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Bilateral TKR Hard night

I love reading about what happened to each of you. Like some have said, this journey is different for each of us but we are all in this together. I think I will use BoneSmart as my PT and recovery center. After yesterdays PT, and talking with various people from the doctors and hospital, I trust and feel safest with the group here. I was told at PT that they had expected more by day 7. I'm completely swollen and have gained 20lbs of fluid... all in my legs I'm sure! I left there really feeling like a failure and remembered what others had said on here. I will not judge myself by what they think. I will move my recovery along at a doable pace. I feel pretty good about it all now this afternoon since I got my head around it. I'll get through this, just have to keep looking forward and not let others get to me. If I could only get rid of some of this swelling! ;)

Thanks for the support you wonderful group.
 
Today was another day and I can see why it seems so slow going. I think the swelling is just as bad and even more bothersome today. I paid extra attention to elevation and icing. I'm getting strange stings and burns and buzzings on and around my knee. It's like it coming back to life but I would rather it stayed a sleep a bit longer. I'm sure the itching I'm feeling on my thighs and inside of knees is the extreme swelling. The more I thought about the comments the person at PT made to me yesterday, the madder I became. I've decided not to go back. My common sense and support from Bonesmarties will be enough. :) I've decided to get on with things... or not depending on how I feel at the moment, or when the next pain pill is due. I did make my dog some baked pear and peanut butter doggie biscuits and she is so very pleased! I think my husband may have preferred I make him some flakey buttermilk biscuits but like I told him, first things first. ;)
Trying my best to keep a sense of humor. Anyone who would like to chat, just message me!
 
Hang in there! We've all been through it one way or another. Make sure you try to elevate your 'toes above your nose' . There should be a slight bend to your knee. If your knee is itching you can put some lotion on but keep it away from the incision. I used some on the back and sides of my thigh and calf. I used one with aloe in it.

It very unfortunate that so many PT have become torturers. It almost seems like some of them just want to hurt people. There are a few good ones around but hard to find. Those stings you feel we refer to as zingers. There like sharp electric pulses that just hit you when you are not ready. With my last surgery I got one at 3 am and I let out a loud OUCH! My three dogs jumped up and started barking.:heehee::doggie::dogsniff::dogwalk:
 
Also be sure to ice/elevate for as long as possible, at least 45 minutes at a time.
 
KarriB, I woud love to ice as along as I wanted to... like I have read so many people on here say. What I'm finding out to be one of my hardest things is to get my husband on board. We call him Mr. Spreadsheet and if he reads something from somewhere good, like Harvard medical or my own surgeons notes, he thinks I need to follow it the the letter.... no matter how I'm really feeling. It's almost impossible to communicate with him. He gets stuck on "right" way to do things and if there is any conflicting information, he just gets so confused. I finally told him that when it came to my pillow stack design and length of use, my walking and how often and where to... my icing length and cloth covering, I would call my own shots. I told him it wasn't witten in stone anywhere and I could decide. What a journey this has become! I'm finding out new things all the time and fighting silly battles I didn't even know would exist. Onward and upward!:bath:
 
Icing and elevating will help the swelling decrease. Hand the iPad or phone over to the husband and let him read the guidelines. Swelling is pain and will keep your knee from bending. It's like trying to bend a hose full of water. Try to only be on your feet when walking around the house to use the restroom or get snacks during the first month. The rest of your time should be spent with your legs up. Too much activity can definitely lengthen your recovery.
I didn't cook a meal until week 4 and then I only threw some chicken in a crockpot. My great friends and family took care of me for nearly two months due to my complications and 2nd surgery. So the hubs needs to get with the plan! :yes:
 
Reading posts like yours makes me glad I'm divorced! Although, it was difficult taking care of everything, I didn't have anyone telling me how to do it, including taking care of me! PT hurting and talking down to you does absolutely no good at all. You know your body and your knee and you know what feels best to it.
 
Well I'm now doing it my way. Everything. He is being very careful in his suggestions and not pushing me anymore. I'm being VERY clear and just moving forward the way I want to. I believe it was the doggie biscuits I made for our dog and not for him that put him over the top! hahahaha. Good thing we don't have small children. I am taking my pain meds today and feeling much much better. I'm envisioning lots of people, all over on their laptops turned into BoneSmart and just reading and taking it easy with their feet up.... and the world is not coming to an end. My daughter even called and said she is bringing the grandkids and making dinner for us on Sunday. Life is good. ;)
 
gerilari said:
I'm envisioning lots of people, all over on their laptops turned into BoneSmart and just reading and taking it easy with their feet up..
Click to expand...
Well no.. after a while you will be back to normal life..I am waiting for the oven to heat up.. then its back to the kitchen

That Sunday dinner sounds great. My grandsons have hockey all the time and are five hours away. I wish I could have them over for Sunday dinner!
 
