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Revision TKR Motherbone's Recovery Thread

When I broke my foot and ankle a few weeks shy of my new knee's 1 year birthday, I was non-weight baring for 6 weeks. It was awful. I was in a wheelchair for any moving I had to do. It was a blessing to have one! Can you use a walker? That would help getting back and forth to the bathroom.
 
Am I reading your thread correctly that you broke your patella on Oct. 10 but had no surgery until the 16, where you had a total revision along with the patella repair?
 
Day 5 victory: better pain control, a little further on the walker, and constipation abated! Terrible boredom, though. I may have to take up knitting. Good thoughts and a good night to all of us:console2:
 
@sistersinhim, yes. They could not operate immediately because I was on aspirin therapy. It was originally scheduled for October 19 but surgeon decided it could safely be moved up so it was. And I can use the walker but with only 25% weight bearing, which leads to some guessing. So far, though, it's coming along.
 
Did they replace your implants with all new ones in this last surgery?
 
Day 6:

I successfully showered this morning, it took an hour from start to finally dressed and was a little scary which is why I put it off a few days. I was balanced on my shower bench while propping my right leg straight out on a plastic box. I have to work on sitting a little more solidly. But it felt good. I am also using the walker to get from bed to bathroom at night and was only up once during the night, thank goodness. Some pain tonight but manageable with Tramadol. I actually have more pain in my shoulders from having to lean on them so much and still need my husband's help to get up from the recliner or the wheelchair. My appetite returned today so I have to watch myself, I don't want to gain a bunch of weight!

@Jockette, as I understand it, the implants were left intact and the repairs were to soft tissue of the joint capsule, the extensor tendon, and the patella. On the X-ray I was shown, the actual hardware was not displaced or broken. I still get creepy feelings up my spine when I remember what it felt like. But I'm getting better at forgetting, LOL.

Good night, happy dreams to all of us knee warriors. :console2:
 
Hi, Motherbone! Celle tagged me way back on the 15th, but I was away on vacation and not checking the forum. I'm sorry you're going through this. If it's any consolation, your PT sessions may or may not have caused the fracture. In my case, I was standing on the curb leaning into my truck to rest my laptop case on the floor of the cab when I heard an extremely loud "CRACK!". My neighbor, standing three feet away, heard it too. I was fortunate not to have a complete break, but my patella was cracked. My surgeon cautioned me that if the crack widened, I would require surgery. Not wanting that, I spent three months being very careful and lots of time in my recliner. The positive aspect of this was when I was done, all the little aches and pains from both my replacements was gone, so I can attest that the advice to simply rest and do basic activities of daily living works for TKR recovery. I just did it six months after the fact. Feel free to read my recovery thread for my right TKR linked in my signature for details of my experience (which was nothing like yours, but there may be some helpful tidbits).

Back to the patella. After the arthritic part is shaved off and the patellar button or membrane (as your report says you received) is applied there's a good news - bad news part of the deal. The good news is you have a support for your patella. The bad news is your patella is much thinner and more fragile, so it really needs it. In my case, I believe my patellar button helped keep the patella from completely breaking. But if I'd never had the patella shaved in the first place, it might not have been an issue. It was what it was, and I was fortunate to already be retired so it gave me a chance to tell my husband I wasn't going to do certain things because I didn't want to risk needing surgery, so he didn't bother me in my chair. And my achey knees eventually stopped aching, my sit-to-stand problems disappeared, and I gradually noticed going up and down stairs wasn't an issue anymore.

I was blessed with a really nice brace, so I'm very sorry yours is such a hassle. I'm thankful you're recovering from your revision, and I hope all continues to go well. Please let me know if I can answer any questions you may have
 
What an aggravating thing to have happen, but what a great attitude you have toward moving through this setback! Good news that the implant itself wasn’t affected and could be left undisturbed. It will continue healing, which is a good thing. But you certainly have enough challenges from that little patella!

Knitting isn’t a bad way to pass time, particularly at this time of year. Excess production can go to holiday gifts for everyone who’s been of help, or a cute jacket for your dog. :puppysmooze:
 
How awful for you! I did have an immbolizer with two metal rods down the sides after my infection and it did slide down my leg. I did very little walking partly because of the immbolizer (I walked like a Pirate with a peg leg) and because my OS wanted me to take it easy.

Have you thought of trying to knit one of those “chunky” throws? The patterns don’t look difficult so if you have brain fog it shouldn’t be too bad and it’ll keep you warm while icing. I’m wanting to try knitting this winter.
 
Day 8

@PolarBear60 thnks so much for sharing your experience. I particularly like the part where you noticed all the post op aches and pains abated. Natural healing, something that our medical system does not appreciate nearly enough. I'd love to know the name of your brace. I've just taken to re-tightening mine every time I plan on getting up, as a precaution.

Next week I go for my first post op visit, when I have to decide if I want to opt for a cast instead of the brace. Hmmm, what a nice choice. When I was talking to my surgeon in the hospital on his rounds, he did say resurfacing the patella could make it thinner and that if I get the left knee done down the road they would likely leave its patella alone, given my history.

