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TKR Martha's Journey One Day At A Time, Phase Two

Here I am again, up in the middle of the night, although I think the pain in my back is worse than in my knee. I will be so glad when I can sleep on my side/stomach instead of my back.

I went for my post op appointment yesterday and had my staples removed. The incision is healed nicely and looks really good, but I am still seeping blood from the little holes left by the staples, so they had me stop the Lovenox injections and just take an aspirin a day for a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will take care of it. I saw the PA and had X-rays done. He said everything looked great. He told me to just work on extension, and that I am almost there with it. He said he is not worried about bend for now.
 
It sounds like you are doing great for two weeks, the knee feels so much better once the stitches /staples are removed. I also had a hard time sleeping on my back, I am a side sleeper and it was probably 4-5 weeks before I could sleep on my side. Try a heating pad on your back, it gave me some relief.
 
Thanks Clara. I will try the heating pad. It does feel really good to get the staples out.
 
The heating pad saved me during my hip and back pain. It won't be long til you can sleep on your side. I think I did it at about 4 weeks, but find that I now prefer sleeping on my back. Who would have thought?


Shelia
RTKR - 8/23/16
LTKR - 10/11/16
 
So sorry your back is hurting. Would it help if you took a muscle relaxant?
 
Shelia, I don't think I could ever get used to sleeping on my back, but you give me hope that I can sleep in a comfortable position before long. I tried laying on my side when I went to bed, but that lasted five minutes, ten, tops. So here I am in the recliner.

TML a muscle relaxant might help, but I don't want to take more medicine than I have too. I think once I don't have to sleep on my back that will take care of it. I hope so anyway.
 
It's still very early days, Martha. Everything is going to improve slowly.

For now, sleep where you feel most comfortable. I know some people have slept in their recliner for months and it used to be my "go-to" place when sleep eluded me elsewhere.
Just sleep where you can, how you can, and when you can. Daytime naps help to make up for sleep lost at night.
 
Thanks Celle. Looks like it will be the recliner for me for a while. The most I can sleep at a time at this point is 3 or 4 hours, so the daytime naps do help a lot.
 
I struggled with sleeping for a month also. I hated the thought of nightfall because it meant another sleepless night. As Celle said, sleep whenever you can, your body is working hard to heal and needs sleep to do that.
 
I watched a lot of mindless TV during sleepless nights. I had moved to the spare bedroom, so that I could have the TV on without disturbing my husband. I found that sometimes I would just fall asleep with the TV on softly - somehow it removed some of the pressure of feeling "I must get some sleep".
If that failed, then I moved to my recliner chair in the living room.
 
I couldn't even sleep in my bed for the first 3-4 at all...watched plenty of TV through the sleepless nights :(
 
Yes, any sleep is good sleep. I guess I got used to sleeping on my back with leg on a pillow. I've NEVER been a back sleeper. This morning when woke me to tell me goodbye , he said , "look at you! On your side!". I dreaded moving because I've now found that if I sleep on side, I wake up with very sore knee (I think I do battle with the pillow in my sleep). When I was "learning" to back sleep, I made a little side nest by my head and did a "pretend" side sleep from the shoulders up. Maybe try that with a squishy pillow.


Shelia
RTKR - 8/23/16
LTKR - 10/11/16
 
I seem to be getting into a routine. I can sleep for 3 or 4 hours in my recliner then make a bathroom trip, get fresh ice, take a pain pill and spend some time on the computer till the pain pill kicks in and I start to feel drowsy again, then I can sleep for another couple hours.

Yesterday I had my first outpatient PT and it went really well. My therapist is the same one I had before I had surgery. She is very gentle and makes sure she doesn't do anything that hurts. I have three sessions a week booked for the next couple of weeks, then we will see after that. Some friends came by to visit after we got home, and by the time they left I was completely wiped out. I just rested, iced, and elevated the rest of the day.
 
That first month is a lot of sleeping. I'm glad you're getting into a routine. I remember looking forward to visitors, then looking forward to them leaving! Have a painless day!
 
Company can be exhausting, I also looked forward to people coming over but after 45 minutes I was ready for them to go, lol

Have a great painless day!!!
 
That is exactly how I felt. lol I was glad they wanted to come see me, and I enjoyed the visit, but I was glad when they left so I could rest.
 
I used to rest even while people were visiting. I used to stay in bed or in my recliner, resting. Once, I even fell asleep, mid-conversation.
You don't have to entertain visitors and be socially active. Ask them to get themselves a hot drink and, while they're at it, to get one for you as well.

I think that sometimes it's a good idea to let your visitors see how much a knee replacement takes out of you. It is major surgery, after all.
 
Celle said:
I used to rest even while people were visiting. I used to stay in bed or in my recliner, resting. Once, I even fell asleep, mid-conversation.
Click to expand...
My minister stopped by after my BTKR. I warned him that I had just taken my pain meds, but he insisted that he would only stay a short time. I fell asleep in the middle of having a conversation with him about the church choir and my return...:snork::snork:
 
That first few weeks is a blur of sleep, pills, bathroom, walker, ice and more ice, stick leg up on foam cushion. After three weeks, the boundaries started to expand a bit.
 
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