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TKR Left Knee TKR Recovery

JDinCT

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Had my right knee TKR in 2019. Had my left knee TKR yesterday 9/3/24. Unfortunately I inherited my mothers knees with osteoarthritis.

My procedure was performed at Coastal Orthopedics in Bradenton, FL. My surgeon was Dr. Alan Valadie. I cannot say enough good things about my experience from the initial consult, to pre-op planning, to day of surgery prep by a caring, well informed and well prepared team of professionals. If anyone is considering TKR in the Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota area, I would highly mu surgeon and this facility.

My surgeon used the Stryker implant with the Mako robotic assist.

My surgery was performed in the Coastal Orthopedic surgical center and was on an out-patient basis. My right TKR was performed in a hospital and I stayed overnight and discharged the next day. Initially I was skeptical about having the surgery on an out patience basis but now I'm an advocate. I was able to be home is my own surroundings and in my own bed. In the hospital, they wake you every two hours for a BP check, or for meds, etc. Last night I was fortunate to get a fill night's sleep interrupted. I contribute that to being at home in familiar surroundings.

I had an almost pain free overnight. Some of that is likely contributed to the surgical nerve block wearing off. My primary pain meds is 1000 mg Tylenol three times daily and 50 mg Tramadol every 4-6 hours. Right now I'm taking the Tramadol every 5 hours. I have OxyContin as my back stop for break through pain, however, I'm trying to avoid that if possible as I don't like the side effects of OxyContin.

I'm also taking 75 mg Lyrica 2X daily for nerve pain; 200 mg Celebrex 1X daily for swelling and 81 mg of Aspirin 2X daily to avoid blood clotting.

I'm doing 15 minutes of walking with assistance from my walker every hour immediately followed by 30 minutes of cryo-compression therapy.

Had some swelling overnight which is to be expected.

Have my first outpatient PT at 3 PM today.

Best of luck to all those in the recovery phase of their procedures!


[Bonesmart.org] Left Knee TKR Recovery


[Bonesmart.org] Left Knee TKR Recovery


[Bonesmart.org] Left Knee TKR Recovery
 
Welcome back to the healing side!!!

Here is your refresher course....

You are in the very early stages of an average of a yearlong recovery. I will leave you our Recovery Articles that have helped tens of thousands of other knee replacements. We are here to help you through this journey the best we can. The very best thing for your knee right now is to rest, ice, and elevate. Exercises can come later. There is no rush to achieve ROM because it will come naturally as your swelling decreases. Your OS was able to bend your knee while checking for movements during your surgery, so it will be fine. It just takes time.

Each person is different as is their recovery. Most find that the Bonesmart approach works best for them, but others find that a more aggressive therapy helps them more. It's your recovery and your choice on how you recover. As you read more on other members' recovery threads, you’ll get a better perspective of what to expect. The following are our basic guidelines and should help get you started.

KNEE RECOVERY 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.

If you want to use something to assist with healing and scar management, BoneSmart recommends hypochlorous solution. Members in the US can purchase ACTIVE Antimicrobial Hydrogel through BoneSmart at a discount. Similar products should be available in the UK and other countries.

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

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.
 
Great to hear such a positive early report JD in CT. Hope you have another good night. Great photos.
 
Congratulations on your newest knee! Sounds like everything went according to plan and you have been comfortable so far. How did the PT go?
 
Day 2 seems to be always the tough day. I likely over did my walk sessions yesterday. Even though I did a 30 minute cryo-compression therapy after each walk session, knee became very swollen and painful overnight. I had to go to the OxyContin (10 mg) to lower the pain level. Also started 30-minute cryo-compression sessions around 3 AM and continued rest of night and into today.

Knee continues to be swollen and stiff. I'm able to walk with my walker, but it's challenging.

Will continue the cryo-compression and elevating. Should get past this rough spot by tomorrow.
 
Very early days. To be expected. One day at a time. You are still managing to sound very positive. The first few days are definitely a challenge.
 
