Guest viewing is limited

Bilateral TKR It's finally time!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks @Celle! I plan to continue to take it slow, and hope that once healed, I feel better than before. I found myself rolling over onto my stomach last night in my sleep. Plus today my ROM is much better! I actually walked down the stairs the "big girl" way - although very slowly. This is definitely much easier than the last surgery - but I won't rush it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Not sleeping on my stomach is going to be bad........
 
iivesfam5 said:
Not sleeping on my stomach is going to be bad........
Click to expand...

I know the feeling........hopefully like I did, you will find a position that works. I slept better after the BTKR than I thought I would - the pain medicine may have helped!

I woke up this morning and was surprised that I was on my stomach. So, at least for this last surgery, it only took me 4 days to get back to my stomach.
 
@ljrfrm - how did today go? It looks like you had a good night's sleep probably went a long way to feeling better today. I'm so glad you have this week to look after yourself and have some quality time with your recliner!
 
@ljrfrm & @Threads You both provide me with so much hope!! I am getting some of my work covered but after a couple of weeks I am going to need to be back working so I can only hope that I will be coherent enough to tackle it. Granted I will be home for 6 to 8 weeks - but I can hook-up there and while I am icing I can be emailing, etc. I usually have the financial statements done by the 10th of the month but I told my boss it may be more like the 20th so that will buy me some extra time. We can only hope that everything goes nice and smoothly!!
 
@Threads All is going well. I'm definitely sleeping well - I slept until 10 am today. I'm still sore but my ROM seems to be almost what it was before - wish I knew exactly where it was though. I need to drive my son to school tonight for a concert, so I'm trying to not to take any pain meds today. If I start to hurt, I'll take some and ask my other son to drive him instead - but thought I'd give it a try. Besides that, I'm just hanging out in my recliner watching TV. I'm about to fill up my ice machine, and although I am definitely still swollen from the surgery, it doesn't seem too bad.

@iivesfam5 I'm glad you don't have to go right back to work, and can work from home a bit. Try to hold off going back in person for as long as possible - it's much harder to rest, elevate and ice at work! I was very lucky that I didn't have to go back to work for 3 months - which really helped!
 
Well thankfully my boss is pretty loose as long as the work is being done. He knows it really is a whole year of recovery but I am going to prob start with just part-time in the office in the beginning...... I have a couple of chairs in my office so I can put my feet up and ice......
 
Trusting you had a good day and the report from the OS was good. I look forward to hearing what he had to say.

I got a burst of energy from somewhere and ended up playing in water while I cleaned out our little back garden and cleaned and set up our teak deck chairs. Summer is in the air!
 
@Threads Here's my update:

I thought my post-op appointment was with my OS but it turned out it was with his assistant. I really like her a lot so that was fine. She went over what the doctor found in surgery (nothing I really didn't know, but she was able to show me photos from the surgery and explain it all better). She showed me the scar tissue below the knee cap, and where the OS did the release on both knees. She said because I was so tight, the knee cap wasn't tracking well. The pathology report from the fluids came back that there was no infection (yay) in either knee, and everything else was normal other than the red blood cell count was extremely high. I talked with her about how my knees feel weaker than before and also how they are starting to clunk again. She gave me a script for PT to work once again on strengthening, although they did the release on the knees, she feels that I still need to build up the muscles around the knee to help with tracking. They took my stitches out, commented that I'm still swollen and bruised, and wanted me to come back again in 3 weeks.

I had my first PT today. I went to a new facility - where my son went before. I was happy to see that my ROM is almost back to pre-surgery measurements. My knees bent to 123 and 125 although where I was able to straighten them to 0 before, I was now at 2 and 5. Considering I'm so swollen still, I was happy with those numbers. I really liked the new PT a lot, and he agreed with my prior PT that one of my biggest problems is how tight I am - with huge knots everywhere. My quads are so tight that he feels that they aren't able to fire/engage because everything is so tight. So, my goals are focused around not just strengthening, but also loosening. He pushed on trigger points up and down my thighs - he sure found the spots quickly. The crazy thing was after he did this, my knees stopped clunking when I walked. They have started popping a bit again, but nowhere near as much as they did before. It will be interesting to see how this goes over the next few weeks.

I head back to work on Monday - not looking forward to that - but I plan to leave early the first few days at least. All in all, the recovery from this latest surgery is so easy compared to the replacements. I have a lot of work to do, but I feel like it won't take long until I'm at least to my pre-surgery level.
 
@ljrfrm - thanks for the report. It's a relief to know that mostly everything is good and the rest is fixable with PT. It sounds like it was a good thing that you were able to see your OS's assistant because she was able to actually spend time with you and explain things with visuals ;-) That always helps me understand what's going on far better than a few big medical terms thrown at me.

Great to hear you are on the "same page" with your new PT - you don't want to go back to that bad place again. I've wondered if your experience with your original PT was the beginning of where you ended up.

It's amazing, isn't it, that the PT can just put pressure on a spot that makes you go through the roof. I learned all about IT Bands from you and now know where the pressure points are on my left leg.

How is sitting at a normal chair for you since the recent surgery? Is it as difficult as it was after your BTKR? I know you are still swollen but I'm hoping that, if you can move around a bit during the day, going back to work on Monday won't be as difficult.

You've got the rest of today and the weekend to look after yourself! Please do it!
 
@Threads This is so much easier than the BTKR. I'm much more mobile from day 1 (brought out my cane but totally didn't need it, etc.) and sitting in a "normal" chair isn't bad at all. I actually am already more comfortable sitting for long periods than before. I was so achy and sore when i was sitting - and now I don't have that intense pain. I think a lot of it was the excessive fluid I had on my knees. I have PT three days next week and made the appointments so I will leave work an hour early - to help shorten my day. If I'm at all uncomfortable, I'll head home early to rest.

I have to say I think my last PT was right on top of the problem from the beginning. The reason she was doing the different mobilizations and massages etc was because she felt that my knee wasn't tracking right because I was so tight. That is exactly what the OS saw during the surgery and what the PT is still seeing. I'm not ok with the "popping" that I've had since something she did something to them - but I do understand why she was doing it and I think she was right on top of the problem. I still worry that the popping or clunking feeling won't go away - this morning it seems especially bad. But, the fact that it went away for a little bit after the PT loosened me up makes me hopeful. I hope that between the strengthening and loosening will have that good outcome.

A few weeks ago we (I say "we" but you know I'm just supervising!) ripped out all our old bushes, so we can replant the landscaping in the front yard. I'm going to buy the new bushes and flowers today - and will supervise the planting. I have a great excuse to not do any work and will take full advantage of it. But, I'm so excited to finally get this done! Other than that, my dad will consist of not doing much of anything - my kind of day!
 
@ljrfrm & @Threads - love the updates...... Makes me so hopeful and lets me know what to look out for..... We went to a family wedding last night and it was so annoying - I was in so much pain I couldn't dance much but my husband loves to dance so I tried to do as much as I could..... we had 2 of our 3 grown children there with us and their spouses. That was nice but our table was right next to the speaker which meant we really couldn't visit very well...... We ended up leaving about an hour before it was over. I just couldn't wait to get home to my Tylenol PM. Pretty sore today.....
 
@iivesfam5 Soon you will be on the "other side" and busy getting those knees stronger for the next dance :) I remember the first time I danced after my surgery - I looked like Frankenstein, LOL, but after 3 months of recovery, it was so nice to get out there and move!!
 
@ljrfrm - I just went back and skimmed through your thread from the beginning until after I popped on the scene about 6 weeks prior to my surgery. I was trying to figure out where I got the idea that one of your PT's wasn't the greatest. I guess it wasn't the PTs but more the issues of the swelling and the IT Band being a challenge right from the beginning. Anyway, the PT you are working with now sounds great, and from this point on is the goal!

