TKR Kelpie's First New Knee

[suemegane]

That's good, I am looking forward getting out too. See you later xx

 

[Kelpie]

Today has been the best day so far. My hubby and I went to meet Suemegane and her OH, Mike, for lunch. So good to meet someone who's at the same stage as me and to be able to share stories. We even compared scars under the table!

I'm sure we'll pay the price later but for once, it was well worth it! Thanks for coming Sue, great to meet you!

Kate

 

[suemegane]

Kate it was so good to meet you & Al too. I needed to get out & it was a good excuse to put a bit of make up on & meet up. I think we all got on very well & look forward to catch up again another time. I am now shattered & need some meds. & a knap. You both take care & see you soon xx

 

[kneeper]

Today has been the best day so far. My hubby and I went to meet Suemegane and her OH, Mike, for lunch. So good to meet someone who's at the same stage as me and to be able to share stories. We even compared scars under the table!

I'm sure we'll pay the price later but for once, it was well worth it! Thanks for coming Sue, great to meet you!

Kate

Very cool! You may need a nap and lots of ice and elevation but how fun!

 

[Slainte]

How cool that you were able to meet each other. I have virtually met some of the nicest people on this forum, & I really hope that I can see them in person one day.

 

[New England Librarian]

@suemegane and @Kelpie - I love that a real friendship has developed instead of just a virtual one! You can now cheer each other on and form your own support group! I had my surgery at an orthopedic hospital in Boston, and my hospital roommate also had a TKR on the same day. We got along famously well, and still chat by phone and email regularly - it was a real bonus, not just a new knee, but a new friend too!

 

[Celle]

I'm glad you were able to meet up with suemegane.
Yes, you probably both joined the ODIC (OverDid It Club), but I'm sure it was worth it. How lovely that you've both found a friend.

 

[suemegane]

It was lovely to find someone who lives close by, we can exchange our experiences, encourage each other & meet up from time to time.

 

[Kelpie]

It really was a very special day for me. I've made no friends at all here since I moving back from Ireland 3 years ago and to find one in exactly the same (albeit leaky) boat as me, means a great deal to me.

Yup, we've well and truly overdone done it but membership of the ODIC is a temporary one and if we behave, we'll soon be off the subscription list and back in the better place of healing slowly but surely.

 

[Kelpie]

Day 20

Today will be a better day. Yesterday was a horrid day.

After my jaunt to me met Suemegane for lunch on Saturday, I had expected pay back time and although I was exhausted and my knee ached, I've got my pain meds pretty under control so no big deal there. I've even got used to being parked in front on the TV 99% of the time; not easy when I rarely sit still for more than 5 minutes! It was all the other niggly bits I hadn't expected as part of the deal, that really got me down yesterday.

How can I write this delicately so as not to offend. Let me try! My poop fairy was obviously blown out of the sky by the codeine from the get go. Well yesterday the poop troll visited and left be slightly stunned and very uncomfortable. Need I say more? On the upside, I bet I've lost weight! So, taking the proactive approach, I took the lactulose the hospital recommended and spent the rest of the day feeling extremely nauseous and bloated. I'm not taking that stuff again. 92 year old Mum made me promise to eat prunes but seriously, who can eat those things?

I've also got a horrible itchy rash on the back of my thigh just above my knee. I've got a mild form of pressure urticaria so anywhere there is constant pressure on my skin (elastic waist bands etc) will flair up into incredibly itchy ridges and lumps. The constant presence of the pillow under my leg, combined with overheating due to be forced off my HRT 3 weeks pre-op has left my skin very angry. I've woken myself up scratching it in the night and it's a mess. I thought at first it might be exzema but a simple antihistamine cream has brought it under control so it's not that. With diligent use of the cream, it's starting to settle down but it's scabby and delicate and one scratch will set it all off again.

And there's this blasted headache that comes and goes randomly. Right across my brows. I rarely get headaches but this one's brutal. Another thing to blame codeine for?

Then, on the coldest night this year, our central heating died at 8pm last night. Not a huge problem, we usually sleep in a cool room by choice and I have a fan heater down stairs but it was another straw... Then at bedtime, my lovely, kind husband reached over to put a drink on my bedside table and knocked my knee. It really didn't hurt that much; just scared me a bit really, but I went into total meltdown. I cried my heart out for about 20 minutes, sobbing like a 5 year old. I couldn't stop and it actually felt like I needed to. I slept deeply after that, until 2 am when I usually wake and take more meds and then slept on again to 7am.

I so wasn't ready for all this. I knew it was a big op and I've had big ops before. But time makes you forget, doesn't it? My last big op following a misdiagnosed ruptured appendix was nearly 20 years ago. Not to worry, it's a temporary state of affairs and I will get there. In spite of all this, I'm more at peace with the thought of getting my other knee done next year, than ever before. Hey, I'll be an expert by then and so much better prepared.