@SusieShoes and @KarriB I think I will try some knitting. I'll have to depend on my husband to get the needles and yarn so there's no telling what I will end up with, it will be like getting a mystery gift...

Regarding my functioning at the end of my first week of recovery, I'm doing ok with food portion control and wanting to sit up more and lounge less. I still am up to pee every 2½ to 3 hours a night and showers are still a bit scary. I have ordered a waterproof shower footstool to rest my foot on, which I have to do in order to keep the knee straight, and I think this will be more stable and make showering a little less intimidating.

My gut is all messed up, which I suspect is due to my still taking oral antibiotics. I will finish those by the weekend and will work on restoring my gut flora thereafter.

I sent in my ballot by mail for the upcoming election and worked an entire crossword puzzle yesterday. Tonight's assignment: craft a better system to cover the leg brace during showering. The cast cover I bought has a diaphragm opening that pinches so much that I realized that was part of the reason I dread showering.

Still have shoulder pain, hoping eventually the muscles will grow stronger and not hurt as much. The primary issue that interferes with a little more independent mobility is my difficulty getting up from a seated position.

Because I have to keep the right leg straight and can only bear limited weight on it, I have to rely solely on the left leg for getting up. That's a feat for even the most fit person. I can push myself up if l can get my hands on armrests at the right height and angle, at which point I have to balance largely on my left leg and quickly transfer weight bearing to my walker with my hands and arms. We have toilet armrest supports, thank goodness, so in the bathroom I'm okay, and my bed is high enough that I can get on the walker with minimal uprise. But everywhere else I need my husband to pull me up from a seated position. Anyone with suggestions about this problem, please chime in.

Also, anybody with experience of full leg cast in the straight leg position, please give me feedback.

Marching towards recovery (well, actually hobbling towards it).
 
Motherbone said:
But everywhere else I need my husband to pull me up from a seated position. Anyone with suggestions about this problem, please chime in.
Click to expand...
My husband did the same for me. I don’t know of another solution.
 
My brace was a Breg. It had the capability to adjust from a full locked postion to varying degrees of bend to full unlock. I loved it and didn't get annoyed by it until near the end of my time for having to wear it.
 
No showering was allowed the entire time I wore the immbolizer, however after that I still had a PICC line that needed to stay dry during showering. Press n Seal was the very best to keep the PICC line site dry.
 
Day 9

The footstool worked, I was balanced and stable on my shower transfer bench with my leg straight out propped up on it and it was not nearly so scary. Not much change in sleep patterns. Pain controlled with 1000mg of Tylenol extra strength combined with 50 to 100 mg of Tramadol, twice a day (AM and bedtime). I do have a lot of general joint pain from my rheumatoid arthritis but I can't take any antiinflammatories because I'm on a 30 day course of anticoagulant medication. My stomach is still rumbling but I have only one more dose of antibiotic left, yay! Boredom is a problem but perhaps I should be grateful that the day was so uneventful that I got bored in the first place. No progress towards knitting yet!

@PolarBear60 my brace is a Donjoy with what sounds like similar features and it slides down my leg like a sled down a hill. I suspect it was not sized correctly for my short frame (5'3"). I even went on Google posing the question of how to get my brace to stay in place. Turns out it's a widespread problem that even has a technical name: "brace migration"! We have sheathed my leg in faux sheep fleece which pads and slows the migration, but gravity nevertheless has its way with me.

@sistersinhim i worry that a cast would just slip down as well. If that is the case, I would not gain anything by choosing to be casted. Did yours slip? A long time ago I spent six weeks in a cast with a broken arm. Itching, cleanliness, and odor were also problems.

@KarriB what kind of immobilizer did you have? Not being able to shower would be difficult for me. I went 3 days without showering and ended up with some badly irritated patches of skin, which is why I forced myself to keep working on solving the problems I was encountering. I remain seated with the leg propped straight up and I use a hand held shower head. I couldn't do it standing up.

Here's to a quiet night and good sleep for all of us.:sleeep:
 
Motherbone said:
Did yours slip?
Click to expand...
I didn't have a cast on my leg, it was an immobilizer. It didn't slip because it was from my thigh to my ankle and has adjustable velco straps. Yours sounds like a pain! Have you tried knee socks rolled down to catch the edge of the brace?
 
It was a wrap around immbolizer with steel rods throughout. The immbolizer that came off for me to change clothes, but not showering was due to the incision and seeping the continued. I spent 11 days in the hospital where they had “bath in a bag”. When I was ready to bath the aide would bring 2 large zip lock bags. One filled with warm soapy water and another with warm water for rinsing. I missed those when I went home where I just sponge bathed at the bathroom sink, but the whole time I washed my hair in a sink.
 
Can you call your doctor and ask for a different brace or a size?
 
@sistersinhim i haven't tried that but I do have some leg warmers that might help and I will try them.

@KarriB I admire your fortitude!

@Jockette I am going to ask this Wednesday when I see him. I hope to avoid a cast. An immobilizer sounds like a reasonable compromise that would allow me to keep the skin clean.
 
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