TKR Jan 22 2103: Tere's left knee

[nmscienceteacher]

Don't know what causes it but I struggled with freezing when I iced also. Electric throw was my best friend for quite a while. It finally improved.

 

[Meezermom]

Ta Da ...Im now 5 weeks out turned the corner. Pain under control sleeping better and I finally stopped my daily cryinh jag. Feeling more positive. Not healed but better. Thanks for all the great advice Im really coping now. Thanks for all your support.

 

[SadKnee]

Yes I get the chilling issues as well. I get under a heavy blanket. I noticed I get more chills at night and when I am in more pain. I also get them when ice the front and back at the same time for a long time. I have also had the hand and arm on that side go totally numb which is disconcerting. Elevate, ice and stay WARM.

 

[Meezermom]

I am better than I was three weeks ago when I first found this site! I am still having Knee pain, and I still have two small holes in my incision. My PT says the incision is healed under but I can't go into water etc. anyone else have this ? I worry all the time about it not closing. I don't see my Surgeon until Next Monday. I also can't get my bend beyond 100 degrees. its like there is a Stop There that I just can't get past no matter how hard the PT tries I just end up in tears. I have finally stopped crying from the depression so much this week. I have started bicycling on my Recumbent bike VERY SLOWLY and only for about 10 mins 2 times a day. I only Cry then. I SO WANT TO BE OVER THIS CRYING AND PAIN. I truly do not know how I would have got through this without this site !!! Thank You Everyone. Sometimes I just sit and re-read articles and have AH Ha Moments!

I guess my worst fear is that they would have to go back in and stitch those two holes up. The PA at my last visit suggested that would be a last resort. I just can't bare the thought of going backwards. I still have to take my Norco for the pain but I am now down to One every 4-6 hours. AMEN. I truly want to be done with the, once and for all.

I keep feeling like I am a Baby 65 year old I read about other people that are healed and back to work and living their lives at 6 weeks. I just wish I knew how much longer this is going to take.

One last thing...The last few nights (30) my knee has woke me up about 3 am HOT. I actually have to get up and go get an ice pack and put it on. It's not infected but hot to the touch. It is better in the day time although I ice all the time still.

Again, Thanks everyone for all your help. I truly appreciate all your support. God Bless you !

 

[Lanie]

My knee gets hot too. I use the soft gel ice packs..take my pain medicine and relax. It is very soothing to me. You are still in the early stages of recovery...Get plenty of rest and dont fret about ROM ...yikes all the swelling and the trauma your knee has been thru from surgery has to heal. Go easy. I never got to 100 rom. Baby that knee.

 

[maryo52]

Yeah, I was a baby too. Most of us are. This is TOUGH. Lack of sleep. Depression. Pain. Unending recovery. Knee doesn't bend so well. Etc. But you know what? You might not be able to help crying at times, but never -- NEVER -- should it be from pain. One, we have pain pills to address the pain (maybe not eliminate altogether but keep it in the tolerable range). Two, physical therapy shouldn't hurt us. What good is any motion or exercise that causes pain? Pain is the body's way of shouting STOP.

This is going to be hard for you to believe, but range of motion is mostly beyond our control. Our job is to focus on healing and to slowly & gently restore function to our leg. The range of motion happens of its own while we're going about our physical therapy in a slow, easy way, knowing that you cannot rush a post-TKR knee. The knee is in charge!!

You say you have gotten better. That's good. Your surgeon will address your incision soon. And probably re-assure you that your ROM is fine and will continue to improve. He might not say that you cannot force your ROM to improve. That's our job.

BTW Getting done with pain medication is not like some sort of graduation. Yes we look forward to markers of progress. But take the medication as needed. I think I've said "be kind to yourself" in several different ways. That's the main message.

Go easy on yourself. Remember that nearly all the soft tissues in your leg got traumatized during surgery and treat them accordingly, with TLC. Know that in a few months, you'll look back and remember your discouragement without remembering the details that unsettle you now!

 

[bottomshollow]

I keep feeling like I am a Baby 65 year old I read about other people that are healed and back to work and living their lives at 6 weeks.

Meezermom, please do not believe that these people are healed at 6 weeks. They may be back at work, but they are having difficulties with swelling, stiffness, and energy drain. You are not even 2 months post op---you are doing fine---you are about where you should expect to be. You've got to think in terms of weeks and months, NOT days, with this recovery. HOT knee is very common this early in recovery---lots of healing going on inside that knee---so just ice that baby and go back to sleep.

I took pain meds for 3 months and took the BoneSmart cocktail of Tylenol and ibuprofen for the next three months. We need them and we suffer if we don't take them---and it's silly to suffer when you don't have to. So take your pain meds!!!!!