 

[suemegane]

Ohhh Kelpie I can so sympathise with you today, I am at this moment crying for both of us...I just want to know when all this nightmare will end. All this has totally put me off having the other knee being done! Well done for you being so positive about having the second one done. Try eating raisins instead of prunes as I said to you the other day Mike gets me the choc covered ones & it works for me. My headache has now gone since I cut down on the codine, mine was over my brow too, so sickening! I'm sure all the problems we are having stems down to us usually being active & sleep deprivation is a killer. Hang on in there buddy, we are a strong pair really so let's just keep positive together & not let this beat us.... if you want to talk, cry just give me a ring & we can do it together xxxxx

 

[Kelpie]

I keep picking up bits of info about taking Tramadol with paracetamol (Tylenol) to "boost" the former. Can someone please explain this?

I take paracetamol with codeine during the day and Taramadol on its own at night. Im wondering if I'd be better to take the paracetamol with the Tramadol?

 

[referee54]

I keep picking up bits of info about taking Tramadol with paracetamol (Tylenol) to "boost" the former. Can someone please explain this?

I take paracetamol with codeine during the day and Taramadol on its own at night. Im wondering if I'd be better to take the paracetamol with the Tramadol?

I will have @Josephine take a look at this and she or @Jamie can give the the best, sound advice about the meds---others may be of better help about this subject than am I.

 

[Kelpie]

Thank you Tim.

 

[suemegane]

Don't forget we are all different Kate on what meds we need....up until saturday I was taking paracetamol every 3 - 4 hours during the day & thought to myself I think I can go longer & I did. We are all at diffetent stages, you are walking with one stick I am still on two crutches, I get up at least 4 -5 times during the night for the bathroom etc.....

 

[Kelpie]

Ah yes I know, I was just curious about the paracetamol and Tramadol combination. I'm taking more meds now than I was earlier as I wasn't sure then that I would get any more! Pain isn't a huge issue for me most of the time but it does sometimes return with a vengeance in the evenings, even after a quiet day.

 

[Josephine]

Some drugs are just natural companions and enhance one another. Some are so effective, they are even manufactured in one tablet form. This we get oxycodone and paracetamol (Percocet) Tramadol and paracetamol (Ultracet) and codeine and paracetamol (co-codamol). There are others. Above this, each drug works differently for different folk. I like the Tramadol for my knees but it makes some nauseous. Same with oxycodone. Oxycontine made me sick as a toad! Everyone is different.

It seems you're already taking one combo without even noticing it! The level of pain killing in each primary drug is different though, oxycodone comes top, Tramadol a close second and codeine a much lower third place.

One thing I personally wouldn't want to do is mix too many drugs. For instance, you are taking Tramadol paracetamol and codeine which I wouldn't care for.

But whatever you do, you shouldn't exceed the daily maximums for each drug and always remember that opiods will always make you constipated but none as badly as codeine!
Paracetamol 4,000mgs
Tramadol 500mgs
Codeine 240mgs

 

[kneeper]

Then at bedtime, my lovely, kind husband reached over to put a drink on my bedside table and knocked my knee. It really didn't hurt that much; just scared me a bit really, but I went into total meltdown. I cried my heart out for about 20 minutes, sobbing like a 5 year old. I couldn't stop and it actually felt like I needed to. I slept deeply after that, until 2 am when I usually wake and take more meds and then slept on again to 7am.

Sometimes a good cry is what you need. I'm glad you were able to get some halfway decent sleep. (I slept on the "installment plan" too. )

 

[Kelpie]

Thanks so much for the info Josephine. The hospital pharmacy sent me home with a comprehensive notebook on the various meds and what was safe with what. I'm never to mix doses of codeine with Tramadol and staying well under the max doses for all of them.

Kneeper, you're right about having a good cry! The "stiff upper lip" has to give way sometimes!

Day 21

As predicted, yesterday was a better day. I did very little yesterday and managed to elevate for hours at a time. I'd also let the icing regime slip as the pain has subsided but I was careful to do more yesterday. I also spent most of the night, comfortably on my back with the leg elevated on two pillows.

Before bed, I spent a few minutes holding my leg up whilst lying in my back. While supporting my calf, I let it gently come down under it's own weight and it ever so slowly went a bit beyond the 90 deg. It's an exercise I used to get ROM back after badly tearing my ligaments 30 years ago and they put me in plaster for 6 weeks! This morning, the ROM is still there which is heartening. So glad I found this forum! I know I would have pushed myself far too hard without the advice on here and be nowhere near as far up the recovery road as I am now.

Thank you all.

 

[suemegane]

Hi Kate, so glad that you had a better day & night. I did too & started the exercises that I had lapsed. Hope your heating has been sorted out now as it has been colder the last couple of nights, I have been cuddling up to my trusty penguin hot water bottle! Hope today is another good day for you, I am going to prepare veg for a shepherds pie before Mike gets up (after night shift) I feel ready to go to the next stage & have just walked to the bathroom with one crutch x