TKR Left TKR on August 21

[karmarcoux]

Hi

Went to my doctor she gave me Valium to sleep which has helped a lot. My calf and toes are swollen and sore. Went to Er no blood clots think it is swelling pushing on a nerve. I feel a little bit better every day. Need to call surgeon tomorrow to see if they want to do anything my first post-op is Tuesday.

 

[karmarcoux]

I had my first post op appointment they said everything looked great. X rays show a slight lateral deviation and said it may require a lateral release. I have never heard of this and was wondering what it is. They said my range of motion is great and I am almost completely off the pain killers. I pretty much take Tylenol and Aleve. I did not realize that Aleve was different then Ibuprofen, I am allergic to Ibuprofen and nobody ever suggested Aleve until I was at the post op visit they said that even though it is in the same class of drugs it is not the same makeup. I wish someone had told this earlier to me, I probably would have been in less pain.
But I am definitely feeling so much better and would do it again in a heartbeat. The only thing I was told that I already knew was I will not be able to return to my job which requires standing for 8 hours so I have to figure out what I want to do for work. Said if I return to work at current job I am only going to wear the new joint out quicker and probably damage the right one which already had joint space narrowing. But I am on the road to recovery and I feel great.

 

[Jamie]

Great report!!! It sounds like you have recovery figured out and you're making steady progress. Keep up the excellent work!

 

[karmarcoux]

HI

Outpatient therapy is going great. It is also great to be able to drive again. It now no longer have to use any cane or crutches pt says I am not a fall risk. I also now only take prescription pain killers on pt days in the morning, the rest of the time I take Aleve and Tylenol and Valium at night so I can sleep since my sleep wasn't right before my surgery and got worse after so my primary doctor thought it would be a good idea. She said I would heal better if I got better sleep.

Karen

 

[Jamie]

I agree with your doc. Sleep is critical for good healing. You may find that you are able to sleep better once you are farther along in recovery.

 

[karmarcoux]

Still doing okay but going a little stir crazy, 7 weeks out tomorrow. I really have no pain just a lot of swelling and stiffness. My doctor says the swelling may take months to totally go away, the original injury was 1 year ago today and I have had 3 surgeries since then and a lot of PT. The doctor says my knee is very aggravated and will just take time to heal. The worst part is I will not be able to go back to work until at least April or May it wants it completely healed before I go back because my job requires standing. But I am going on vacation to Disney on November 28 for a week so my short term goal is to walk around Disney and not be in pain, trip was planned before I even hurt my knee so we are going no matter what.

Karen

 

[karmarcoux]

HI Things have gotten a little better in the last few weeks. I had a major setback 2 weeks ago and had to go back on pain killers andwas put on Celebrex and I have lidocaine patches. My knee is finally starting to feel better but I am beyond frustrated everything seems to take forever to do and not being able to work doesn't help. I guess I just need to vent and she if anybody else has felt like this before.

 

[tiredwife]

@karmarcoux Recovery from TKR takes so very long that most people get frustrated. Hang in there, main problem with the frustration is that it often leads to overdoing it, so don't let it go there.

 

[Lauramacky]

I'm also taking a long time +karmarcoux so don't feel alone. It's been 3 months for me and I'm still swollen (it takes sometimes up to a year for swelling to go away and the normal is 4-6 months) and it's hard for me to walk properly. Every day I do a tiny bit more though. It's hard to realize these are accomplishments when it takes so long though. Hang in there!