TKR I need some advice.

Dolly llama

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I am almost two weeks in recovery from a TKR. The person I was counting on for helping me didn’t work out.

so I’m alone. Should I be? Should I hire someone?

Im not very far on those measurements you post. I over did a couple days and am paying for it.

Do people do this on their own? It’s pretty scary. What do others do and suggest?

I don’t have neighbors.

who should I call.
 
I had help for two weeks. It was a bit of a struggle after that but I made it. We are all different. You probably need emotional as well as physical support. Do you belong to a church.?
 
Hi Dolly
Ok take a deep breath, I don't want you scaring yourself. Now I will admit that, this is something that is easier with some help but I'll make a few suggestions them you can decide if you want to hire someone or not. So the first few weeks you will be sore and in a lot of pain and on some heavy duty drugs, my concern is. How you will eat and just minor help that is some times needed.
Do you have some one who could call and check in on you daily?? This will also give you a bit of piece of mind.
 
No, i was thinking of calling one. Or friends that do go to church who would know some one in the congregatio.

ive not lived here forever and I retired and left that whole business connect world in another town. Now a more rural area.

what even does a person ask for when they make a call. Never have had to do anything like this in my life.
if I could check into a rehab center....done!! But the virus...it’s slowly making its way around here
 
Hello @Dolly llama - and :welome:

Please will you tell us the full date of your knee replacement and which knee it is, so we can make a signature for you? Knowing the exact date will help us to advise you appropriately.
Thank you.:flwrysmile:

Yes, you can manage on your own. People have done it before, and they will again.

We have a section here with lots of advice about it:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/home-alone-after-surgery.31170/

Has your surgeon arranged at home follow-up for you, someone to check your incision and offer gentle exercise?

You will need to arrange transport for yourself, for doctors' appointments and things like that, and possible for grocery shopping, but you won't need someone with you all the time.

Here are are recovery guidelines - lots of good advice for you:
Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. Try to follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only One Recovery Thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Dolly llama - my son in the Air Force took leave to come & help for 2 weeks after my bilateral knee replacements I but have been on my own since he had to go back. My house wasnt as clean since I couldn’t do a lot, but I was able to heat up food & did just fine without any help. I am fortunate in having great friends from my church that I could have called, but I never needed to. I bet you will be fine on your own

the measurements really don’t matter - I had no PT as everything was shut down so I never had any measurements but am doing just fine with walking every day
 
The person I was counting on for helping me didn’t work out, so I’m alone. Should I be? Should I hire someone?

Many of us recovered completely alone. I did and it wasn't too difficult. You're already two weeks into your recovery so you have past the very worst times. Be sure and keep your walker and phone with you at all times until you get stronger. Being by yourself means you have to get up to get your drinks, snacks, and meals. This is all the PT your infant knee needs. Each time you walk you are exercising your knee and your body.

Use your walker when you get up during the night to go to the bathroom. Make sure you have a nightlight on and no trip hazards anywhere in the way. That is probably the biggest danger when you are alone. You don't want to fall! That's why you always keep your phone on hand.

Contact your next-door neighbor and tell her what's going on with you and ask if you can call her if it's an emergency. I'm sure she'd be glad to help. People want to feel useful and needed. Plus, knowing that you can call on someone will help to ease your mind.
 
I found this thread. Thank you everyone who has written. It’s encouraging for me.

my PTs have backed off the pain/gain work. It was killing me to the point of not moving until the next appointment. Now we work on strength and hopefully, I’ll be able to get off the john without holding onto the wall soon.

Im seven weeks out. Is that way too late for getting out of chairs? Or is there no rules and we each move when we are ready?

is walking therapeutic? how do you gauge how long to walk?
 
@Dolly llama you will notice that I have merged your two threads together as we prefer that members in recovery only have one thread.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. If you would like a new thread title just give a shout.
 
Now we work on strength and hopefully, I’ll be able to get off the john without holding onto the wall soon.
You are still very early in this recovery and “working on strength” still might over tax you at this point. Your strength will improve on its own, to some extent, as you heal.

Im seven weeks out. Is that way too late for getting out of chairs?
It took me months to get out of some chairs without using my arms. No way was I doing it at all at 7 weeks.

Or is there no rules and we each move when we are ready?
You are correct here, there are no rules because we are all different, our bodies heal differently and we didn’t all have the exact amount of repair work inside our knee, so, we will move when we are ready.

Don’t let the opinion of your particular PT push you to recover faster then your body wants. Not all PTs are created equally, so do what is best for you.
 
Im seven weeks out. Is that way too late for getting out of chairs? Or is there no rules and we each move when we are ready?
Safety should be your guide here. There's no shame in having assistance to do things. One month you need them and then the next month you might not. It's your body's and knee's decision. Use things to keep you safe as long as you need to. There is no set time frame. I'm 4 years out and many times I use the arms of a chair to help me up. It's not necessarily that my knee is that weak, it's that I'm just not feeling that secure at the time. I'm not ashamed or disappointed that I'm doing it, I'm just glad that I can get up without that awful pain!
 
I am almost two weeks in recovery from a TKR. The person I was counting on for helping me didn’t work out.

so I’m alone. Should I be? Should I hire someone?

Im not very far on those measurements you post. I over did a couple days and am paying for it.

Do people do this on their own? It’s pretty scary. What do others do and suggest?

I don’t have neighbors.

who should I call.

I was alone as well. In my state there is Ageingwell that can provide meal delivery and light house work. You shouldn't be alone at all. Idk what state you are in, but maybe contact the social work dept where TKR was done? Orngoogle " temporary home health care for injury (in the state)
 
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I’ll be able to get off the john without holding onto the wall soon.

I got myself a toilet seat raiser so getting on and off the John was much easier and no need to hold onto the wall. I used it up to almost 6 months - it just fitted on to the existing seat - really easy to fix it one of my best purchases :heehee:
 
For me getting out of chairs took a long time. The best thing I found was just to keep trying, starting with higher chairs (or even putting an extra cushion on--so long as it's not going to move on you) and then working my way to more normal heights.
Like sistersinhim I do use the arms of a chair for security if it's really low or rolling or something.
 
@Dolly llama - I asked you before, but you still haven't told us the date of your surgery. We do need that, so we can look at your signature, see how far along you are and then advise you appropriately.
Please tell us your surgery date and which knee was replaced - you need to help us, so we can help you properly.

I'm glad your PT therapists have backed off the painful exercises. They do more harm than good. Don't overdo the strengthening exercises. It's still very early days in this year-long recovery.

Don't worry about deadlines. You have a full year to achieve everything and your knee is going to recover in its own sweet time, no matter what anyone says or does.

Walking is the best exercise of all for a new knee. Start by timing your walks - 5 minutes out and 5 minutes back. Do that for a few days and if you have no problems with added pain or swelling, increase the walking to 7 minutes each way for a few days. Keep adding a few more minutes every few days.
 
Other reply wants me to put date of my TKR. I don’t know where to fill that in from
 
dolly llama;
just post right here the date of your surgery and which knee it was is what she wants
 

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