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TKR ROUND 2: MotownGirl made it to the other side

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MotownGirl66 said:
I wonder sometimes if it's possible for the scar tissue fairy to come in and try to build her tissue in such a short amount of time?
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:heehee: It's not quite like that! The problem is swelling, not scar tissue. This is why we advise you to elevate your legs (toes above the nose) and ice when you are lying down. It helps your body's lymph system move fluid to your core where your body gets rid of it rather than allowing it to pool in your legs and knee joint. But I rather like your idea of a scar fairy....if that was the case, we'd just banish that fairy and have no problems with pain whatsoever!!! :heehee:
 
Jamie said:
Hi....it's good to hear from you. First, let me say there is absolutely nothing wrong with you!!! You're having a normal recovery. It is normal to have aches and pains for months after surgery. It takes time to be comfortable with stairs and low cars. Months may pass before you begin to get strength back in your quad muscles. And all this can be amplified when you have a second bad knee. Your body is still compensating for that bad joint by putting more stress on your new good knee.

Most people report that it is at least 6 months before they start to feel "right" with a new knee again. It actually sounds like you're a bit ahead of that. I know it's difficult to be patient. It does sound like a good idea to use some Tylenol for the discomfort you are experiencing.
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I agree. it will take a while for those quads to get strength, especially with having a bad knee in addition to the new one. Just keep slowly but surely doing activities that use the quads. It took me a long time too and I'd say I still have some strength to get. But around 6 months I could say the leg felt strong enough to be "normal."
 
19 Week Post Surgery Update:

Hi all! I've added 2) Tylenol 500's to my 1) 600mg ibuprofen and it's working wonders! Enough to take the achiness away. I take the mixture once a day open the morning. It's also positively affecting the arthritis I have in my index finger's knuckle (that's swollen, aches, and burns). @kneeper I'm seriously considering getting my other knee replaced so I can start benefiting from the new one. It needs to be done anyway but I'm still afraid from my first hospital experience. @Jamie You are absolutely right....I have been neglectful of elevating and icing in the last few weeks of my recovery. I can see I need to "step up my game" with this bad boy!

Odd thing happened yesterday. I attended the North Anerican International Auto Show in Detroit. We walked around an hour before finding seats to rest for a few. Then we walked around looking for an exit. Found that and headed outside for a five-minute, three block walk to a restaurant. Within 100 steps, a horrible pain in my nin-surgical leg started. It seemed like it was radiating down from my groin to my knee. The whole thing hurt and made walking difficult. It was like there was an impingement at the hip joint in the groin. I wonder if I was hurting it by unconsciously walking in a way to baby that knee? I couldn't walk at a normal pace and barely made it to the restaurant. Each step was agony. I sat for a while and it went away. This has happened once or twice before. Could it be the knee?
 
Hi Robyn,
So, how did the new knee hold up to all that walking?
I have heard of the tylenol/ibuprofen coctail. Glad it's working so well for you.
I'll post tomorrow after surgery. Maybe I'll send you a text....
I don't expect to get much sleep tonight!
See ya on the other side!
Karen
 
You are very perceptive. The pain on your unoperated side definitely can be a result of your body trying to compensate for a bad knee. When things are out of proper alignment, all sorts of pain sources can develop from the imbalance. We see hips that hurt, ankles in pain and plantar fasciitis in feet.

So, it sounds like you need to take things a little easier until you can get that second knee done.
 
@Jamie @kaw205
I finally caved in and made the appointment for which we will schedule the 2nd replacement. I feel, at this point (19 weeks), that the bad knee is impeding my recovery for my new knee. This sucks. I hate it, don't want to go through all of it again, but really have no choice. My husband booked us on a 15 day European river cruise through Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Budapest for November of 2015. I need to be well and capable of walking with the tour groups.
 
Well, a trip like that will certainly be an incentive to get that second knee done. Congratulations! Hope the surgeon can do it soon.
 
Hi Robyn,
Glad to hear you are getting the other knee done! The cruise sounds awesome!
I came home yesterday afternoon.
yesterday was very painful
 
Go you!! With a trip like that on the horizon it's worth jumping in and getting it done. I will be using my brain cells (when they fire back up!) to work on a plan for our trip to Italy - I'd like to aim for next fall, definitely good motivation!
 
@kaw205 @TexasTee Thanks you guys! Your support is so fantastic, especially since I am absolutely DREADING this next one. I made the mistake of going back and reading my previous posts on my thread. Holy ****! I am going to do lots differently this time. My surgeon was stingy with the pain meds the last time. Wait, maybe he wasn't; maybe I just didn't ask for enough. I definitely was not a pest. But, I told him yesterday to give me horse tranquilizers. I also had his nurse delete the entry on my file which indicates my allergy/sensitivities to painkillers and told him and her that they can give me an IV full of Benadryl and anti-itch meds this time around and to give me the best, most potent, painkillers he can come up with. I will suck it up! @TexasTee Details about your trip to Italy! Have you ever been there? I visited Florence, Rome, and Venice in 2006 - great trip!
 
