Hi! I am new today to this site.

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ship4

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Good Morning! I am new to this site and have read some very interesting information and view on TKR. I will be having both my knees done on June 18, 2008. I most likely will be having a spinal and femoral nerve blocks in both legs. Apparently I will remain in bed until I have full feeling return to my legs. Then I will be up for intensive PT in the hospital.
 
Welcome, Ship! Sounds like you have the basic information in preparation for your surgery. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to post them. No doubt someone will be available who has been through it before. Time will fly by and before you know it, you'll be in recovery and on your way to loving your new knees!
 
Thanks Jamie. I am self-employed as a Family Child Care Provider (I care for 6 pre-school children and 3 school age children Monday-Friday). I will be taking 3 personal days off, and the following week off as my summer vacation and plan to be back home on June 29th so I can be open for business on June 30th. I will be having help. A client parent of 6 years who is a teacher will be helping me with the children daily between the 30th of June and August 15th. By then I would hope to be functioning normally.
Are their any restrictions on carrying anything with weight during recovery? My infants will both be just about a year old. One is pushing 30 pounds though.
Thanks for the help answering my questions!
 
Hi Ship, Welcome! I'm seeing more and more Bi-lateral knees like me. That's great. Just think, once you're done you don't have to do the other later. Not everyone needs both, but if you do...
Anyway, you're in a good place for your journey.
 
Ship, have you spoken to your OS about your after plan? You aren't planning a rehab stay? Not always but often especially with bi-lat you need it. When I came home (no rehab after) I was pretty well chair bound for at least a week after the 5 days in the hospital. I would get up evry hour or so and walk around with my walker/cane and then back to the recliner to sleep. And initially i was on alot of pretty heavy pain meds, the usual stuff, like percocets. And then there is physical therapy 3-5 times a week. The process of healing kept me quite busy.
 
Ship, only your doctor (or Josephine, our forum nurse) can tell you about carrying and lifting restrictions. But have you discussed your plans to return to work with your surgeon? From what you wrote, you expect to be back to caring for 9 children less than two weeks following major surgery to have BOTH knees replaced. Although many factors come into play for each person's individual recovery, that seems very ambitious to me....even WITH a helper. Unless, of course, your helper is going to completely take over the child care duties while you go about your therapy and rest needed for recovery. Just be sure you have a "Plan B" just in case your recovery is a bit slower than you plan. For one thing, you will be on pain meds probably for longer than 2 weeks and that could pose some liability issues for you when caring for someone else's children.
 
Ship, have you spoken to your OS about your after plan? You aren't planning a rehab stay? Not always but often especially with bi-lat you need it. When I came home (no rehab after) I was pretty well chair bound for at least a week after the 5 days in the hospital. I would get up evry hour or so and walk around with my walker/cane and then back to the recliner to sleep. And initially i was on alot of pretty heavy pain meds, the usual stuff, like percocets. And then there is physical therapy 3-5 times a week. The process of healing kept me quite busy.
Jennifer,
I meet with my OS on June 12th. I do plan on going to rehabilitation for about a week. They said depending on how I do, my stay would be between 2-11 days. I have always been active. I have missed skiing & hiking terribly. I tried twice this year, but my knees hurt so bad I was looking for a chair to sit in 1/3 of the way down the hill! I taught Physical Education for 5 years over 30 years ago, and have been running my child care business for the past 27 years. With a parent helper here who knows my schedule, routine, the parents, and the children, I will not have to do much! I will be in my living room until I can master 16 stairs to get to the second floor. It will be a while in the living room! I too, will sleep in a recliner. We do have a Shiatsu massage leather recliner which sits taller than most chairs. I understand this is good. I am allergic to percoset, so it will be interesting to see what they give me for medication. I do function pretty well on Tylenol with Codine. Once I get home I will have the local Home Health Agency coming to the house to do PT with me. I did purchase a Schwinn computerized stationary bike, along with a Brasilian Futobol, and a Total Gym. I took out my dining room table already and the Total Gym is there. I imagine I will have plenty of time to exercise and rest even with the children here.
 
Ship, only your doctor (or Josephine, our forum nurse) can tell you about carrying and lifting restrictions. But have you discussed your plans to return to work with your surgeon? From what you wrote, you expect to be back to caring for 9 children less than two weeks following major surgery to have BOTH knees replaced. Although many factors come into play for each person's individual recovery, that seems very ambitious to me....even WITH a helper. Unless, of course, your helper is going to completely take over the child care duties while you go about your therapy and rest needed for recovery. Just be sure you have a "Plan B" just in case your recovery is a bit slower than you plan. For one thing, you will be on pain meds probably for longer than 2 weeks and that could pose some liability issues for you when caring for someone else's children.
Jamie,
Yes, my helper (a teacher off for the summer) is going to completely take over the care of the children. According to licensing regulations, only one adult needs to be here. I will be taking the time to rest, recover, and get the daily exercise I will need to get back to "normal" ASAP. She will be with me the entire summer until the 15th of August. The children in care have all been with me long term. I have a 10 mo, 12 mo, 3 yo, 2 ~ 4 yo's, 5 yo, 6 yo, 7yo, and 9 yo. The 9 yo wants to be my "helper" and get me things during my recovery (she is like a granddaughter). So, I am hoping I have my "ducks lined up in a row" to be prepared for my full summer.
 