Hope you have your supervisors hat on and the garden is starting to look wonderful. I could loan you a deck chair, if you don't have one - that way you could sit in it with your legs up, an umbrella shading you and your cool summer drink of choice (Mai Tai, Daiquiri?) in your hand while you orchestrate the work in your garden.

Enjoy your last two days before the "w" word takes effect. I'm glad to hear that sitting is easier this time out and that you can leave early if needs be.
 
@Threads I think you remembered that my PT messed with my knee with a "tendon mobilization" because it was so tight in there - and that started all my popping and clunking issues. So, I was (am) irritated with her.

My knees are NOT happy right now - they were down too much today - and not elevated - and I am quite swollen right now. I'm icing and will do my best to take it easy tomorrow - I guess I got a little too excited that I was feeling good. Now I hurt. Lesson learned..........

We didn't do too much with the front yard - I bought just a few plants but looked around and chose what I want - but decided to wait until next week to buy since they'll be having a sale then. Now your idea of supervising with a yummy beverage sounds perfect. I just need to make sure to put my legs up while sipping it :)
 
@ljrfrm - I hope you are having sweet dreams at this point, but when you get a chance to post, I've been thinking about you today. How did it go? I'm thinking and hoping it was a whole lot better than your first day back after your BTKR.
 
@Threads Well, my day didn't go as planned. Beginning over the weekend, my knees started aching a bit more and by Mon morning 5 of my incisions (I have three in each knee) seemed to be very irritated with fluid in them. Several seem to have what is like hard marbles just under the incision, but one (side of my right knee) is so full of fluid it's like having a golf ball under there. The last one is very tender - way too tender and a bit discolored like maybe it was getting infected. My knees (especially the right one though) are feeling very sore once again (especially with stairs) like they are full of fluid again. I ended up going in to see my OS. He put me on 10 days of antibiotics - he's not convinced the incision is infected, but if it isn't, it may be on it's way. He also considered draining the "golf ball" pocket of fluid - but decided my knees have been through so much trauma lately, he'd like to wait a few days to see if it improves on it's own. He also wants me to put moist heat on the incisions - which are obviously not happy since I had my stitches out the other day. He wants me to come back to see him in one week - but to return on Thursday if I'm not feeling any better.

I did go into work for a little bit - as it is on the way to my OS. I'm going to go in for a few hours today as well - but will spend most of the day at home in my recliner. I did cancel PT yesterday (and my OS request) to rest the knee for a few days.

Never a dull moment in my recovery!!
 
@ljrfrm I am sorry you are having such a rough time!!! I hope things improve quickly!! Thank you for being so open and honest about your recovery - it gives me info to watch out for!!
 
@ljrfrm - :censored:, what more can I say! Hopefully, this is just a bump in the road and it will get sorted quickly. I'm impressed at how quickly and easily you have access to your OS. Maybe the moist heat will help the incisions drain, since they are so new. I'm glad he put you on antibiotics - it's proactive, given the situation. Does he still want you to ice as well? Not being a nurse or PT, I don't know if that's counter productive.

Anyway, it's almost 1:00 where you are, so hopefully you are home or heading home to your recliner. No point in saying take it easy but I can say all the positive thoughts I can gather up are winging their way to you. :console2:
 
Thanks @iivesfam5 - I had so many things go well, that I'm still not sure how I'm having all these issues now. But, it's all part of the process I guess. Hopefully your recovery will be quicker and easier!

@Threads - I am home in my recliner like a good girl. I think the one incision isn't hurting quite as much, so maybe the antibiotics are working? The golf ball is still there - doesn't seem to want to go away quickly I guess. It's still painful - I'm wondering if he'll end up draining it on Thursday?

I was also happy my OS saw me so quickly. Monday is his surgery day - so he must have finished early that day - luckily. I wasn't sure how he would respond once I was in. He is very much a "wait and see" kind of doctor - but he was proactive yesterday which I appreciate.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 865 (members: 3, guests: 862)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom