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PKR Left Knee in

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Ok update time - Day 2
Utterly miserable nights sleep, in fact I cannot call it a 'sleep' more of dozing episodes between 1am-2.45am. A lovely nurse bought me in a cup of tea and ice. Then more dozing between 4am - 5am but I did catch an afternoon nap also.
My pain control seems under control during the day but I think it finishes at 8.00pm which won't take me through the night. Currently being given Paracetamol, Diclofenic and Dihydrocodeine and these work very well. Avoiding Tramadol if I can as our family have a history of hallucinating on the stuff.....hhmmmm.
I am being demanding with the ice and although physio says 20mins every 2hrs I am doing when I need it. :ice:
Bruising coming out, knee and quad huge and itchy under the dressing - so all that's normal then? :eyebrows:

So the only thing to conquer is my constipation (too much detail? sorry!) that's in my plan to beat by tomorrow morning.....
Hope everyone is OK and managing the pain, getting lots of sleep and ice ice ice.
 
Hi @jacs65 - having a tough day here with really bad bouts of intense pain. They are switching me to stronger meds for the short term, which will hopefully help

Going home tomorrow???


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Glad to hear that @jacs65 pain is starting to be brought under control and I hope @JennyLynne has a better day today. I am about to go to PT. I've tried cutting back a bit on percocet and it's not working too well for me, pain-wise, so I'm going to need to talk to the OS and figure something else out. Hey, I hear you, Jacs, about the constipation issue. I really struggled with it for about a week. Stool softeners, laxatives, you name it -- seemed like nothing was working. Finally it started to work -- not quite as good as normal yet but much better than it was. I can at least function now. Hope you both have a great day!

Roxie
 
Hi @JennyLynne yes been in 3 days, I think I could have gone home today but we live quite a distance and had to work it around my partners work. Really sorry to hear you are having a tough day, sure those meds will work.
You got out much quicker than me?

@Kansas Teacher is Percocet the opioid? I'm currently on the mid-range one and really really hope that will be enough for me. Hope you can sort the right meds for you also.
 
Sleep eludes most people and you need to snatch a nap when you can in the first few weeks. I was pretty lucky but had some long nights when I woke up a lot and kept checking the time. It's particularly hard if you normally sleep on your front but I woke up one night at about 3-4 weeks on my front and never looked back as far as the sleep went. Some people take a bit longer and with that and the constipation, it can seem a long few weeks!
Take care, watch rubbish on telly, read trashy novels, listen to an ipod, ice your knee, ice it and ice again and sleep when you can. You'll begin to feel better each day after the first few weeks.
 
@jacs65 , I do think percocet is an opiod but honestly can't tell you for sure. What I have is actually the generic form and it says oxycodone/aceteminophin. So it has some Tylenol in it too. And I don't know about you but I'm anxious for those first few weeks to get behind me so I can start feeling better like @SuperSnapper talked about!

Jacs, I hope your pain gets well under control today while you are still in the hospital in preparation for your trip home tomorrow. It's good to talk to someone on a similar time frame as me.

Roxie
 
Constipation totally normal. I took max dose of Colase until this week. Stopped narcotic pain meds and everything freed up. So you can expect to need stool softeners to keep things moving until you're ready to step down from narcotic pain relievers -- much too soon for you to worry about, just want you to be prepared. 'Twas six days before I could "go," and some people take longer.


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jacs65 said:
My pain control seems under control during the day but I think it finishes at 8.00pm which won't take me through the night.
Click to expand...
@jacs65
You need to insist on having appropriate pain medication for the night, as well as the day. If none is charted, talk to your surgeon, because his/her orders need to be amended.
 
I had to ask what the schedule was while I was in the hospital. Once I understood what they were doing (hydrocodone was "as needed" which meant I had to ask for it), I was able to have them write my next available pain med time on my white board, then I rang them for it.


