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TKR Home yesterday and feeling good

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Dianna, it sounds like you're off to a good start with PT and everything. Hopefully the Vicodan will work well for you too -- as it did with Bev. I'm about 2-1/2 weeks post-op, and going by the suggestion to "listen to our body" and its schedule for pain meds. If my knee feels OK when it's time for another dose, then I wait a bit longer before taking the next dose. Of course, it also helps that if I'm stretching it out "another hour", I don't choose that time to do more exercise. I'll wait until 30 minutes (or so) after I take the next dose before doing more exercises. As the other have said, if we're having to deal with pain and swelling (an angry knee), then it gets in the way of recovery.

Jo's links are a good suggestion for reading yet again. Sometimes I discover another helpful suggestion that I somehow missed in previous readings. I'm reminding myself (here) to read them again too. :ok::flowerysmile:
 
Thank you Both for the suggestions. I did reread some of the information in the library and am also trying to listen to my body. I am now going at least five hours between the need for pain medication. I can say with all sincerity that the "cold therapy" unit has become my new best friend! After I'm up and about for an hour or so the swelling takes over and I need to ice again.
Everyday gets a little better.
 
Hi Dianna

Congratulations on your new knee and well done for doing so well. You are spot on with the cold therapy being your best friend, it will be for many more weeks. I have only very recently stopped using my Cryo-Cuff as I felt the swelling had finally gone and I really didn't need it but I sure have missed it (it was like my comfort blanket :th_heehee:). Take care and easy does it!
 
Hi Dianna,
Just wanted to let you know you are in the right place for any question, concern, or problem you may encounter during your recovery.. I love this forum, Josephine and all the other posters have been a Godsend to me.

I am now 15 weeks out from LTKR. I have found that I still have to ice and elevate often. If I stand or sit in one position for more than 20-30 minutes my knee begins to swell. I still have the "steel bands" across the front of my knee, but they are getting better. I have gone back and reread almost everyting in the Library here. It helps me to really know this is not a short recovery, it truly takes time and patience....as you already know your knee is in charge. Just keep on doing what you are doing, and know these posters really do care about you!! One other thing I want to mention, I take Tramadol with Tylenol for pain.....was on hydrocodone but it stopped working for me. Hope you are having a good day!!
 
Thank you Both for the suggestions. I did reread some of the information in the library and am also trying to listen to my body. I am now going at least five hours between the need for pain medication. I can say with all sincerity that the "cold therapy" unit has become my new best friend! After I'm up and about for an hour or so the swelling takes over and I need to ice again.
Everyday gets a little better.
 
Hi Dianna, I had my RTKA on April 10. I did well for the first few days home but as soon as the pain was better I cut back on the pain pills. NOT a good idea. Maybe later on but not those first few weeks. Getting out of pain is so much harder than staying out of pain. I can't imagine life without the ice machine!! A big thank you to whoever came up with that idea! I wiah you lots of happy healing!
 
It has now been two weeks since my RTKR and I need to use the walker which is fustrating to me. Hopefully sometime next week my right leg will bend correctly when I walk so I can start using a cane. Funny, when I think about looking forward to using a cane! How my life has changed.
Overall each day I feel a bit better than than the day before. I can do more and walk around more each day.
I'm still talking my pain meds every 5 to 6 hours. If I don't follow that schedule my entire leg starts to hurt. It seems that I can only tolerate about an hour to an and a half up and around doing things around the house before I must stop and elevate and ice again.
 
Dianna, please take a deep, deep breathe and realize that you are just at the beginning of a recovery that takes at least a year. You are only 1/16 of the way there. And, yes, you are in pain from the surgery and need to take your pain med on a regular schedule for at least 2 to 3 months usually. You also need to be resting a lot, elevating ( toes above nose), and icing, icing, icing.

Post 11 of your thread is a post from Josephine listing all the articles in the Library you need to read. If you have not read all of them, please do. If you have, please read them again. Once is not enough.

I also wish to leave you with this quote from one of our forum hippies (hip replacement person) which applies to TKRers as well:

No matter what I do, this is taking as long as it takes. No matter what I do, PT, no PT, rest, nap, walk, elevate, ice, use walker, don't use walker, use cane, be positive, be miserable, go with it, fight it...believe me I have tried it all and it still does what IT wants to do in terms of recovery...so, the more I can go with it the better. And some days are better than others.

You MUST remember that your KNEE is in charge of this recovery---not you. If you follow the BoneSmart mantra, take it easy with your PT, and let your knee be your guide, you WILL come out of this with flying colors. And YOU CAN DO IT!

Take care of yourself and keep us posted. We care.
 
Dianna. Please, please, please take your meds on schedule for a couple of months. Did you see the pictures of the operation (Tim posted them in the Library). Your knee was assaulted and it's going to take more than 2 weeks to ease the pain. I believe that as long as pain is there, it's slowing down your healing.

I took my pills religiously every 4 Hours (4 1/2 about week 6). In week 9 my body knew I no longer needed the strong meds. I began to forget the alarm and by the end of that week, I just needed the BoneSmart cocktail, and a Tramadol at night.

:hairpulling: this is me every time I read of someone going off strong meds a couple of weeks post op. Yes, there are people who don't need strong meds, but they are in the minority.

/end of rant/
 
Thank you so much for your posts. I know you both are speaking from experience which means to much to me. Patience has never been my strongest quality but I do understand, now, that I have no other choice but to relax and go with the flow.
I have re-read the library articles several times which has been very helpful! I love the encouragement given throughout this forum and am extremely grateful to have found you.
As far as pain meds go, after a couple of bouts of out of control pain, I'm not going to miss taking them on schedule for as long as needed.
My wonderful husband keeps my cold therpy unit full of ice and has always done all the cooking so I am blessed in so many ways. So no more whining from me!
 
Dianna, I am 5 weeks post-op, and I still need the big guns for pain. I have been able to skip the middle of the night dose, unless I wake up from pain. I initially had Dilaudid for pain, but now have Oxycontin 10mg, 2X/day and Percocet 5/325 every 4-6 hours. The Percocet lasts longer than the Dilaudid, and I easily go 5-6 hours before I notice pain and need to take another.
I finished Coumadin on Monday, and doc said to wait 5 days before I take NSAIDS, so tomorrow I will try to replace a dose of the Percocet with a NSAID and see how that goes.
And of course, ICE!
 
I'm taking Percocet 5/325 every five to six hours. My doctor said he won't give me another prescription for Percocet so when it runs out, about Monday or Tuesday I will be switched to something not as strong.
I can't take NSAID's because long term usage had cause my kidneys to not work as well as they should. When that was discovered in January I discontinued the NSAID and and made the appointment to have my knee replaced. My kidneys are almost back to normal now but I never want to take the chance of damaging my kidneys again.
The kidney issue proved to me that I had put off knee replacement too long. I
 
I was worried about my kidneys, too with all the ibuprofen and naprosyn I was taking.
I hope I won't need any more pain meds beyond ibuprofen when the narcotics run out.
You should remind your doc that because of the renal issue, you will be unable to take OTC pain meds for relief. Maybe they will give you something like Tramadol. I have not had it, but I understand it is a notch down from the Percocet. If you have pain, you have to have some relief to recover. Happy Healing!
 
Pain is not my biggest asset either.. in fact, I am a woooooos when it comes to pain. I did get off the hard pain meds and went to the tylenol/advil cocktail, and it worked... I took it every 6 hours or so, 4x a day if needed, and it worked for me... at about 3 months.
I am now almost 9 months, and still take tylenol every day sometimes 2x a day, but have not taken the advil in about 2 months. I am able to walk now about 1/2 miles, and can stand for quite a long time. I had other issues which prevented me from doing more... after 2 epidurals in my back, things are much better.
Good luck, and keep us posted..
 
Diana. we had out TKR a day apart- I know how tough it is to be patient- but all of the advice here is spot on- if you need pain meds, take them...I am fortunate that I am only taking tylenol but if I needed stronger meds, trust me I would take them on time! Rest and Ice have been my best friends:) Good luck!
 
Hello Dianna!

I have a sister who's name is Deanna, so I feel like I am in good company!:wink1:

Let me share what has become the same thing I have had to tell many other people. I should visit your OS!:hysterical: Anyway here it goes; I have had a knee replacement on the left and a knee replacement on the right. The right knee split open due to infection and so back to surgery I went for washout, debridement, and spacer replacement!:hate-shocked: That was the most painful surgery due to the infection.
After each surgery, my surgeon told me my body would start "forgetting to take the meds" and he was right. It started being longer and longer periods and it was gradual. I never worried about addiction, I just trusted my body. When you are truly in pain, you most likely will not become addicted.:wink1:
Monday I will have a total revision of my right knee and I am not worried about the possibility of addiction. (I still have pain meds left over in case i need them.) LOL:th_heehee:
 
Dianna,

such good info posted by others here I only wish I had found this forum sooner. I'm week 5 from LTKR and I had to learn the hard way on some things but all the mistakes I made about controlling the pain would have been for nil if I had of seen this info. Take your pain meds on schedule, I even wrote the time down next to my pill bottle so I would know when I last took meds. The time would get confusing, imagine that! But now I can go 6-7 hours during the day except when PT is done, and usually 1 before I go to bed and maybe 1-2 during the night. as others have said be patient, rest, ice and elevate and you'll be just fine. I have to still remind myself that this is an 8-12 month recovery. Good luck
 
It's good you're back to taking the pain meds on schedule. Your knee will tell you when you can step down. As others have said, you will find naturally that you've gone 5 hours, then 6 hours etc. I did find that I had little problem going to the vicodin after the percocet Rx finished.
 
Dianna,
Please keep posting and let everyone know how you are doing. My LTKR is coming up this summer and your posts are so valuable, as is this entire website. It sounds like you are doing very well and you have a wonderful, positive attitude. Keep up the good work! Karen
 
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