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TKR Mom2Lucy's Recovery Thread

I do understand that @Jockette , I started driving sooner than I really wanted to because no one was around to take me somewhere I needed to be. I took cabs a couple of times and then figured that was going to add up fast, so in behind the wheel I went, lol.I wondered if I could brake hard if necessary. Then it happened and I realized I could manage.
 
Mom2Lucy said:
I’m relieved to hear that, @traceys , I feel like the swelling and this tugging sensation has increased since I started driving.Maybe from getting myself in and out of the car. I only drive a few minutes at a time, do you find you’re feeling worse after using your vehicle?
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Driving is not great for me either. I don’t have an automatic and the tkr was on my left knee so a lot of pressure when changing gear. Easier last time with my right. Only do short journeys 2/3 miles max. This recovery taking longer than my first. It’s a comfort to know that other people on here are finding it a bit of a slog too.:umm:
 
Today, I clued in (finally, lol) that maybe it’s not just the driving that’s giving me pain and swelling. I have had three sessions of medical style acupuncture, where the only area targeted was my knee, and I guess a bit on my shin. The first session seemed fine, the next two were each increasingly painful after I got home. The third one, in fact, actually left me with small bruises where the needles had been. And so finally a lightbulb appeared over my head. I phoned my OS, and was strongly encouraged to stop these appointments, as the needles are too invasive right at the knee. I have made my knee angry.....:bawl:Its very swollen and sore, sighhhh
 
Oh @Mom2Lucy i can do sympathize with you. :console2:

We try to do right and it turns on us. You must be so upset about it.
Hopefully now this bout will clear and you can try again with something else.
Maddening isn’t it
 
So maddening, @traceys , I’m kicking myself....but I’m thankful that the nurse case manager feels the chance of infection is so very slight. She feels I have aggravated the soft tissues, but ice and elevation will hopefully do it’s magic. A lesson learned for me.:bignono:
 
@Mom2Lucy I'm so sorry this has happened to you, the acupuncture too close to the incision. But a huge thank you for sharing on here! Imagine how many people will know to avoid doing that after reading your recovery thread! Good on you for the PSA!
 
Thanks @grandma chris , between driving and acupuncture, I’m my own worst enemy, lol. Definitely an honoured member of the ODIC...:sigh:
Today will hopefully be rest, ice, and elevation
I’ve been following your thread, you’re doing so well!
 
Don't beat yourself up! You were trying to help yourself. I'm sure we've all done something in good faith that didn't turn out so well.

I haven't had acupuncture post up yet. I guess Chinese and medical accu are way different. For the knee in Chinese accu they put the needles in some odd meridian like the scalp or ear or who knows where.
I had a chiropractor do dry needling for a neck injury once and it was all I could do to not punch him! That hurt.

Methinks you and I could be president and vice president of ODIC right now. Feel better soon! Before Christmas.:reindeerlights:
 
Don't be too hard on yourself. You were just looking for a way to feel better. It's true, though, that your soft tissues around the knee are not going to behave like they did before surgery. They've been seriously disrupted and are sensitive to anything that might disrupt them further. Not everyone's soft tissues or skin would have reacted like yours did to acupuncture... but yours did react like that. So it's good you caught it and can stop the acupuncture for now.

Our bodies react in odd ways sometimes to surgery. I got an autoimmune skin reaction! Itchy and scratchy for several weeks. It was super annoying. But it went away. My dermatologist was cool about it: "These things happen sometimes." I was just glad I didn't have a metal allergy!

Infection from acupuncture is unlikely, as your surgeon said. That's always the first thing we post-TKR people fear!
 
@Mom2Lucy I have just read your thread and am so glad I did. I am 6 days post op on my right knee having had my left done in June. This one has been so different and so painful. If I had been like this in June I wouldn't have got the second one done. I have been so worried that what was happening wasn't right this time. I have got myself so upset and couldn't cope with the pain. Reading your thread from the start was just like reading what was happening to me - calf, foot, bruising, swelling, pain. I am glad to see things are improving for you and it has cheered me up and given me hope that I will get through this. My left knee is still a baby as it isn't quite 5 months old yet. I thought this one would be like the last but it just goes to show that no two knees heal the same. Good luck with the rest of your recovery.
 
@Mollymax, I’ve read your thread ,also. And I often think you’re experiencing so much that is similar to me! I hope your pain is lessening. :flwrysmile:
 
@beachy , yes the traditional Chinese acupuncture is very different, and I love it. I didn’t realize at first how different the medical acupuncture is,and I doubt I’d ever try that style again. Definitely not as a post surgery treatment anyway....
 
@Mom2Lucy I felt I as experiencing the same as you this time round. I thought I was the only one who had these calf and shin pains and convinced myself I was having a dvt despite being on blood thinning tablets. I just can't shake off this feeling. I won't monopolise your thread with my worries but it has helped reading your experiences.
 
@Mollymax , I always wonder and worry each time a new or different kind of pain arrives, which is often... so please don’t ever hesitate to let me know if I can somehow help. I’m always a willing listener, ie reader, and I myself am somehow reassured when I see the pains I’m feeling are occurring to other folks. I can’t describe these pains to the people around me, as none of them has ever had a tkr. They always look so puzzled, lol
 
I’m happy to say the pain is subsiding after my bout with the painful medical style acupuncture. It’s taken a lot of icing and elevation, and I also stayed out of the pool, and limited my driving. I am though, experiencing more nerve pain, but not the horrible zingers that we seem to experience in the earlier post op weeks.
Is there a time guideline as to when nerves have regenerated or repaired or whatever it is those little
:censored:need to do. I know the swelling may hang on for months, but what about the nerve pain...:holysheep:
 
I'm 2 1/2 years out and I can still get little mild zingers. They don't hurt, but let me know they are there. Of course, where they occur still has the numb area.
 
I will be 2 years in March and I still get one once in a while.
 
I’m feeling so frustrated today, so I’m going to apologize in advance . I’m so tired of the tightness and the swelling. I feel fine when lying down , but once I’m up and moving around, that swelling and pain come on so fast. Arggggghhhhhhh:tantrum2:
 
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