TKR June 16 LTKR on my way

KPup

junior member
Joined
Jun 20, 2021
Messages
56
Age
63
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
Had LTKR on 6/16. Today is day 3 post op. Finally got pain med needs figured out.

can’t bend as much as I want and can’t sleep.
So glad that this group is here.
 
I had my RTKR the week before your LTKR. I'd like to follow your progress, but I'm not sure, can't remember how to do that.

I hope you're doing well these past few days with the start of your recovery.
 
:welome: to BoneSmart


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
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

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

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:

There are also some cautionary articles here


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.
 
Finally got pain med needs figured out.

can’t bend as much as I want and can’t sleep.
Hi @KPup I'm glad you got your pain medications sorted out. You'll need to keep taking them on a regular basis for a while.

Don't worry about not being able to bend your knee. It's swollen and that will prevent it from bending further right now. As you swelling goes down, your knee will naturally start to bend further.

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

There's an article about sleep disturbance in the recovery guidelines that Roy Gardiner left for you. Just take naps and don't expect to sleep the night through for a while.
Sleep where you can, when you can, and how you can. All those little naps add up to a reasonable amount of sleep.
 
can’t bend as much as I want and can’t sleep.
So glad that this group is here.

I am almost 5 months post one knee and 3 months post the other and I can’t bend either knee as much as I want and am still sleeping in a recliner. This is a 365 day recovery and you are on day 3. That might explain things :heehee: .
Know this is normal and pray for patience. And come back often for lots of support and advice! :welome:
 
Thanks for the support and perspective. I live alone and am widowed so the thought that this is a year long process is a bit scary.
 
Yes, it can be a year long process, but, you won’t feel like you do now, the entire year. Things improve along the way, and there will be ups and downs, but if you relax and try not to overdo, you’ll heal fine and be happy with the result. Lots of our members live alone and do manage well.
 
Thanks for the support and perspective. I live alone and am widowed so the thought that this is a year long process is a bit scary.
I live alone too. You will surprise yourself with what you can do around the house without overdoing. Its empowering. But I have to admit it would be nice to have another human in the household. Take care.
 
@KPup I am also a widow and live alone and have been by myself since my surgery. It’s interesting how our brains can figure out a solution. My Dad always said that if you can’t figure out how to do something, sleep on it. It works for me every time. You’ll be fine.
 
Hi there, KPup. I am also a June TKR (and a great fan of Golden Retrievers). This is my second knee. Full recovery takes time but you will have a lot of small victories along the way that will help build your confidence. Your body will surprise you with its capacity to heal. Getting the pain meds right is crucial in the early days.
 
Thanks for the support. Golden Retrievers help the process for sure.

I feel like I’m doing OK. It’s amazing how quickly we heal.

I’m glad to hear that your surgyand recovery are going well.

for me the summer sun helps!!!
 
Update. Today is day 6 post op and oh what a difference 3 days make!!!

I had a scare over the weekend because my thigh was very swollen and bruised. I looked at the discharge paperwork and said to call if this type of thing happened.

so I called and the PA called me back. Told me oh- that’s nothing , it’s from the tourniquet. Well duh! I didn’t know they had used one, and nobody told me to be prepared for this.

I’m glad it was nothing to be concerned about

But I am adding it to my ‘list’. When I am further along in recovery I want to provide my surgeon feedback about what worked well and what could have been improved with the goal of helping future patients.

For me I feel like I didn’t get enough information about what to expect during the various phases of recovery.

I so appreciate the information posted on this site and also from other members. Thanks so very
Much!!!
 
Most of us were never really informed of the ins and outs of surgery and recovery! There really should be a pre-op sit down with someone in the office who can explain what to expect. My hospital has a patient portal where you can read the operative report, so I knew about the tourniquet. Yes, that thigh will be sore for quite some time so try not to stress about it. The 1st 3 days are very challenging, to put it mildly. I’d like to say everything will improve now, and most days it will, but don’t be discouraged if you have some days that seem to be going backwards! It happens to us all. But time and patience will win out.
 
Hi! 5 weeks and 3 days post op. Doing great for the most part and was able to stop pain meds 2 weeks ago. So because I was doing so good, I think I got cocky and thought I was superwoman.
I got the go ahead to massage my scar and press the lumps out and use vitamin E.
This morning when massaging I noticed a small amount of clear drainage from the very bottom of my scar. I haven’t had any drainage since the first week- so this is concerning to me. I’ve had several earlier knee surgeries and the new scar crosses an older one and just below that is where the drainage is.
I’ve called the surgeon’s office but it’s the weekend- so may not hear anything until Monday. I can’t find anything in google and haven’t been able to find anything on this site to help me evaluate whether this is urgent or normal, or somewhere in between. Does anyone have any input or information about this? Last thing- I’ve had company for six weeks and I think I’ve been overdoing it. They’re here to help, but having folks in the house means I am not resting as much as I’d like. Not complaining- just trying to give a full picture. Any advice or info would be appreciated:) :-) (:
 
Today is 6 weeks post op. Yea! For the first time in a long time I couldn’t sleep and woke up in 9 pain. It feels like every ligament and tendon and muscle is locked up. I haven’t had to use a cane in weeks but got it out today and it hurts to walk- a lot.
I am icing and elevating and plan to rest as much as possible.
At PT this week the therapist looked at my wound and thinks the drainage is OK and is a small hole caused by a stitch not desolating and working it’s way out the incision.
so now I am concerned that I could have an infection. I didn’t do anything this week to cause this new pain.
I am writing today for input. Have others experienced new and significant pain 6 weeks post op? What about drainage? Thank you in advance.
 
With any kind of drainage, I would notify my OS and have him check it out.
 
Yes, better to get it checked out just to be sure.
Don't worry too much about the scar. FWIW- I was diligent in scar massage with my first tkr --with cocoa butter with vitamin E. I was much less diligent and just used regular lotion with knee # 2--the scars look the same and any bumpy areas just settled with time. The massage can feel good, though.
 
Thanks. At the OS for 6 week follow up now. His PA freaked out that PT massaged and got drainage and didn’t send me directly here. They’re all connected and OS is across hall from PT. Had X-rays and am waiting to see OS. Fingers crossed that this is not an infection!!! Will provide an update.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • Jaycey
    ADMINISTRATOR Staff member since February 2011

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,167
Messages
1,596,864
BoneSmarties
39,356
Latest member
JanieMarie
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom