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TKR Hopefaith's Ups and Downs of Recovery

Hi @hopefaith, thank you for thinking about me when you have so much going on. I am so so sorry at this time in your life and post op period that your relationship would end. Just when you need the support. I am so sorry. If a person is not there for you when you not feeling well then that's is not for you. I know it is tough now but later on you will be able to see your way clear and feel better about everything. You are a beautiful person and your heart shines through. You will find someone just for you.

As for my day, not too busy at work thank goodness as many doctors are on vacation and we had a lot of patient's who were no shows. I was so sleepy today that I had to take a nap on my lunch hour. I was so tired I had to fight to stay awake to drive home.. not good. Then I had to take a nap before I went to a church meeting this evening. I sleep well at night but the RA makes me so tired. Will have to call the RA doctor again. Hope you have a better day tomorrow and that healing takes places in your knee and in your heart.:loveshwr:
 
@chestnc thank you so much for your thoughts and care. I sure get that sudden need to take a nap . Sometimes that knee/recovery will give us no choice. Nice when less doc.s once in awhile. @pumpkin, as always your compassion comes lighting through brilliantly. Does it work when I tag you on my iPad? I am a slow to learn techy.


Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
 
I have 3 of the gel packs; I finally realized that if I put them in one of those inexpensive cold bags that you get from the supermarket, with a couple of full frozen water bottles, I can ice for a couple of hours, and then have good,cold, water. I just didn't want to spend the money on the ice machines, etc. Good luck with finding a solution that works for you.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk
 
Sorry, I didn't realise that I wasn't taken to the most recent posts, so my comments are totally out of context. Hope you continue to make progress and become stronger every day.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk
 
Hey @hopefaith, I use an iPad as well and I'm never sure if I'm tagging right. I also have the site open on Safari so that I can check if I'm updating right ;) x


Bernie UK
RTKR 22nd January 2014
LTKR 2nd April 2014
 
Celle said:
@hopefaith
You have friends here. We'll help you to get through.

When I had my darkest time, I always found this to be helpful: "In the hour of adversity be not without hope for crystal rain falls from black clouds." It comes from Persian poem.

I took it to mean that, even when things seem to be at their worst, something good will come of it.

The good will come for you.
I really love this quote, Thank you @Celle. How come I am not quoting it right? I need help in how to do this properly. SORRY.
Click to expand...
 
@hopefaith you are in my thoughts and prayers. The recovery is tough enough physically and mentally so no wonder you are having such a tough time with depression. We are all here if you want to talk about it. Though it may not seem it you are better off without this person in your life. Please take care. Lots of love and hugs. Xoxo JoAnne
 
All of you,
Yeah, I really didn't want to dump my other problems here.....didn't seem appropriate. I would never have done this surgery had I known I would be doing such a major surgery alone. But, You know.....I feel so less alone with all of your responses. I have been through this before, (many years ago) so I know I can do it again with a lot of support from others and the prayers. You all are very tender hearted people. Maybe that is one of the outcomes of having a TKR. It causes us all to become very gentle and kind to others. I sure hope that is what it is doing for me. love, love, love you all :SUNsmile:
hopefaith
 
Hello @hopefaith!

I am staying w a friend and relying on her 19 year old son to leave the router problems to me so we can continue to have Internet! Big mistake leaving him by himself yesterday as he was supposedly so "sick" he couldn't even get off the couch! I had a lot of work to do this morning, and will be chatting with the un techno child tonight!:snork:

Ok, now that I got that off my chest......:wink: Let's turn to MRSA. I went back and read through a lot of your thread, saw the crying jags, the depression that goes deep into the soul of who you are, the pain around moving the scar, and red flags started popping up! You talk about the leg getting redder; it can remain sealed but be a gushing torrent of MRSA infection underneath. Please get your OS on the ball now! I am sure you feel sick; I felt like dying at one point, I had lost the will to care. But, if you click on the blue link in my signature line, you will see, there is a whole new world waiting for you and the possibilities are endless!:wowspring::loveshwr:
 
Hi Hopefaith
I had tkr in 2010. I have always been active--running, triathlons, hiking. I had the surgery after hiking most of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Don't worry about the emotions--it's the meds. At one point, when I tried going off meds cold turkey (not knowing that was a bad idea), I cried for 72 hours straight and wanted to end it all. Just tell yourself that it's the meds and move on. I know, easier said than done. For me, the worst thing of the surgery was the pain meds and what they did to my emotions and memory. I need to have the 2nd done, but hesitate because that part was so horrible. Do stay up with your meds--if you get behind the pain meds, trying to catch up is very very difficult. You need the pain meds to do the PT.
I think differently than some of the other people--I trusted my PT, and knew how important it was to get the stretching early -- there is a window and after that window closes you might not get the straightening or bending you need or want. Once I burst into tears during the stretch, poor PT! I also used the continuous movement bending machine religiously--all day and all night , pretty much.
I stayed in the hospital 5 days, and had a block for the pain at that time, not sure what your doc did with you.
I had it done Oct 4 and in mid January I was teaching cross country skiing.
There is light at the end of the tunnel!! Don't give up hope, and do all the exercises, and repeat them at home after PT. Ask yourself how bad the pain is--is it a warning or is it something you just have to deal with? I am not saying ignore the pain as it is horrible and debilitating. Perhaps your doc needs to reevaluate your meds if they are not working well. I know there was one that did nothing for me, so I switched to another one.
Good luck.
 