Don’t be in a hurry to do a lot of walking or exercising. At this early stage all that’s really needed is a 5 minutes walk around the house every couple of hours along with gentle bends and stretches that will keep your joint mobile. This is especially important if you are experiencing any swelling. Your icing is good. Just be sure to ice for at least 45 minutes at a time. Keep a towel between your knee and the ice source to prevent skin damage. You actually can ice as much as you want….it doesn’t have to be the 20 minutes that you may hear. Elevate your leg any time you’re icing and that also helps.
 
I understand this isn't your first rodeo, but I'm going to leave the Activity Progression as a rough gauge just in case you haven't read it yet. I wish you the best on your healing journey, JD!

@JDinCT
 
Thanks Layla for the reminder. I appreciate the input. I will likely follow my previous model more closely as it provided me excellent results the first time around. I will surely modify it as necessary as every surgery and recovery is different... even in the same person. Circumstances change, I'm five years older now, I don't have access to cycling like I used to... etc.

Update for Day 3 - Basically performed cryo-compression therapy for the last 24 hours with cycles of 30 minutes ON and 30 minutes OFF. This includes during the night while sleeping. One of the many advantages of the Game Ready cryo-compression machine. The Game Ready has a timing function where I can set it up to be on for 30 minutes and then off for 30 minutes. This is a customizable function and can be programmed to individual needs. I've found that 30 minutes ON and then 30 minutes OFF works best for me. The "sleeve" is fairly comfortable for sleep. I then put my leg on a large pillow so I also get some elevation benefit as well during the cryo-compression therapy.

I also performed some gentle stretching that included very slight heel slides and quad tightening. Both of these are done very gently for only 5-6 reps while lying in bed.

Also got up and walked for 5-6 minutes with assistance from my walker about every hour or so. I had to rely heavily on the walker as the swelling prevented a normal gait.

One significant change from my first TKR is that I've been able to sleep well through the night every night since my surgery. I'm up 2-3 times during the night to go the bathroom. Other than that, I'm sleeping soundly. After thinking about it and looking at my data from the first TKR, I've come to the conclusion of three major things that have helped:

1. I'm not as aggressive/obsessed in the early stages about PT, ROM and recovery. I'm listening to my body better.

2. When I started feeling the deep pain, I immediately started my Oxycodone and have stayed ahead of the pain curve since.

3. I started my nerve pain med (Lyrica) at the very beginning of my post-op. Last time I did not start taking a nerve pain med until about two weeks into my recovery.

Today my goal is to continue my light stretching and short walks. I also rented a lift chair and moved my daytime out of the bedroom and into my living room. This makes it easier for me to get up and motivate and perform my stretching.

Otherwise, sometimes I feel "exhausted" by the time I can get myself out of the bed.

Best of luck to everyone out there recovering!
 
I bought a lift chair for after my surgery, also. It really helped in those early days. And a good thing about it was it laid all the way down so I could sleep in it like my bed. I was really thankful for it.
 
My entire ortho team impressed on me before and immediately after surgery that in the earliest weeks Less is Better.
I pretty much lived in the recliner with the ice machine on, doing random ankle pumps and quad sets, except for being up for hygiene and my hourly five minute walk with the walker.

Glad you're sleeping well!!!! Oh that was a major issue for me that took weeks to solve!
 
You sound like you’re doing well. Each knee is different and listening to your body is smart!

Marie
 
Wishing you a speedy recovery!!
Question for ya, I thought I read you are sleeping well, I’m 3 days in left TKR and am wondering if you are strictly laying on your back, I looked all through my discharge papers and didn’t see anything on sleeping position. With my hip replacement it took I think about 10 days to sleep on the good side with a pillow between my legs, sleeping on my back is brutal, lol.
 
Wishing U a speedy recovery!!
Question for ya,I thought I read UR sleeping well, I’m 3 days in left TKR and am wondering if UR strictly laying on UR back, I looked all thru my discharge papers and didn’t see anything on sleeping position. With my hip replacement it took I think about 10 days to sleep on the good side with a pillow between my legs, sleeping on my back is brutal lol
C'Mon -

Sleeping on my back is the only way I can use my cryo-compression and elevate my knee at the same time.

I do use a foam pillow under my regular pillow so my head is slightly elevated. That position works best for me personally.