Don't overdo with your grandkids. And great that things are looking better for you!
 
Those funny stinging sensations you're feeling - the zingers - are actually little electric shocks made by your nerve endings that were cut during surgery. The nerves are trying to connect up again, or make themselves a different pathway.
 
I've made an appointment to see a chiropractor Monday. She is going to use something called cold laser on my thighs to try to help with the pain and swelling. I'm really looking forward to trying something. I also remembered I have a TENS machine so I'm going to try to look up how to attach it and see if that gives me some relief.

Celle, I am sure having a lot of the "zingers"! Last night they were waking me up and boy o boy what a feeling! It's not good but it feels good to know that something is happening in my legs. Much of the numbness is already gone. It really is like some of you have said, highs and lows from one minute to the next. What an adventure!
[Bonesmart.org] Hard night
Placement of TENS something like this?
 
I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better about things. I hope your daughter's dinner will leave you with some leftovers! Keep us posted!
 
@gerilari .... I must ask if you have read the recovery articles that were posted earlier for you? I get the feeling that you may not have or, if you did, you may need to re-read them. You are only a mere 10 days out of your surgery! In that time, you've had a pretty "active" hospital stay with digestive issues, you had a very long drive home, you baked for a "loved one," you've been off to out-patient therapy and you've not been elevating with your "toes above the nose" (which is the best way to relieve swelling)! This is a LOT of activity for such new knees! I'm not surprised that you may have pain and swelling. You are expecting too much too soon.

I can't say that the cold therapy is a good idea. You probably should run it by your surgeon first. And, even if he says it's okay, think about what it involves. You'll be making the trip back and forth to the chiropractor and enduring the session itself. Frankly, I think you'd be much better off staying home, resting, icing and elevating as much as possible and taking your pain meds on a set schedule. You are taking pain meds still, aren't you? You should be doing gentle bends and stretches a few times throughout the day and night to keep your knees mobile along with the activity of walking from room to room to use the bathroom, take a nap or get something simple to eat. But that should be it for activity right now!

Please slow down and let yourself heal. Your body will do it just fine without "help" from chiropractors or TENS units at this early stage. I know it's difficult to be patient when you want to be back to normal quickly. But this recovery....and especially since you had two knees done.....is going to take a while. Progress is measured in weeks and months, not by the day.
 
@gerilari - you are expecting far too much, too soon, from your knees, and you are doing far too much for them to recover without problems.
It's only 11 days since you had major surgery on both of them. The swelling you have is a natural reaction to the trauma of that surgery. It isn't going to go away soon and it will take much longer to go away, unless you slow down and spend enough time resting, elevating and icing your knees.

Your job right now is to spend most of your days and nights resting, icing and elevating, with only a little bit of gentle exercise now and then. Walk around the house by all means, but it is far too early to be in the kitchen making biscuits for the dog, or anyone else.

Please read this article again, and follow its suggested guidelines:
Activity progression for TKRs
 
Thanks for the reality check everyone. I am not superwomen. I think I am but I need to get real. I will reread all the materials and believe they apply to me as well and I'm not bad or lazy. I did a lot of icing today. Hubby went out and bought two more big bags of the blue. The hospital sent me home with two ice machines but they are hard to use, hurt because of the plastic edges and Velcro and really don't cover much of the knee area. I was trying so hard to use those but told my husband to get them out of the house and bring me some big old blue gel packs. They felt wonderful. I have four big ones so over and under my knee and it was heaven. Have been trying to use the pillow stack I made with blanket pins but it was too awkward. I had hubby fold up a quilt and another pillow and it was much easier to use. So I sat more and read more and rested more.
Thanks.
 
We found it was easier to freeze water bottles to use in the ice machines than constantly filling with ice and water. We still used some, but the frozen water bottles kept it colder. But I used packs later in my recovery. Whatever you're most comfortable with is what works.

I'm glad you concentrated on your recovery. Resting, icing and elevating is the work that needs done for now. It's just what you have to do to get to the other side and live a full life. It's also the best way to alleviate the pain and swelling. Have a good night!
 
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