Found your thread! Wow, you have a great trip planned. Just saw you were in Rome in 2006, so was I. I traveled with the church I was working for at the time, my roommate was a nun. But she was like no nun you would have ever met. What a trip. This new trip sounds great and I hope your surgery on this second knee goes smoothly.

I am asking for more pain meds this time than the last time, I was off all pain meds by the 4th week, this one I am still taking them.

Was it the new knee or the old knee that gave out? My old knee constantly gave out over the past year, it was telling me to get it done, I also had ankle problems, which seem to have disappeared now that i have the new knee.

Would love to hear more about your up coming trip.
 
Totally agree on the meds - the benedryl will just put you to sleep, more the better. Still deciding on Italy - part of me wants to do it all but at that time of year the Northern cities will be quite chilly so it might just be a week or so in Rome and maybe Amalfi coast. Can't really go wrong, regardless! I have not been there - only Paris so far in Europe
 
Post-Op Day 9 January 29, 2015
Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was up at 4:45 am to see the sisters off. A friend of mine drove them and I rode along. Then we stopped for breakfast on the way home.
I spent most of the day resting and icing until PT, Danny, came in the late afternoon. I was dreading another work out and, thankfully, he only did massage and stretching.
I fell asleep watching TV and then slept through the night.
I've been trying to extend the time between doses of oxy from 4-5 hours and woke up today in alot of pain.
I'm going back to the full dose and might try again sometime next week.
Today, it took until about noon to get the pain under control. Then I took a long, hot shower and then did my PT exercises.
The nurse came in the early afternoon and said my incision looks great and I don't need to cover it any more.
Then, I went for a walk outside (with my walker) and elevated and iced until PT Danny came.
He ramped it up today and added resistance. Had me walk foreward and sideways with a resistance band around my waist, foot slides with resistance band, leg lifts in chair while he held my ankle and pushed back, squats and calf raises at the kitchen sink, and a few others. (all the while, I'm thinking this isn't the Bonesmart way and if Josephine finds out about this, I'll get a talking to for sure).
Tomorrow, it will be massage and stretching again.
He eyeballed my ROM for the first time and said it's about 105 and etension is 0.
I'll see how I feel tomorrow and have him ease up if I have pain.
I'm going to try sleeping in my bed tonight for the first time since surgery and hope that Seamus doesn't step on my knee....
All in all, I would say so far, so good....
Best Regards,
Karen
 
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@MotownGirl66
Hi Robyn,
Your trip will be a great incentive to get the other knee done and then have a lovely, pain free vacation.
You might try strengthening your quads before the surgery.
That's about the only pre-hab I did by riding my bike 30 minutes a day. I think it made a difference.
And you're right about keeping ahead of the pain. I think I've been a little too anxious to cut back on my pain meds and that's only because my doctor is so stingy with them...
Hope you are doing well,
Karen
 
kaw205 said:
@MotownGirl66
You might try strengthening your quads before the surgery.
That's about the only pre-hab I did by riding my bike 30 minutes a day. I think it made a difference.
And you're right about keeping ahead of the pain. I think I've been a little too anxious to cut back on my pain meds and that's only because my doctor is so stingy with them...
Hope you are doing well,
Karen
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You know, after seeing my OS the other day, I decided I am NOT going to feel guilty about bugging the heck of him for more drugs, and/or, more quantities. Surely he knows me well enough by now to know I am not an abuser of RX pain meds, for pete's sake. He's done both my hips, three meniscus repairs, one knee, and now this next knee. :scratch: I am not going to be my usual "don't want to be a pest-type of patient".

Great advice re: strengthening the quads. I am going to pull the bike down from the garage and get my butt on it! :):biking:
 
Post Op Week 21: I hate to jinx myself but I noticed yesterday my pain had disappeared. At first, I wasn't sure I was right but then today, the pain was more or less "gone". Could it be possible? Does it leave just like that? It had been especially bad the last few weeks and I was nursing it along with two Tylenol 500mg. and one 600 mg. Ibuprofen to get by. I still toss & turn all night and did so last night, as well. Nights have always been bad. When I bend my knee, it feels tight so there is probably swelling deep inside. When I touch my scar, it seems sensitive, too.

I go tomorrow for my CT scan for my 2nd knee replacement. By the way, Cigna Insurance denied it AGAIN citing the ConforMIS replacement is "experimental". The CT imaging place has agreed to let me pay out of pocket for it again to get the thing rolling. Cigna sucks. They also denied Supartz shots for this same knee even though they've twice previously paid for them. The denial letter stated they wanted me to try other methods for pain relief such as OTC meds and physical therapy first. I guess one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.

That's it for today. I hope everyone has a fantastic day.
 
Insurance companies are nuts, that's all there is to it :) Glad to hear you've had relief from knee 1 - will be really good for you to be able to build up your quads before round two. Good luck!
 
@TexasTee It's also so ironic that Karen @kaw205 has Cigna, too, and she has the ConforMIS, too, and they approved hers. :banghead: This is nuts. I am going to strengthen both quads before the next surgery - you can bet your next Margarita on it, LOL! :)
 
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