tpellerin, bilaterals don't have to go off of their pain meds like you have! I can't imagine going with mine and I'm at 5 weeks! You are a very tough fellow! I wish you luck and will be following your 2nd. journey.
TKR In between staged 1 month replacement both knees
- Thread starter tpellerin
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OP
tpellerin
junior member
Question about acetaminophen and alcohol....so, for the last couple of weeks, I've averaged 1 beer/day (a reward of sorts) and cut back tylenol to 3g/day instead of 4g. Maybe a bad idea as I see that the combo is rough on renal and liver function and I've got lots of weeks of tylenol coming up. Anyone ever ask a doc that question?
Ted
Ted
OP
OP
tpellerin
junior member
Well, here goes, back to the OR for knee number two Monday at 6AM (LTKR), and conveniently, I've just had my first two nights sleeping through without pain meds and my left knee needed ice during the night just to sleep which helped to allay thoughts the last couple of days of bailing on the left knee surgery. I'm ready to rumble!
A buddy that did both knees last summer stopped by, one of his surgeries he was unlucky enough to have had his peroneal nerve cut and he got drop foot (inability to pick up the toes, happens to 0.3% of TKRs) and the good news, after 6 months, the nerve has grown and he's walking w/o the cane. Phew. He's set a goal of climbing a mile high mountain by next summer.
A buddy that did both knees last summer stopped by, one of his surgeries he was unlucky enough to have had his peroneal nerve cut and he got drop foot (inability to pick up the toes, happens to 0.3% of TKRs) and the good news, after 6 months, the nerve has grown and he's walking w/o the cane. Phew. He's set a goal of climbing a mile high mountain by next summer.
Suz
graduate
Thinking of you this morning Ted as you are getting your LTKR'd! Hope you are able to rest today and we'll be looking forward to hearing from you when you feel up to it. YAY YOU-! Soon you'll be leading others by sharing your success story! You've got this brother!
![[Bonesmart.org] In between staged 1 month replacement both knees](https://data.bonesmart.org/attachments/44/44144-f7bc5dcc70c2bcd6ac01cdad3a459224.jpg?hash=97xdzHDCvN "[Bonesmart.org] In between staged 1 month replacement both knees")
teacher ted
junior member
Boy, did I have 2nd thoughts about LTKR!
Now I can see why. Ouch.
30 hours out, what a project. Turns out my doc is quad sparing, mostly.
OS left part of the pain med protocol off (random mistake) and when the nerve block diminished, I was in lotsa pain. Better now but this business of cutting off bones and drilling 8" into each bone is nasty, way more fun to watch on youtubes.
So, here's hoping things navigate in the right direction, lay low, ice, elevate, wiggle feet, quad and glut sets, the drill.
Phew!
Now I can see why. Ouch.
30 hours out, what a project. Turns out my doc is quad sparing, mostly.
OS left part of the pain med protocol off (random mistake) and when the nerve block diminished, I was in lotsa pain. Better now but this business of cutting off bones and drilling 8" into each bone is nasty, way more fun to watch on youtubes.
So, here's hoping things navigate in the right direction, lay low, ice, elevate, wiggle feet, quad and glut sets, the drill.
Phew!
teacher ted
junior member
Yay, I am home from #2 TKR, what a difference 1 day makes, I was in a bad way yesterday.
Suz
graduate
SO glad to hear from you and that things are 'some' better. Now you just need to pop those pain meds on schedule and keep Mick Jagger's 'T-i-i-i-i-i-ime is on my side.. yes it is' going through your head non-stop!
I'm happy your second replacement is done Ted- you have some much earned & pain-free fun in your future once you get these recoveries under your belt!
Keep seated, elevated, medicated and ice'd now- you've GOT THIS!!
![[Bonesmart.org] In between staged 1 month replacement both knees](https://data.bonesmart.org/attachments/44/44207-4afe5e61fe446bb441322a2206d6e21c.jpg?hash=Sv5eYf5Ea7 "[Bonesmart.org] In between staged 1 month replacement both knees")
I'm happy your second replacement is done Ted- you have some much earned & pain-free fun in your future once you get these recoveries under your belt!
Keep seated, elevated, medicated and ice'd now- you've GOT THIS!!
newlybionic
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That's great you are home. You now have to new knees and after your recovery you will have many years of pain free knees ahead. Congratulations!
Happydale
senior
I really admire your bravery. You have to be so proud of yourself for doing knee #2!! Now I envy you, because you don't have to dread another knee replacement. Judging by how my surgical knee is feeling now 4 weeks out, I imagine you may be ready to put some decent weight on your right. Also, you'll reduce the number of times you have to go to physical therapy. Take it easy, and enjoy thinking about feeling better soon.