Give your self a break, sweetie, things will get better somewhere down that long recovery road. Think positive.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[Meezermom]

Thanks so much. You just don't know how bad I feel and then when one of you respond I start to feel normal and not so alone in this journey. I go to the Dr. on Monday march 18th. My PT says he thinks the Dr. will have to cut the skin away from the two open areas on the incision and stitch it up. My knee still hurts , not looking forward to them doing more to it.

 

[Meezermom]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !.. I'll let you know Monday night what they decide.

 

[midwestmom]

Hi, we are close to the same timeline, I had TKR on 1/28. Good days and bad days come and go, there seems to be no clear pattern. I get swelling and have to elevate an ice. When you have swelling the ROM is affected. I don't worry about the numbers as much as the feel now. I read on another thread here a tip that has helped me. I sit at the edge of a table and gently swing my leg, it really loosens up and after 10 minutes I realize my swing is bigger. Did you have staples or stitches? Even though my knee doesn't bother me most nights I still can't get back to my regular sleep routine. Coming off my pain meds I cried for no reason and felt like my life would never be normal again. I have to remind myself how much pain I had before the surgery. The road to recovery is long but at least it leads to recovery. You will get through this and we all get strength from the posts here. Have a good weekend!

 

[Meezermom]

Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement. I had stitches with steri strips on top. Although I am allergic to the adhesive. Still wake up every 4 hours (Like a Baby) take my pill and off to sleepy land. Dr. appointment on Monday will tell the rest. Wishing you speedy full recovery . Thanks Again !

 

[midwestmom]

I see my doctor on Monday too. I hope we both get good news! I had staples and when they took those out they put steri strips on.i was told to let them wear off on their own, they looked pretty ratty by the end but now they are gone. My scar is sensitive to some pairs of pants. I am using Mederma on it and I hope that will eventually solve the problem. We are both better than we were 6 weeks ago and will be better 6 weeks from now!

 

[kcsandip]

I am a week or two ahead of you..had both knees replaced on Jan 14, 2013. I "thought" I was done with pain meds a couple weeks ago...but then couldn't sleep, cried all the time. Dr said get back on the hydrocodone! I had no business stopping so soon. Since going back on them. (1 or 2 during day...2 at bedtime, and another during night). Life has gotten better. Therapy is easier, getting around is easier..and the crying jags are less. I am sleeping a little better..still not great tho. I have 4 more weeks till I go back to work (half days at first-I am a RN so not gonna push it too hard at first). My knees get hot at night too.., I found out that my body was working harder at night trying to heal and the heat is from more blood being directed there to help heal. Ice helps the discomfort...prayers for you when you go to doc on Monday. Honestly tho..if the have to put a stitch in..it won't set ya back much at all. . Have a great day!

 

[Mutley]

Hi Meezermom! You know sometimes we get so caught up in our own "pit of despair" that we don't see the true picture. You are still SO EARLY in your recovery & it's a real shame about your wound. Really hope that can get sorted easily. I'm 15 weeks post op ( and more importantly ONLY 6 since I had my MUA!) even on sleeping tablets I often don't sleep. I still have mega weepy days & think, what have I done or why did I do this. However, progress is being made, although very slowly in MY OPINION! I have found this whole "saga" completely isolating. No-one close to me can possibly understand what I'm going through, & you just feel too darn tired to explain it. I'm just starting to feel like I am "turning that corner" so my advice to you is, accept you can't plan for when you will be better, only your new knee knows that! Try & keep a good balance of rest, ice, elevation, exercise & a few normal daily routines. Keep up with the pain meds, don't let the pain catch up with you. The biggest thing I've learnt is listen to THOSE WHO KNOW BEST, which are normally members of this forum. After all, they have been through the exact same thing, sometimes twice over, but have come out SMILING to the other side!
Wishing you all the very best in your recovery. jaki x

 

[referee54]

I read about other people that are healed and back to work and living their lives at 6 weeks.

Those people that have a TKR and are back at work in six weeks are just like UFO's to me. I have read of them, I have heard of them, but I have never, ever, seen one!

I actually have to get up and go get an ice pack and put it on. It's not infected but hot to the touch. It is better in the day time although I ice all the time still.

As Judy has stated, the hot knee is perfectly normal---things are "percolating" in there and are healing.

Please, do not be so hard on yourself and do not worry about things---you are making progress and you are moving forward---remember that recovery is like a roller coaster and we have the ups and the downs to deal with---some good days, some not-so-good days, and some real stinkers.

Dr said get back on the hydrocodone! I had no business stopping so soon.

Many of us--myself included--were worried about addiction or just wanted to get off othe pain meds---a "victory" of sorts, I guess.

My OS told me to take them as long as I needed them, because I was in pain. He told me to not worry about the addiction, as I would know when to stop taking them. I stopped when I truly did not need them anymore.

 

[Josephine]

I am still having Knee pain. I still have to take my Norco for the pain but I am now down to One every 4-6 hours.

So if you still have pain, why are you reducing your pain meds? It doesn't make sense. You need what you need when you need it. You're not scared of getting "addicted" are you?

I also can't get my bend beyond 100 degrees. its like there is a Stop There that I just can't get past no matter how hard the PT tries I just end up in tears.

I cannot emphasise this strongly or loudly enough: do NOT EVER let your PT push on your knee so it hurts. Not even a little bit. It's not necessary and what is more, it's abuse. S/he can push on it until the point of discomfort but NO further, get it? Trying to force it to bend is only causing more pain and more swelling which in turn prevents you from being able to bend it. Get the picture? And don't you do anything that causes the knee to hurt either. I read in an earlier post that you are walking 4 blocks which is insane! Would you do that if you had a broken ankle?

I still have two small holes in my incision. My PT says the incision is healed under but I can't go into water etc. anyone else have this ? I worry all the time about it not closing. I guess my worst fear is that they would have to go back in and stitch those two holes up

People do get anxious about these things but they are really just a minor inconvenience. The holes will heal up eventually. It's highly unlikely they'd been suturing closed. Much better to let them close naturally from the bottom up. They're not at all uncommon and are very superficial so please don't worry about it so.

I keep feeling like I am a Baby 65 year old I read about other people that are healed and back to work and living their lives at 6 weeks

You actually know of such a person? I've heard of hundreds of them but have never actually met one in person - simple reason being they don't exist! Often as not, such stories are usually a rampant case of Chinese whispers or, if told by the person concerned, turns out they were talking about "knee surgery" and then turns out to have been just an arthroscopy! Not the same thing at all. Here in the real world, we all know that recovery from TKR takes at least 12 weeks and often more.

 

[referee54]

I cannot emphasise this strongly or loudly enough: do NOT EVER let your PT push on your knee so it hurts.

Josephine is right on the mark (as usual!) you should never hurt during PT; you should take your exercises only to the point of discomfort and no further! Never let anybody push you, threaten you, or try to perform physcial "torture" on you in order to "make progress." Real progress is made by gently exercising the knee and keepin it happy.

 

[Meezermom]

AND I THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T GET MUCH WORSE !
Todays knee saga.....
>
Not good. Saw my Surgeon yesterday.He didn't like the two open spots and
wants to sew them up in OR next monday But He sent me to a wound spec. who decided to
cut the skin away at both spots with the idea he would sew them up. He called my OSD and left him a message on his cell phone and proceeded, then he couldn't sew them up as the one was too deep , so he packed
them, said keep elevated, iced and see him on Friday.


Today my OS office called scheduled me for a surgical procedure atHospital OR
on Tuesday, 3/26 which will include cleaning out the incision and sewing the two open spots on the incision up and >a manipulation of the knee. He was not okay with me only being 100 degrees at 8 weeks ????? My pre-op is Thursday am.
The worse part is I now I am even more depressed over this whole thing have two holes bigger than they were, packed and I am just so disappointed and
depressed about them. I feel like such a baby but I just once would like my
procedures to go like they are suppose to. No more steps backward, trying so
hard to stay POSITIVE. Have to stay off my leg, keep it iced and elevated for
the next few days. Friday Wound Dr. will look at it but My surgeon is going to do the procedures onTuesday.

Hope this is the last of it. Please keep me on your prayer list, especially for
Tuesday surgical procedure. Anyone had this done before? What can I expect. Will the Manipulation fix the bend in my knee??? Yes I am scared. No one in my family (Not even my husband understand how I feel. I feel even more isolated now.) I just don't understand. Plus Yes I am all crying again.

Thanks so much for all of your support. I can't Thank You all enough.

 

[Riley]

Thanks this is so encouraging. I havent cried today and thats progress. I amnow elevating my knee. I was just iceing before. Hope this will help. Went to pt my left lower back felt like a knife was in it. He gave some relief there. I guess I am just so worn out fromthe constant pain. I feellike a whiney baby. Can't waitfor this to end. I am so glad I found this. I was really feeling desperate. Thanks for the support

I remember crying all the time for the first two months. Not always because of pain, I would just cry. It was very depressing. I think that is normal. I am now going into my 4th month it the crying spurts have stopped. You are not a baby, your body is reaching to the trauma. Hang in there, it does get better like everybody says.

 

[Meezermom]

Today is thursday, I am so anxious about this surgery and Manipulation on Tuesday. Did my pre op today. My knee is burning where the wound Dr. Dug everything out.. Someone please explain what kind of pain I can anticipate with this manipulation? Th is is just so discouraging. I feel like it is one step forward and two back. Besides I m scared about going under one mor time