TKR Irish471's Recovery Thread

[FCBayern]

Sending good vibes your way, it always feels good when your ROM goes up!

 

[Irish471]

The followup appointment didn’t go so well. They saw that I am very restricted in movement with a lot of swelling and pain. I must have had a lot of bleeding after surgery (but no drainage) and it has formed into a hematoma.

They want me to start outpatient PT right away, so I am set up for that on Monday. I am so upset about this. The next two weeks are critical and I will have to push through this or I will end up back in surgery to have a scope to clean things up. I don’t know why or how this happened.

I am to stop the aspirin immediately. I wish I would have called the office last week when I was in horrible pain because he could have drained it then before it clotted. If only I had known

 

[Jockette]

I’m sorry to hear this.
I’ll tag @Josephine for you.

 

[Josephine]

They want me to start outpatient PT right away, so I am set up for that on Monday. I am so upset about this. The next two weeks are critical and I will have to push through this or I will end up back in surgery to have a scope to clean things up.

Where you told you'd have to "push through this" or you will have an arthroscopy? I don't think that's right. PT is the very, very last thing you need right now. Haematoma will be resolved and resorbed in time.

I don’t know why or how this happened.

What happens is that during the surgery, the anaesthetic lowers the patient's blood pressure to reduce blood loss. However, in the first few days after that, as the blood pressure returns to normal, many of the little capillaries that the surgeon had cauterized, get the clot 'blown off' by the rising pressure and so they begin to ooze. Mostly this will stop within a few days so there isn't a problem. But occasionally, some patients blood pressure will remain elevated so the oozing continues. It will always stop eventually.

I wish I would have called the office last week when I was in horrible pain because he could have drained it then before it clotted.

I've never known these haematomata to be drained because they will, eventually, be resorbed by the body quite naturally.

 

[kneeper]

I see you've gained bend this week! That's a great sign that you're on the right track. Don't let them scare you about PT. Take what you can from it but always listen to the knee. (You're starting outpatient PT about when I did.)

 

[Irish471]

@Josephine , I do hope this hematoma will resorb quickly and we won’t have to intervene surgically. Time will tell. The PT I am going to helped me through my recovery when I had surgery on my left knee quite a few years back. I had a similar problem with regaining flexionon the left knee. In PT, they did a lot of massage work. I am optimistic that he can help me through this.

@kneeper , thanks! I took a long, warm shower this morning thinking it would help warm up my leg muscles and help me relax before I did my stretching.

I have a piece of tape on the wall that marks where I was earlier this week (74 degrees). I managed to slide my leg down about another inch! I just eased into it and breathed through it and told myself to relax so I wouldn’t tense up. I am so glad I made that improvement on my own!

My knee feels very squishy and it bruised badly the first week. My pain levels hit a 10 almost every day. I really would urge others to report really high pain levels to their doctors right away. The doctor told me that because so much time had passed, he wasn’t sure if he could drain any blood out id the knee. He tried and couldn’t because it had already formed into a hematoma. It can cause nerve issues because as it forms into a hematoma, it can adhere to nerves and trap them .

I really think a surgeon should do a check in on their patients soon after discharge. Some are so scheduled and do such a high volume of surgeries each week that checking in is very difficult. This is why we as patients have to drive our own recoveries and reach out to them with questions, especially if your pain is way up there. I wish I would have called when my pain hit a 10. I had issues getting my pain meds, so I blamed my pain level on that. Thinking back on it now, that was probably my window to get help. I can’t change what has happened these first two weeks, but maybe my experience can help others

 

[Irish471]

Had my first out patient PT appointment this morning. What a difference! I walked in there with a very stiff, angry knee and walked out feeling good. He massaged the outside area just below the kneecap towards the shin. It didn't hurt at all. He thinks my extension looks good. He wants me to sit with my leg extended onto a chair in front of me so that gravity can naturally do its thing to continue to improve that. Then we measured my flexion. I am still stuck at 75 degrees but he said it's because of the swelling. He said you need to just really concentrate on stretching right now. He had me put my legs up on one of those big exercise balls and use my heels to roll the ball towards me. Then he had me stretch my calves and do heel lifts. He wants me to do these very simple things 3-4 times per day. So much more gentle than the home PT was. Thank God! I love these guys and know they will get me on the right road in no time

Since I am typing this on my computer this time (I usually use my cell phone or Kindle), I can finally post a picture of the great scar reveal that shows my angry, swollen knee just after the dressings were removed on Friday. The discoloration and bruising is evidence of the hematoma.

On another note, my Mom, who has been here helping me to recover, will be going back home tomorrow She has been SUCH a tremendous help! I will miss her terribly!