Ship, it does sound like you have done a significant amount of preparation for your upcoming surgery. Your helper sounds like a dream!! I certainly wish you the best of luck in your surgery. You will be in my prayers for sure! Sorry.....I have never used magnets, though.
 
Yes, the recliner is still my favorite seat. Jamie had a good thought though, just be sure to have back up plan on the back up. Some knees heal easy and some heal hard, as Gat says, Just sayin'. There are plenty of pain med options so don't worry about your allergy, just be sure they know. Keep posting.
 
Thanks so much Jamie. I hope to stay positive during the whole ordeal. I know it will hurt, but have researched it and am anticipating horrendous pain in the beginning while my incision heals and my bones recover from being shaved, glued, and hammered. I had thumb surgery in February and my scar has healed very well. I had a ganglion cyst growing under my finger nail and was causing it to be unattached from the nail bed. By the time my nail finally grows in I will be working on healing my legs...
 
My experience was that the pain after was not as bad or at least the same as the knee pain before.
 
My experience was that the pain after was not as bad or at least the same as the knee pain before.

That would be great. I do have a high pain tolerance, so I hope this will be so for me. I had a tough winter with the lows coming in with all the snow storms every 2 days. Between those and the shoveling, I sure needed my Aleve! I have been controlling my pain mostly with Aleve daily & nightly with occassionally taking Darvocet at night during those stormy winter nights.

 
Welcome to the forum, Ship, and good luck to you. I am also having bilateral TKR, only two days before you, so I truly hope I'll be hearing from you this summer. My mother was in her late 70's when she had bilateral TKR, and she keeps assuring me it will be well worth it after the recovery. I helped to take care of her, and they had her up on her feet the next day, if only to stand a few seconds. I'm just looking forward to the day I can walk and keep up with her!

I'll be in and out of the forum for this week and next, as I am currenly on vacation in Florida, getting in some fun in the sun since I'll be out of commission for a while. I have been working out in the pool every day, though, trying to strengthen my quads.

Keep in contact with this group; they are wonderful, and will probably answer just about any question you have. They are also good moral support, even if you are having a weepy day and just need a cyber shoulder to cry on.
Sharon
 
Welcome to the forum, Ship, and good luck to you. I am also having bilateral TKR, only two days before you, so I truly hope I'll be hearing from you this summer.
Keep in contact with this group; they are wonderful, and will probably answer just about any question you have. They are also good moral support, even if you are having a weepy day and just need a cyber shoulder to cry on.
Sharon

Thanks so much Sharon. I wish you luck with your surgery too! I will be in and out of this forum as well on my husband's laptop post op.
Thanks everyone for the Welcome and the encouragement!
 
Hi Sharon! (Turtlelady) How's Florida? Hope you are enjoyng the sun! It's kind of cold here right now....You aren't missing a thing!
 
Hi Ship, I wish you well with your recovery. I am glad you have a high tolerance of pain. I wish I had!!! Two weeks seems very soon to me to be having small children evn being in the same house while you are recovering, but then we are all different.

Have you read any of our earlier posts? January- February especially. This will help you understand what sort of things you may or may not go through. I still have to take a daily nap in the afternoon as stamina is one thing that seems to go after surgery. I am at 19 weeks tomorrow!!

Good luck and hope to see you posting often.
 
Hi Ship, I wish you well with your recovery. I am glad you have a high tolerance of pain. I wish I had!!! Two weeks seems very soon to me to be having small children evn being in the same house while you are recovering, but then we are all different.

Have you read any of our earlier posts? January- February especially. This will help you understand what sort of things you may or may not go through. I still have to take a daily nap in the afternoon as stamina is one thing that seems to go after surgery. I am at 19 weeks tomorrow!!

Good luck and hope to see you posting often.

Thanks for the Welcome Nursepair. The children enrolled have been with me for a long time. I do have a daily schedule where they will be outside in the AM between 8:30 and 11:15 AM (weather permitting). I do have a screened porch that is 8 by 28 where they also spend much of their time during the day. The kitchen is where they eat lunch and the living room where I will be is used for nap time between 12:00 and 3:00. Those children who will not be napping will be playing quietly in the kitchen or on the porch as to not wake up the sleepers. So, I plan on napping during that time for as long as I will need to take one daily (at least until August 15th). That is about 2 months post op........ Is my time line realistic?

 
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