Bilateral TKR JD75 Reovery thread

[JD75]

Both knees were replaced at 14:30 on Feb 12. Dr Shell in Nashville performed the operations at St Thomas West.

Due to my late start, I saw the PT on the morning of the 13th. I was able to stand and walk with a heel toe step. There was some pain, but my knees were pretty numb. At some point during this day, I started taking pain pills every 4 hours.

For Valentines Day, pain was the flavor of the day. All of the numbing agents had worn off, so it was just me and Percocet against the pain. I was able to walk down the hall to the rehab center. I climbed a few steps, and walked back to bed. The nurses noticed my pained look, and ordered me another pain reliever that was administered through my IV. This did the trick, and I was back to being comfortable.

Thursday the 15th is going home day. I am taking 20mg of Percocet every 4 hours at this point. Pain is around 2-4, so not too bad. I am cautioned about not overdoing my exercises. I feel pretty good. This is nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated. I had been working out and loosing weight prior to surgery, so I was in a pretty good place going in. I am at 1-96 on my left leg, and 0-99 on my right.

The 2 hour car ride home was uneventful. It was really good to be home.

 

[Celle]

Welcome to recovery, @JD75

I'm glad things are going well.

Here is some post-op reading for you:
Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now; they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:

rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.​

3. Do what you want to do BUT

a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

the BoneSmart view on exercise
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

 

[SherrieT]

Sounds like you are off to a wonderful start. Congratulations and take care of yourself

 

[sistersinhim]

Welcome to our close knee group here on Bonesmart. We have all been though a knee replacement and know what works and what doesn't work. Be sure to read the articles that Celle left for you. If you follow our guidelines, you'll have a much quicker and less painful recovery!

 

[Beckadeez]

Sounds like you’re doing well. It’s a long recovery. I wish you the best.

 

[JD75]

I am at 3 weeks today. My right knee is better than it has been in years. I am around 0-120 with. I need to regain strength, but otherwise the right is a huge success.

My left knee is a little slower in healing. I am 0-110, but it is painful. This leg still swells and takes some warming up before I walk with out a limp. The doctor put me on an antibiotic since I had some redness. My left gets a little better everyday, but I am so tired of being laid up.

 

[SusieShoes]

My left knee also lagged my right knee in recovery. More painful, a little slower with the ROM. Before surgery, it was the worse knee and had more damage, so it had more issues post-surgery. It has consistently been about two months behind and now, at ten months out, is catching up to Righty. So hang in there!

Sorry to hear about the redness and am crossing my fingers for you that it’s not an infection. Are you icing and elevating to help the swelling? Is the pain bad enough you could use better pain control?

 

[kneeper]

Your ROM is great for this early. The strength will come.

 

[Mutti3]

It is tiresome to be laid up, but you can use the opportunity to read, watch movies, connect with friends on social media. And give yourself the me time you deserve!

 

[sistersinhim]

I took those down days to read loads of threads on Bonesmart. It was great to have the knowledge ahead of time. When different things popped up, I knew they were normal.