 

[FCBayern]

Just remember to take it slow and easy when you are on your own. Do what you need to do to take care of you, everything else can wait.

 

[Irish471]

Will do @JCBayern! I am going to be doing lots of elevating this week so we can make some progress on my flexion. My teenagers are going to have to step it up around here. This could be one of the positives that comes out of this surgery and recovery journey

 

[JDinCT]

@Irish471 … It's long uneven road to recovery for sure.... sounds like your PT has the right perspective and that will offer you some short term positive goals. It's difficult to measure this recovery one day at a time...

Best of luck with the hematoma.... stay positive!

 

[kneeper]

Will do @JCBayern! I am going to be doing lots of elevating this week so we can make some progress on my flexion. My teenagers are going to have to step it up around here. This could be one of the positives that comes out of this surgery and recovery journey

 

[FCBayern]

Getting your teenagers to step up is definitely a plus. I learned how to do laundry when I was 8 years old and my mom had a compound fracture of her leg. It seemed a big task at the time but it was really rewarding to help my mom after everything she had done for me.

 

[Irish471]

Just wanted to say a quick hello. One of my teenagers is doing her own laundry

I take a picture of my knees every morning and I have to say, they are looking fairly close to the same size! Happy about that! I did notice that when I get up and start moving, my knee turns very red. Must have something to do with the bloodflow to the knee. It’s not as hot as it was just a few days ago. The only things I have been doing and those heel lifts, stretching, and bending to the point of discomfort. It seems like I have gained some more flexion and I feel like I am almost there with the extension. I will know tomorrow when I go for my PT appointment!

Hope everyone is doing good or as best as can be with where they are at in this adventure

 

[Jockette]

Just wanted to say a quick hello. One of my teenagers is doing her own laundry

I was thrilled the day my son, in high school, asked me to show him how to do his laundry!!! Who knew!

 

[Lindylee]

Great to read that things are improving for you. Fingers crossed that it's a smooth recovery going forward. Take care and let everyone else do the work while younconcentrate on getting better.

 

[JDinCT]

The things parents have to do to force their kids to do chores these days....

 

[Irish471]

My teenage son drove me to my PT appointment this morning, He was really great about it and helped me on the front steps. There are two small steps to navigate, but I have nothing to hold onto for stability, so having someone there to hold onto helps a lot!

PT went well He said it’s important to ice both the back of the knee AND the front. I am icing now as I type. I wish a therapist could come to the house to massage all that tightness from my knee every morning!

 

[FCBayern]

It's great your kids are helping out. It happened early for me, when I was 8 years old my mom had a compound fracture of her leg. My younger brother was only 2 so it was everything she could do just to take care of him. That's when I learned to do the families laundry.

 

[Irish471]

I’m at the end of the 3rd week. I was talking to one of my coworkers yesterday and he wanted to know if I am going to start coming into the office on Monday I am pretty sure he was serious, too! I can’t imagine going back at this point. Maybe in a few weeks I can start going every other day for a few hours. Maybe. Until then, I will keep working a few hours each day from home. I have so little energy some days. It’s nice to sneak in a nap when needed.

This week, I have been having trouble sleeping. I take my meds around 7 p.m. and am climbing into bed at around 10:30ish. Then, I find myself waking up around 2:00 a.m. feeling uncomfortable. I have tried icing, taking some more tylenol, or popping another oxycodone but I am awake until it’s time for taking my morning meds at 7 a.m. Then I manage to fall back asleep and manage to stay asleep until 10:00 a.m. I don’t want this to become a habit for when I do need to go back to work. I am thinking of taking a Benadryl tonight to see if that helps me to sleep better. And icing for a bit before bed.

The knee was more swollen this morning, so I didn’t do much of anything except icing and elevating. Pain is a bit higher because of the swelling. The stiffness is getting better, though, so that’s a plus!

This weekend was the first weekend my husband got a little taste of what it’s like to do all the shopping, cleaning, errands, and cooking. He’s pooped! We were laughing because I am always complaining about how hot it is in the house. He usually tells me he is freezing because I will put the air conditioning on. Today, he told me that it was hot and I was the one telling him it was freezing. Running around the house getting things done is quite a workout. He gets the climate issue now!!!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

 

[FCBayern]

@Irish471 do you have an ice machine? I use mine all night every night and it's definitely a key to good sleep. I need to change the ice at least once a night but I use frozen water bottles so it's pretty quick and then I can get right back to sleep. I go to sleep between 10 and 11 and wake up somewhere about 4-5 and take Tylenol and change ice. I'm then good to sleep pretty much the rest of an 8 hour night.