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Hi @jacs65 (constapation issue) I took 2 Senokot for my issue and it worked great...hope you get some relief soon... I went to physio today and my bend is around 95 now. I still have some swelling in the knee & I know my bend will improve when it goes away good luck on your journey home. Make sure you take some pain meds before you go, a pillow and ice...:ice:
 
thank you for all the great advice, makes perfect sense.
Update Day 3
Well my sleep compared to last nights was the polar opposite, I was given base line pain killer (paracetamol) at around 8pm and also offered the stronger one (name evades me) I said I would leave that until I am ready to sleep as pain OK with ice.
I woke at 2am for water and a visit to the loo and in no pain, checked my range of movement in knee (still 90) and mild discomfort whilst putting knee through that. Sat up and watched TV for 20 mins and fell asleep again until 6am
Nurse has just been in with a cup of tea and also commented that I have not had my stronger painkillers and found this amazing after the walking and exercises I did yesterday.
Rating my pain this morning is 0 :wowspring:but it is making very nervous;
1. Is this normal
2. Is this the calm before the storm?
3. Could it continue

I've decided to take it as a huge bonus and run with it and relish the sleep I got from it.
@Kansas Teacher really hope you managed some sleep and pain under control.
@Littlelady58 thanks for the heads up on Senokot, trying prunes then that I think
@PolarBear60 yes I went through my schedule yesterday and now I know what I'm allowed and when.
@Celle still haven't seen my OS, not sure I will as I was his last patient ever at Circle Bath, have spoken to the Pharmacist
@SuperSnapper I was amazed that I slept half on my side last night, sleeping on my back is really alien. I will have more pillows at my disposable when I get home which would help.

Off for a shower and get ready for my trip home, other half has a list of what to bring which is basically lots of ice, pillows and water. Have a good day/night everyone :flwrysmile:
 
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The pain will come and go. Just relish the no pain times and take your meds if you need them. I was very sparing with pain meds and my surgeon sent me home with paracetamol and Tramadol but I was so lucky to be able to ditch the Tramadol fairly quickly and just manage on the Paracetamol. I firmly believe that a) was fortunate to have a high pain threshold and b) ice is the best painkiller around if you use it properly. We are all individuals, just go with the flow and with what your body is telling you and you will be fine. Great news on the sleep and finding a comfortable position too:yes!::yes:
 
So glad you had a restful night! Hope you have a comfortable and uneventful trip home!


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@jacs65 , my pain isn't all that bad and never has been -- I'm just really trying to figure out how much to cut back on the percocet until I get another week or so out. For the time being, I'm taking two percocet at bedtime, but, other than that, every 6 hours I take one percocet and 1 regular strength tylenol. It appears that I can manage on that. I slept reasonably well and hope you took advantage of your lack of pain and did the same! Like you, sleeping on my back is not normal for me. I hope you have an uneventful trip home. You'll feel a lot better when you get there. Keep us updated!

Roxie
 
As SuperSnapper says, the pain will come and go. I had a little this morning when I woke up, so I iced.

Have a safe trip home.


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PolarBear60 said:
I had to ask what the schedule was while I was in the hospital. Once I understood what they were doing (hydrocodone was "as needed" which meant I had to ask for it), I was able to have them write my next available pain med time on my white board, then I rang them for it.


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Click to expand...
My nurses wrote when I could take the next dose on the board too. That was helpful to me, but it probably also saved them some time too, so people don't ask too early and they have to say no. But like others have said the docs have to order the schedule.
 
Thank you all :friends:
Journey home was indeed uneventful and managed to sit in the front seat right back and on a pillow. It wasn't pain free but manageable with ice and we stopped half way for me to walk around for a few minutes.
So I have spent sometime setting alarms on phone for my drug taking, anti-coagulants etc.
Knee up and ice to hand, other half has dinner sorted, which at some point will include a few prunes :whistle:
 
Welcome home, @jacs65 . Just being away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital and into familiar surroundings helped me feel so much better. Sounds like you have things well under control. Enjoy eating those prunes and keep it up -- it took a few days for me to finally get things working.

Roxie
 
Wow scar looks good.
I used applesauce cause I could not eat prune ick.

Rest ice elevate is the best things to do.

It's nice to be home. Makes the recovery much more tolerable.

Good luck xxx


FaithMitchmommy
PKR December.1,2014
TKREV MARCH.2,2015
 
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