KarriB
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Good to hear the second one is done. 
teacher ted
junior member
Wow,
Having the 2nd has made the first have to really work...it's throbbing tonight but not swollen.
The new knee looks like a bowling ball at day four, but the boss tells me the other looked just like it. I am mostly behaving, except I went upstairs carefully (and back down!) and walked 400' on the road with a cane, otherwise just did PT isometric sets and elevated/iced. No Tylenol or oxy during the day so that's good. The protocol says lots of walking, what exactly does that mean?
I'm going to totally behave tomorrow. I'm will act appropriately tomorrow. I will totally not overdo it tomorrow.
It is so hard to go backwards in rehab with TKR #2. Jeesh!
Having the 2nd has made the first have to really work...it's throbbing tonight but not swollen.
The new knee looks like a bowling ball at day four, but the boss tells me the other looked just like it. I am mostly behaving, except I went upstairs carefully (and back down!) and walked 400' on the road with a cane, otherwise just did PT isometric sets and elevated/iced. No Tylenol or oxy during the day so that's good. The protocol says lots of walking, what exactly does that mean?
I'm going to totally behave tomorrow. I'm will act appropriately tomorrow. I will totally not overdo it tomorrow.
It is so hard to go backwards in rehab with TKR #2. Jeesh!
Suz
graduate
Hi Ted! (@teacher ted). I hope so much you are improving in recovery of BOTH your knees. If you get a chance give your followers here a little shout-out to let us know how things are going. You're one of us now and we certainly understand no matter how things are going. Just miss you buddy and hope things are tolerable there.
![[Bonesmart.org] In between staged 1 month replacement both knees](https://bonesmart.org/forum/attachments/screen-shot-2016-06-20-at-7-49-52-pm-png.52695/ "[Bonesmart.org] In between staged 1 month replacement both knees")
kayak59
senior
I did both knees, 4 weeks apart too. The first was easy and I was on Tylenol as needed before I left the hospital. The 2nd knee was more damaged and maybe that is why I had a lot more trouble with it. I am now 7 and 8 months out and I am SO glad I did it this way. (Not that I had much choice.) There is no way I could have gone through this recovery twice and still kept my sanity. 
Once the weather gets cooler, looking forward to cycling, hiking and kayaking!
Once the weather gets cooler, looking forward to cycling, hiking and kayaking!
teacher ted
junior member
Cheers everyone, thanks to kayak and Suz for notes
So, wow.
15 days after doing knee 2, the "old knee" being 45 days old and awesome....I overdid it, too many trips on stairs and a short shopping/nursing home adventure and damaged my older knee's calf tendon causing awful cramps for hours, I nearly had my wife transport me to ER.
I rested the heck out of both knees, reinjured the tendon again a week later and have been slowly trying to get back.
Turns out, TKRs don't like resting (or overuse), so it's been a Catch-22.
It's not like I'd thought that I'd be immune to setbacks...but they really stink.
Advice to people that do staged bilateral TKRs, when you do a fair bit of work, you may favor the new knee after a while thus injuring the old knee which is just bad.
So, wow.
15 days after doing knee 2, the "old knee" being 45 days old and awesome....I overdid it, too many trips on stairs and a short shopping/nursing home adventure and damaged my older knee's calf tendon causing awful cramps for hours, I nearly had my wife transport me to ER.
I rested the heck out of both knees, reinjured the tendon again a week later and have been slowly trying to get back.
Turns out, TKRs don't like resting (or overuse), so it's been a Catch-22.
It's not like I'd thought that I'd be immune to setbacks...but they really stink.
Advice to people that do staged bilateral TKRs, when you do a fair bit of work, you may favor the new knee after a while thus injuring the old knee which is just bad.
kayak59
senior
Teacher Ted, based on what I heard (on this forum), depending on the recovery of your "new" knee, it can either take some of the strain off the remaining "bad" knee OR make the bad knee worse. ( I think it depends on HOW bad the bad knee is.) The latter was my situation and while my doc did not originally really like the idea of me getting both knees done so fast, he said once he got in there, he did not know how I was walking on the 2nd knee! What is nice is that after about 2 months, I could tell the difference between the two. Both seemed about equal. My biggest mistake was that I waited too long to get the knees done and as a result my quadriceps and calves were pretty weak. My recommendation to everyone now is get your knee(s) done while your legs are strong!