@RestAssured I see my OS (actually his PA) tomorrow. I will definitely tell them my history. (which I already had in my pre-op. with the internist and his PA) I am not ready to have a full freak out yet. I am watching this closely though. I had quite an awful bout of MRSA in November on my lower abdomen. It moved fast and there was no doubt what it was. I hate taking anti biotics. (The cure makes the ultimate problem worse.) My incision looks better today. There are two areas that concern me. My knee is not really swollen. Just post op swollen. There is one spot that looks like one of the internal stitches was not cut short enough. That one feels sharp to touch and there is redness and a pimple like look to it. I told my PA on the phone about it and she said that very well could be it. I will be showing her that tomorrow. The other area is about 3 inches down from there and there is redness on either side of the incision line. Yesterday it was much more tender. Today, not so bad. I will let you know what I find out. I am very concerned because of what I went through in November. My depression is not something that began after this surgery. I have MDD. By no means a new diagnoses. These meds. have definitely made me more wacky with crying more. I guess I have shared a lot on this site about many things I am going through along with this recovery. I think a relational break up goes to the top of some list for emotional. ANYWAY thanks for your thoughts. I know MRSA is not something to mess around with. I hope they watch this closely.
MaryJean
 
@yellowstone My post to you just went to bonesmart heaven I guess........sometimes this site is confusing to me. I am glad and amazed how well you are doing. The drugs do affect me. I think sometimes I am too blunt on this site. I have decided here to be very real about me and my life. It doesn't feel worth my time to try to be someone else. I have had MDD for many years. Yes, having this surgery and other things have made it worse right now. I do have hope that things will get better.....look at you! You are doing fantastic! So you think really working at PT is very important the first few months. You do believe in the "window" of ROM?

MaryJean
 
Yes, I do understand that you have depression already, but anytime someone has a previous history of MRSA, I had 6 rounds BEFORE the knee replacements, it is vital to stay on top of it. MRSA is not easy to get rid of, and sometimes it "lurks" in the body waiting for the next opportunity to strike. I am so glad you will see someone tomorrow! Please don't take it lightly. I care about you because I have been through the MRSA nightmare more than I had ever thought would be possible!
 
yellowstone said:
there is a window and after that window closes you might not get the straightening or bending you need or want.
Click to expand...
There is no window of opportunity for ROM, while it is important to work on gentle ROM, it does not need to be aggressive, just consistent.
Here are three articles from the library on this subject.
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/myth-busting-the-window-of-opportunity-in-tkr.6895/
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/myth-busting-the-window-of-opportunity-jbjs.8804/
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/rom-its-never-too-late-to-get-more-rom.6185/
Check out post 19 in the third thread.

@hopefaith, Wishing you all the best for you appointment with the PA, sending you positive thoughts and prayers that this is just a little blip in your recovery.
 
@hopefaith I was walking past this embroidery on my landing wall today and thought of you. I know that you have strong faith. I thought I would share it with you. Sorry the picture quality isn't great but it is the best i can do at the moment on my crutches.


[Bonesmart.org] Hopefaith's Ups and Downs of Recovery
 
yellowstone said:
I think differently than some of the other people--I trusted my PT, and knew how important it was to get the stretching early -- there is a window and after that window closes you might not get the straightening or bending you need or want. Once I burst into tears during the stretch, poor PT! I also used the continuous movement bending machine religiously--all day and all night , pretty much.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, @yellowstone but it absolutely is not true that there is a window of opportunity within which you must get range of movement (ROM), or all is lost. That's an old myth that should have been debunked long, long ago. Unfortunately, some surgeons and physiotherapist still believe it and use it to frighten their patients.

Both you and @hopefaith need to read an article in the Library that is called "Myth busting: the window of opportunity in TKR". I can't post a link right now, but if you go to the Library Index, you will see it listed under the letter M.

Many, many people here on BoneSmart will tell you that they have continued to improve ROM for at least a year after their knee replacements.

And don't let your PT use that old myth as a reason to hurt you or to urge you to "push through the pain." That's just bunkum and it does harm to your knee.

(@RestAssured Sonja, I see that you're on line. Please would you try to post the link to the article above for Hopefaith? It seems to be only BoneSmart that is not allowing me to copy and paste.)
 
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