Also, my knee, and basically the entire leg, is very sore from the surgery. If I lay on my side, one leg usually rests on or at least touches the other. I could not tolerate that at this point of time.

Hope this helps.
 
Update for Day 4 - Basically performed cryo-compression therapy for the last 24 hours with cycles of 30 minutes ON and 30 minutes OFF. ... same as Day 3.

My meds protocol is the same.

I only did mild stretches yesterday (calf, knee) and 5-minute walks about every hour. This was in addition to my daily activities.

This morning I did my PT prescribed "exercises". Here is the list:

1. Supine Ankle Pumps - 1 Set x 10 Reps
2. Supine Quad "Tightening" - 1 Set x 10 Reps
3. Supine Glute "Tightening" - 1 Set x 10 Reps
4. Seated Knee Flexion in Chair - 1 Set x 10 Reps (Did not do these)
5. Supine Heel Slides with Strap - 1 Set x 10 Reps (Did not do these)
6. Supine Hip & Knee Flexion with Physio Ball - 3 Sets x 10 Reps
7. Seated Knee Flexion on Table - 1 Set x 10 Reps
8. Seated Calf Stretch with Strap - 1 Set x 3 Reps (20 second HOLD on each Rep)
9. Seated Hamstring Stretch in Chair - 1 Set x 3 Reps (20 second HOLD on each Rep)

As you can see, ALL of these are variations on stretching. The two exercises I did not do was because I didn't feel I was ready for them at this time. My knee felt better after these. I performed 30-minute cryo-compression immediately afterwards.

My PT Therapist is using an App called "MEDBRIDGE GO". She is able to assign me exercises to do. The app has a video for each exercise and walks you through each one showing you the right form for each exercise. When I go into the app, it has all my exercises listed and when I complete them (or skip them), it automatically logs them. My PT Therapist can review my log to see how I'm doing and what I've done, etc.

I think this is a GREAT tool for post-op PT. It beats the printed-out versions hand down.

Anyone else using this app?

All the best to everyone in their recovery!
 
Thanks for UR reply!!
I just didn’t know if it would do any damage, I did see your sleeve and figured you wouldn’t be able to go onto your side. I think I’m gonna try with a larger pillow than what I was using before surgery.
 
Happy Sunday, JD!
Glad the app is working for you!
As you begin healing, please keep in mind that each recovery is unique. While the BoneSmart philosophy successfully works for many, there will be exceptions. Between the recommendations found here, your surgeon's recovery protocol and any physical therapy you may engage in, the key is to find what works best for you.
If the exercises are comfortable for you and not causing any pain...great! However, if that changes, please modify so that you aren't pushing yourself into stalling your progress as you sit in the ODIC. :wink:
Happy Sunday...I hope you have a wonderful week!

@C'mon
Congrats on your new knee! I'd like to edit your signature to reflect your latest surgery.
Is this accurate -> Left TKR September 5, 2024 When you have a minute, let us know. I will add that date and edit if you notify us it's incorrect. I'd like to encourage you to start a recovery thread so we can all support and cheer you on as you're healing. Please join us! :)
If you prefer we start a thread for you, let us know and we will happily do so.
 
Layla -

Surgery date was 9/4/24. Please update my sig line.

Thanks!

Opps sorry.... I now see that e-mail was for C'mon...
 
@Layla
Thank you so much!! The date you have in bold is correct!!

I thought about starting a recovery thread, I do know better than to hi-jack a thread I hope you guys don’t think that’s what I was doing.
But at this moment in time I was lucky enough to be able to log in on my phone and ask JD about sleeping I thought I read he was sleeping well. When I familiarize myself with the forums and quoting and notifications I probably will.

PS: I just saw where you guys fixed my text they’re short cuts for texting. Thanks!!
 
Last edited:
No, please don't feel that way. I didn't perceive it as hijacking at all, you were merely asking an important question of a recovery buddy who's healing right along with you, in real time!

The main reason I asked is because it is nice to journal your recovery to reflect back upon at a later date. Sometimes while healing we ask a question of another member, forget who the member was, or forget the thread title and are unable to locate the post. This way you can just check back on your thread and it's all right there. Please do give it some thought, we'd love to have you!
@C'mon
 

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