TKR Irish471's Recovery Thread

[FCBayern]

I have to agree with Lindylee it was at about 6 weeks where my pain level with the TKR was about equal to what my pre-surgery was, so I'm really looking forward to being in less pain afterwards than before even though I know I have a long road ahead to complete recovery.

 

[Irish471]

Thank you, everyone! You're all great listeners! @Jockette , I have increased my icing and it has helped to bridge between pain pills. Had another long uncomfortable night. I think it's all the bruising that is making things so sore right now. It feels like my leg went through a meat grinder. The pain can get unreal at times and I am pretty tolerant of pain usually.

@Lindylee , I hope so!!! My doc says it gets better every week. @Jolease , I think I was down on fluids, too, so today, I am pushing that pretty hard.

 

[kneeper]

You are in what we refer to here as the "angry tissue phase." I remember it well.
I'm glad you're finding the icing helpful. Rest, ice and elevate are definitely the way to go.
Hang in there.

 

[Irish471]

This surgery has brought some of the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I am sure others can relate. I can't figure out if it's the bruising, stiffness or the trauma to the bones (or all three) that causes the pain to hit a 10. It's usually right when I first get out of bed to use the bathroom (before I have had my 12-hour pain pill) and right after dinner (before it's time for the second 12-hour pain pill) that gets me the most. I am going to try taking a 5mg take as needed pill two hours before to see if I can bridge the pain better. I wish I could just fast forward 3 months from now! Dear God, I hope this was the right decision and that things will get better soon.

 

[Irish471]

I am now officially one week post up today. At this point, I think I would have left things alone if I had known the pain would be this bad. I might feel differently a week or few weeks from now, but that's how I feel right now at this moment. I did take the 5mg as needed oxy pill to help me get out of the bed and over to the bathroom. I still cried when I got back into bed.
A few days ago, when the bruising started, my leg felt like it had been through a meat grinder. Today, it feels like someone took a sledge hammer to it. It really hurts on the medial inside portion and down along the shin.
My PT comes at noon. I hope it goes okay. I have been doing the exercises he prescribed, but not the two that cause me pain (straight leg lifts and short arc quads). I just think that's too much, too soon. I have barely enough pain pills to get me through until I have my post up appointment with none to spare for physical therapy. I hope to God they refill the pain meds. I am so scared they won't because of all the hype about how 'bad' opiods are.

 

[Bionic]

@Irish471
I had my TKR on 1st March so I am nearly 3 weeks ahead of you. My bruising was pretty bad, there is a picture of it on my thread, but its almost gone now. My pain is also on the inside of the knee, although less so now and I did have it down the shin but that has gone. So I hope that gives you some comfort.
I still have swelling though and although the swelling isn't huge it is enough to make it almost impossible to get any bend in my knee.
Having said all of that I have reduced my meds dramatically now so I would expect to feel a bit more pain but it feels good to be more in control.
I have a physio appointment tomorrow and although they don't do anything hands on I will take a tramadol before I go, just in case.
My OS, the same one who did my 2 THR's, warned me that this was a more difficult operation, not for him but for me in recovery, but no amount of warning really prepares you.
I hope you get over the worst of the pain soon.

 

[Lilli215]

@Irish471 , the word I use to describe the first three weeks of this journey is —-brutal!!! Sorry you’re in so much pain, hopefully you’ll get that resolved soon. I had my first tkr two years ago so knew what was ahead of me this time but by day three I was crying and saying to my husband I was so sorry that I had gone ahead with the second tkr(not that i had much choice as knee was knackered). To a certain extent its a case of grin and bare it for those first couple of weeks however dont bottle your feelings up - let them out good n strong!!! By week 4 you will begin to see slight improvements and that will lift your spirits. The other thing is dont guage your own recovery against anyone elses, you will read on here of people recovering really quickly but equally there are others who are quite slow to recover, your body will go at its own pace. Keep icing and elevating as much as possible, I’m still doing it at 6 weeks out, it really helps with the pain. Hang on in there, it will get better

 

[FCBayern]

@Irish471
Hang in there, I know how tough it is at first. My first two weeks were hell, week three was not good, but going into week 4 I was able to drop off the narcotics and just use Tylenol and ibuprofen. It's hard to see from where you are at but it truly does get better.

 

[Zommom]

It does get better! We have been where you are and thought the same of “what did I do”? Managing pain, lack of sleep, trying to do pt before your knee has a chance to heal itself, and thinking I should be bouncing back quicker than this. Those first few weeks just seemed to crawl but then got better in week 4 and 5 where we all seem to overdo it a couple of times - remember the knee is the boss! This is all normal. I am week 7 and it’s even better than week 6 which I thought was pretty good. Don’t be afraid of using your pain meds, add that Tylenol and elevate and ice that knee

 

[Irish471]

I got some measurements today by the PT. Flexion is 55 and extension is 15. I have lots of work to do! I told him my pain was at an 8, sometimes a 10. He said the doc will refill the 5mg oxycodone but he doesn't refill the 10mg extended release oxycontin. At least now I can stop rationing those 5mg pills. They can be taken every 4hours. yay! I hope that helps to get my pain under control. I find that I am yearning to position my leg certain ways that I used to, but my knee joint and quad muscles just won't allow that to happen just yet. I really want to sleep in my side, too. When will that be possible again?

 

[Celle]

Flexion is 55 and extension is 15. I have lots of work to do!

Don't feel that you have to work hard to achieve good Range of Motion (ROM). It will come gradually, as time passes.
It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.

There's no deadline you have to meet, either. There's no need to rush to get ROM (Range of Motion) because it can continue to improve for a year, or even much longer, after a knee replacement. There isn't any deadline you have to meet:
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR

While your pain levels are still so high, it's important to stay on a regular regime of medications. Any exercise you do has to take second place to that.

I really want to sleep in my side, too. When will that be possible again?

THe nufrses put me on my side for short periods while I was in hospital, for a change of position, but it really wasn't comfortable.

It's best to stay on your back for a while longer.

When you do try sleeping on your side, have your operated leg on top, with a pillow between your legs.

 

[Jockette]

Flexion is 55 and extension is 15. I have lots of work to do!

Don't feel that you have to work hard to achieve good Range of Motion (ROM). It will come gradually, as time passes.
It's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time.

I agree with Celle.

The “lots of work that you have to do” will be in the form of patience to let your knee heal. You are only one week into recovery,

 

[sistersinhim]

Flexion is 55 and extension is 15. I have lots of work to do!

At one week out all you should be worrying about is healing. If you work that infant, damaged knee you will continue to swell and stay inflamed. Swelling is what is keeping your knee's ROM down, not that it's out of shape. Your number one job for the first few months is to heal and get that swelling down. As the swelling comes down you ROM automatically improved. All your knee needs is time.

 

[FCBayern]

I really want to sleep in my side, too. When will that be possible again?

Irish, unfortunately sleeping on your side will probably take a while. I'm almost 8 weeks out and can still only sleep on my side for short periods of time before I wake up in pain. As Celle said a pillow between the legs helps but I can still only manage short periods of time which sucks because I'm a side sleeper and being on my back doesn't help the lack of sleep issue.

 

[Lilli215]

And I’m the exact same as FCBayern, solooking forward to the night that I can sleep on my side with no pain

 

[kneeper]

I was on a 4 hour pain med schedule and that seemed to work well for me. Don't fret about your numbers now--they are no indication of where you'll end up. Just keep up the rest, and elevation.

 

[Irish471]

Yes, I think it's best if I keep sleeping on my back and elevating while I sleep. I am able to get a few hours sleep each night. I also wake up with moderate swelling, , so I'll keep doing that.

The PT came again today and I have to say that the method of working on ROM is helping to loosen things up. He has me lie on my back on my bed with both legs up against the wall. He has me press lightly on my quad to stretch and work on extension, then has me bend my leg and slide it down the wall to what feels like a comfortable bend and repeat things a few times before he takes the measurements. He gave me some stability moves to work on and wants to see me transition to a cane. I feel confident when he is here and we've worked together, but when he leaves and I try the cane on my own, I don't feel safe enough to rely on it. I am still too stiff. And I can hear my surgeon's voice in my head saying he worries the most about his patients falling. My aunt fell 5weeks post up and ended up fracturing her kneecap. So yeah, I think I need to be on the walker longer.

My husband came home with 5mg oxycodone which I will take at the scheduled intervals around the clock. I have everything dialed into the alarm feature on my phone to remind me when to take things.

Overall, today was a decent day painwise. I'll take it

 

[Lindylee]

Glad to hear things are improving for you. I think I gradually got used to sleeping on my back and managed 4 hour stints somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks post op although still had some bad nights too. I kept trying sleeping on my side, but it became uncomfortable very quickly until this last week. At the moment I seem to be half the night on my side and half on my back and not doing too badly. Strangely, I find it most comfortable sleeping on my operated side than the other, whereas I would have thought it would be the other way round. You'll get there too eventually. Take care.

 

[Celle]

He gave me some stability moves to work on and wants to see me transition to a cane. I feel confident when he is here and we've worked together, but when he leaves and I try the cane on my own, I don't feel safe enough to rely on it. I am still too stiff. And I can hear my surgeon's voice in my head saying he worries the most about his patients falling.

Listen to your instincts and not to the PT's wishes. You'll know when you're ready to transition to a cane. There's no set time that you have to do it.

As you realise, it's far more important to avoid a fall than it is to give up the walker.

 

[Irish471]

I see the surgeon for my post up appointment tomorrow morning. I want to ask him why I am so tender on the medial joint line. Everywhere else feels a lot less tender. I was pleasantly surprised to see a little bit of some definition on the lateral side this morning. Evidence that the swelling is going down. My knee was rock hard when I first got home and a lot of areas now have a bit of a squishiness.
During PT today, I finally understand how people say that their new knee doesn't quite feel like their own. I was bending my legs one at a time, shifting my weight from one leg to the other, and it truly felt like two different legs. So strange! I have gone from 55 to 74 degrees flexion this week. Yay!
Every day does seem to get a little better. Baby steps. Any improvement is welcome! Hope to have more to report after my doctor appointment tomorrow. It will be the first time I have been able to get out of the house since coming home from the hospital!