TKR Left knee replacement March 6, 2020

tandmcox88

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Hi y’all. I thought I’d come back to bonesmart to see if I have any surgery twins. I had my left knee replacement surgery on Friday March 6, 2020. The pain is tremendous and my home physical therapist has been horrible. I was told I had been given a nerve block, however when I woke up in recovery nothing was numb at all except my toes and a spot on my heal. My first home PT session was horrific. I had so much pain I gripped the solids of my bed so hard I broke my wedding ring completely. The second time she came I told her if I say stop or no I mean it. I showed her my ring and she apologized and agreed. Two seconds later she lifted my foot and slipped my shoe off then let go of my foot and it slammed to the floor. I definitely think her treatment has set me back in my progress. Now 13 days post op and I still can’t lift my leg or move it without a leg lifter. I can’t bend it for anything. I did hit 80 degree bend today. I’m scared she did more damage than good.
hope y’all are doing well!
 
Hello @tandmcox88 - and :welome:

There are a few people who have had surgery around the same time as you.

Here are the Recovery Guidelines we give to everyone with a new knee:
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. Try to follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

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 the 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 the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
I’m scared she did more damage than good.
Very possibly, but the actual new knee won't have been damaged. With the level of carelessness demonstrated by allowing your foot to fall to the floor I'd not let her in your house again.

You don't need PT to recover. Really you don't. Healing simply takes time. You don't want to be totally immobile, but pressure and pain is actually worse than doing nothing, it compounds the damage caused by surgery.
 
What that PT did was unacceptable. She sounds like a sadist. Don't let her back in your house. Treatment like she did just set your recovery back. No PT is much better than bad PT, which you had.

Many of us never took formal PT or did exercises. I am one of them. I had 11 knee surgeries, 2 of them kneecap removals and 1 tkr. Even after those I never took formal PT. But, I didn't just sit around and do nothing. I used my knee as it was intended to be used by walking around to take care of my daily needs. As I healed I was able to do more. Icing and elevation was a huge part of my recovery.

Listen to your knee. It will tell you if you're doing too much by increased pain and swelling. When that happened to me, I found that resting, icing and elevating helped. Your knee knows how to rehab itself without being told what to do.
 
No permanent damage I am hoping. I nearly fell off my toilet my first week almost twisting my knee and nothing became of it. The TKR implant is pretty sturdy, but please DITCH that PT!

You'll probably be reassigned another one for your on-sight but IMO that treatment was inappropriate, and too much to say the least. As I've said here before, my first in-house PT series helped me properly use my walker, master going up and down my steps, measuring the ROM I had (not trying increase it).

Most on-site PT is cancelled anyway, and your infant knee can dd without it! The pain will ease. Rushing things does not help. Rest, ice, and healing is key for now...:kittykiss:
I did hit 80 degree bend today. I’m scared she did more damage than good.
 
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My husband fell and knocked himself out on his first day home - 3rd day after surgery. Landed awkwardly, but he didn't damage his knee either. You're bound to be apprehensive. Not all PT's are the same. I think it might be worth asking if you can switch. I hope you're feeling more comfortable soon.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I’m now 15 days post op. I still can’t bend my knee when walking. It is almost like the signal is not getting from the brain to the knee. I did have a different in home PT the rest of this past week. It was much much better. She didn’t push me and gave me different things to do so by Friday I was at a 90 degree bend for enough time for it to me measured. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that again, the pain was excruciating.
 
I still can’t bend my knee when walking. It is almost like the signal is not getting from the brain to the knee.
Don't worry. It will come, given time.

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

You have all the time in the world. This is a year-long recovery. Nothing is going to happen fast.
 
I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that again, the pain was excruciating.
Pain when being measured means either you or your PT pushed your knee too far into the bend. Don’t let them make you do this, it is not necessary.

Now that you know your knee is capable of 90 you can relax and let it heal. Your numbers are going to fluctuate, so don’t worry if they go down. This is not a steady progression recovery. The number will go down if you have more swelling, and your swelling will fluctuate depending on more or less activity. Don’t overdo the exercises as that can create more swelling.

Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.
 

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