TKR Left TKR

bdub73

junior member
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Messages
28
Age
50
Location
Tulsa
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
Been home for officially 24 hours. Getting up and down are the hardest thing to do. Leg is very swollen which I assume for the amount of trauma that is normal

Have used the CPM machine twice so far,that is a long 2 hours each time.
What else should I be looking forward to?

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Welcome to Recovery!

I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

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
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
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
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 am also having a lot of difficulty lifting my leg upward still when laying down.
I assume that is from all the manipulation of leg during surgery?
Here is the only pox I have for now.

Dbub 4.jpg


Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
It’s ok if you can’t lift your leg yet, you will in time. Your knee is brand new. It needs lots of rest, ice, and elevation to help reduce the swelling, though that will take a while.

What you don’t need right now is lots of exercises. Short walks around the house will do just fine, as tolerated.

It’s not exercising that gets our range of motion back, it’s Time:

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. Exercise as in strength training is counter-productive and in the early weeks does more harm than good. Normal activity is the key to success.
 
Ok thanks. The only things they have me doing are the ankle pumps, glute squeezes and the quad push downs. Just 3 times a day for now.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Ankle pumps are good, I personally didn’t do the glute squeezes (for a knee?) and you don’t really need the quad push downs at this very early stage, but if you do them, be very gentle with them.

Bonesmart also has a library of very informative articles about this recovery:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/library-index.14830/
 
The ankle pumps feel the best. All know for sure is that my quads were so tight I barely get inside my house yesterday.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
Yes, your poor leg is very upset, it’s a tough recovery. Be kind to yourself and treat the knee very gently.

What was the day of your surgery?
 
7th at 1330 and lasted 1.5 hours

Also had Mako Robotic assisted done, is that why I have these two other bandages? Or is one of those just for the drainage tube.. Which I apparently pulled out in my sleep... The night of the surgery... Oops!

Dbub 5.jpg


Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
The bandage on your shin is covering a small wound where part of the computer that assisted with your surgery was attached.
I had one of those, as well.
 
Thanks. I really wish I could have a video or pictures but I didn't think to ask.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
How was the swelling for everyone? My leg is literally 3 times the size of my other one.
What little walking I do do since I'm just a 1½ weeks out because it causes the swelling to increase.

I do ice/elevation etc. Is it going to go down soon or is that one of the gradually decreasing things like the pain...

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
The first 10 days or so my leg felt and looked like a stuffed sausage.
Ice and elevation will work wonders.
 
I am using cane, and been walking around a bit more.

Question: when I wake up (back in bed finally) I have a burning sensation in the left side of my leg and in my quads. And it also comes and goes during the day.

Is it just the muscles are finally being used? And also possibly the sciatica?

Just wondering if anyone else has had that.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
I can’t speak to the burning, but I can speak to the inability to raise your leg. I couldn’t raise my heel even an inch, had to keep using yoga straps to bring my leg up to the bed. On about day 7 or 8, my PT helped with raising my lower leg (towel under the knee) and then asked me to tighten my quads and lower my foot. Again, he was holding on, but apparently I was relying on him less and less with each repetition. And suddenly it’s as though my leg woke up It was kind of miraculous. Since then it’s been painful but I haven’t used the strap. I imagine it’s like this with a lot of the PT. You approach it gently and things start connecting again. What a journey!
 
I couldn't raise my leg for 2 weeks. At 3 weeks, I could do 3 straight leg raises at once. I am now 4 weeks and can do 10 straight leg raises at one time. Every week, I got a WEE BIT stronger. Tons of swelling, pain, zingers, etc etc...
It has been rough, for sure. Some people seem to jump back sooner than others. Do your best not to compare. It's hard, but if you do, it'll drive you crazy.
For now, lots of icing and elevation!!
And PATIENCE!!
 
I read some stories and I feel like my recovery is in the Garden of Eden. I try to not compare, but learn from others. It is hard, there is always that one person who goes dancing on the way home from the hospital, and a week later is putting a new roof on their home.
 
@bdub73 I am 2 wks later than you in recovery (mine was May 21st), but I can relate to the swelling and burning you mentioned. I've had severe swelling that is just now going down some in the last day or so (today is Post-Op Day 8). I can also see localized pockets of fluid. My home health PT pointed them out to me today, and said she sees it people like me----I've had 7 surgeries on this knee and loads of scar tissue removed numerous times, so there's often large pockets instead of lingering all-over swelling.

The burning you mentioned is one of my biggest problems. When I stand up, it's like liquid fire pours down my leg and into the knee. There are also times when the side of my incision and about 1-2 inches left of the incision just burn horribly. Those areas have been angrier since surgery, so maybe it's just a combination of things. No signs of infection though.

I can't walk much longer than to the bathroom and back without more swelling and intense pain, so I also feel like my recovery is SUPER slow. I have read so many stories of people walking around normally 2 wks afterwards or needing no pain meds after 5-7 days...I just can't hardly believe that's even possible, though I know it is for some.

Best of luck to you and don't pressure yourself to hurry up and recover. I've been able to lift my leg easily all along and do quad sets, but the pain has kept me on my bottom and thus no walking. Pain meds around the clock every 4 hrs too. I think we all just end up with a very individual recovery that no one else completely understands.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,180
Messages
1,597,057
BoneSmarties
39,364
Latest member
All2Gd88
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom