to have to do it again........Wow. At this point I can't imagine ever going thru it again. I'm glad that the revision was successful. Yet, of course, this all takes its toll on the body, and mine. I'm hoping your return to work will go ok for you. I am also a nurse but hadn't worked 12 hour shifts in years. In Canada, our unions have a phased "return to work" program. It's quite humane. I guess the theory is that it's worth the while of the disability program, to ensure that people successfully return to work. People start with maybe 3-4 hours, for a determined amount of days, then slowly proceed to longer hours. Wouldn't that be so much better for you......but it doesn't exist in the US I don't think. In any case, take it easy if you can and good luck to you with your returning to work?

 

[newlybionic]

Unfortunately it's the whole shift or nothing. My leave is up so my only alternative would be to lose my job. Since I support myself there's no way around it. I already have a plan in place. I bought a lot of frozen dinners and I have been thinking about quick lunches to take with me. When I get home I put the dinners in the oven and get my shower then my ice machine and my dinner in my recliner.

 

[mamazipp]

Sounds like a good plan. Set up to take maximum care of yourself while you have to work. And I get it. When we depend on ourselves for income, we must work as long as we can. And work is good. I worked until last summer at a low physically demanding job. I still miss the social bit, the camaraderie, the fun patients...it was a psych hospital. You have a plan in place and 3 days a week. Just remember to rest on your days off.

 

[mamazipp]

I'm at 15.5 weeks and decided I needed some help. I have little strength in my quad, cannot do stairs one foot over another, feel stiff and have pain in outer area and on knee. I can barely get in and out of a chair without that stabbing pain that occurs at a certaint point. I feel my life is very constricted with this weak quad. I checked out a new physiotherapy place that a friend has been happy with. I saw a wonderful PT who assessed my function, asked me what I wanted to accomplish and stressed that he would not do anything that caused me pain and that I was in control of any treatment. He was amazing and we agreed to work on strengthening and mobility. Nothing he did was painful, and when he suggested I try the bike, and could not perform one revolution, he stopped it right away. I feel he is treating me for my individual need, rather than the cookie cutter approach of the previous PT provided free from the health authority for TKRs. I have a good feeling about him, and this morning after, nothing hurts! I'll be trying this out twice a week and hopefully I can regain more function. He did say that about 20% of knee replacements take a longer time to heal, that it isn't anything I've done or not done, and it ISNT MY FAULT. I felt reassured hearing that. I hate that I'm in that 20% category, but it is what it is. And this morning although nothing from what he did hurts, my knee pain and stiffness was so annoying to me that I took an oxy 5mg. If I need it, I need it. I can't take anti-inflammatories so oxy is it. I have enough for a while, at least.

 

[newlybionic]

That's wonderful that you've found a PT that sounds like the perfect match for you. Let him know how you felt this morning so he can adjust or suggest other activities to help you along through your recovery. I know how you feel being the slow to recover. I was one of the very few that needed an early revision. We all have some bumps along the way but we'll get to where we want to be.

 

[Celle]

He did say that about 20% of knee replacements take a longer time to heal, that it isn't anything I've done or not done, and it ISNT MY FAULT. I felt reassured hearing that. I hate that I'm in that 20% category, but it is what it is.

I'm glad you've found a therapist who is considering your individual needs.

Don't write yourself off as one of the 20% yet. Your new PT is correct when he says that some people take longer to heal, but do remember that, at 15 and a half weeks after surgery, you are really only about a third of the way through this year-long recovery.
If you think of it as a race, recovery from a TKR is more like a marathon than a sprint. You have plenty of time to continue to improve. Your knee isn't the "finished product" yet.

 

[mamazipp]

Celle, that is a good way to look at it. I must remember to think of a year of recovery! A marathon, etc. thanks for the reminder.

 

[mamazipp]

@newlybionic, thanks for the suggestion. I will make sure to tell him.

I've noticed that as the day goes by my knee becomes a bit more flexible. Early morning is the worst. I wonder if others experience that. I was able to meet friends for dinner tonite, and sit through a movie fairly comfortably, and felt pain free walking back to the car. The 30 minute drive back to home however did my knee in.

 

[Celle]

My knees were always stiff first thing in the morning, after a night in bed. After about 6 months or so, the stiffness usually wore off after I took the first couple of steps.

 

[mamazipp]

Did your stiffness ever go away completely?

 

[Celle]

Yes, eventually, but it took a long time.