donnag1108
senior
United StatesGlad to hear your doing okay but sorry about your power! I too had no appetite and still don't have much of one. I have the numbness as well so it sounds like all is normal for you.
TKR Mangie’s Giant Step towards healing
- Thread starter X2mangie
- Start date
As long as I was on the pain meds, I had little appetite. I made sure I got my much needed protein by drinking protein drinks and eating mixed nuts. Try to at least get plenty of protein in my diet.
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X2mangie
member
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X2mangie
member
Yeah, power came back, hubs went to work and it is quiet! Got some leftovers heated in micro, but so exhausted! A friend is coming to wash my hair!, yeah!
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X2mangie
member
Heads up! I am so angry! I just had a call from the surgeons office. At my last PT visit, I was at 85 flexion and -20 extension. I was happy at that at not even 3 weeks. The flexion was up 15 degrees. And he had never measured the other. Anyway, I just got a 15 minute lecture about how I was supposed to be seen 8 times by now (news to me) and I should be doing much better and how my knee will be stuck if I don’t do better, etc.etc. I told her that I understood what she was saying and I am doing the exercises and walking. She ends her little lecture by saying “well, I will relay this to doctor, but I am sure he will have me call back” WTH??? I feel like I just went to the Principals office! Arrrggghhh
8 times in 3 weeks? That's ridiculous!
Try not to let that angry person upset you. She doesn't know what she's talking about.
Often, the PAs and the ancillary staff are worse than the surgeon. They know less and dictate more.
Try not to let that angry person upset you. She doesn't know what she's talking about.
Often, the PAs and the ancillary staff are worse than the surgeon. They know less and dictate more.
Don't go back to that therapist. You aren't even a month out! He is not doing you any good at all. Beating us down is not helping us heal, it stressing us out. That makes healing even worse. Stress increases pain and depresses us. That is not aiding your healing! Request another PT and if they don't change, then go to a different office or better yet, don't go at all. You don't really need to.
In any case, it's not exercising that gets you your ROM - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.
My surgeon doesn't allow any PT at all for the first month after a knee replacement. He says your knee needs that time, to start on its journey of healing. For that month, we rest, ice and elevate our leg, and walk around the house.
After that month, we just go to PT once every 2 weeks, where we are shown a few new exercises to do at home.
His patients all do well and achieve good ROM, as I did, and he hasn't had to do a manipulation to help with ROM for the past 4 years. I think that speaks for itself.
My surgeon doesn't allow any PT at all for the first month after a knee replacement. He says your knee needs that time, to start on its journey of healing. For that month, we rest, ice and elevate our leg, and walk around the house.
After that month, we just go to PT once every 2 weeks, where we are shown a few new exercises to do at home.
His patients all do well and achieve good ROM, as I did, and he hasn't had to do a manipulation to help with ROM for the past 4 years. I think that speaks for itself.
I was one who did have 8 sessions in 3 weeks, I started out patient therapy 48 hours after surgery, because that’s what I was told to do, and I didn’t know any better. 
I had only just got home from the hospital the evening before. What a waste of energy and additional pain those early appointments cost me, just getting there and home, in cold, windy March weather.
I scheduled PT 3x a week, because that’s what the PT place said I needed.
I guess because I “only” had a partial, and my husband and I were retired, so he could drive me to PT, I didn’t qualify for any home PT.
Well now I do know better and things will go different next time!
I had only just got home from the hospital the evening before. What a waste of energy and additional pain those early appointments cost me, just getting there and home, in cold, windy March weather. I scheduled PT 3x a week, because that’s what the PT place said I needed.
I guess because I “only” had a partial, and my husband and I were retired, so he could drive me to PT, I didn’t qualify for any home PT.
Well now I do know better and things will go different next time!
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X2mangie
member
I was lucky enough to have home PT, but his first visit was 2 hours long and I swelled like a balloon, so our next sessions I cut him off at 1 hour. He heard me when I said I would not push to the point of pain. I also told him I could care less about the “ numbers” at this point, which I know he didn’t like. The OS just called back to say I need to wean from my pain pills and they aren’t going to refill next time. I don’t care...I am already weaning. It just felt like a power play or something after our conversation this morning. It is really too bad because the surgery and anesthesia was really great, but now I am feeling all of this judgement. 
I had an at home PT visit the day after I got home for the hospital. I didn't even want that, but it was scheduled without my knowledge. She tried to touch my leg and do a little pushing. I told her under no circumstances was she to touch me. She said she was going to tell on me and I told her to go ahead. When they called to schedule another visit, I refused it. I also took no outside PT either and I have great ROM!
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Bike4Fun
junior member
I am sorry you had that experience. At my second home health visit, the therapist told me I needed to be at ROM 115 for my first follow-up visit with the surgeon one week later (2 weeks after surgery!). She threatened me with an MUA (manipulation under anesthesia) if I didn’t hit that number.
After posting this on this forum, I got good suggestions for what to say to the therapist. The next time I saw her, I told her I would be following a gentle non-aggressive approach to physical therapy. That didn’t mean I was going to do nothing, just that I was going to listen to my knee and use recovery of my daily living activities as the measure of my progress instead of a ROM number.
I was so surprised that she actually listened to me and no longer tried to shame me in to achieving an unreachable goal.
I hooe the medical professionals around you come to a point where they hear you and stop the judgment and power plays.
After posting this on this forum, I got good suggestions for what to say to the therapist. The next time I saw her, I told her I would be following a gentle non-aggressive approach to physical therapy. That didn’t mean I was going to do nothing, just that I was going to listen to my knee and use recovery of my daily living activities as the measure of my progress instead of a ROM number.
I was so surprised that she actually listened to me and no longer tried to shame me in to achieving an unreachable goal.
I hooe the medical professionals around you come to a point where they hear you and stop the judgment and power plays.
I will never understand why they use this tactic. If allowed, it just causes pain and extra swelling which limits ROM. Of course, they make you think that that's a good reason to keep going back and thus making money for them.
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X2mangie
member
Thank you all! I have my post op tomorrow and where I was looking forward to it.....now I am a bit nervous. I will have to remember your words @Bike4Fun and tell him the same thing.
I have stopped the pain meds and use Tylenol which seems to manage the pain well. No power play with that at least!
Thanks @ebungalow! Each day is better and better
I have stopped the pain meds and use Tylenol which seems to manage the pain well. No power play with that at least!
Thanks @ebungalow! Each day is better and better
I was surprised — shocked, I tell you — by how well Tylenol worked as post-op pain relief. It didn’t even touch my pre-op pain, but post-op it worked really well.
I hope your OS visit goes well. What surgeons look for in terms of improvement can differ quite a lot from what PT looks for. They know you’re still in very early days. Mostly the OS just wants to make sure things are on course. Your TKR is a work in progress still, with lots of improvement yet to come.
I hope your OS visit goes well. What surgeons look for in terms of improvement can differ quite a lot from what PT looks for. They know you’re still in very early days. Mostly the OS just wants to make sure things are on course. Your TKR is a work in progress still, with lots of improvement yet to come.
Bike4Fun
junior member
@X2mangie Good luck with your post-op visit. My first post-op last week did not go well. My surgeon was extremely mad that my flexion at two weeks post-op was at 70 instead of 90. I told her the same thing I told my home health physical therapist ( that I wanted a gentle non-aggressive physical therapy), but the surgeon would hear nothing of it. I wasn’t able to stand up to her and left in tears...
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X2mangie
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I am sending good thoughts your way!
You should have asked him who's paying him! You are, through your insurance, that makes you the boss! I would never go back to a doctor than treated me that way!
