TKR My new knee

[Jamie]

That's interesting about your knee when you stopped the pain meds....and a good thing really. It might have changed had you gone longer than 24 hours....hard to say.

The tired feeling you are getting is a typical result of any major surgical procedure. It takes a while to get your stamina back after such a huge trauma to your body. This is one of the reasons we tell folks not to try and push going back to work. Your body only has so much energy to put forth in recovery. It takes what it needs for healing first and you are left with the remainder to deal with activities of daily life. Many times it's not enough to get you through a "normal" day and you'll feel very tired. Listen to what you're body is telling you and rest when that happens.

Certainly have a blood test if you think you have an iron deficiency. But I'm betting you don't and your fatigue is just the result of your surgery. You're just a scant 4 weeks out and that is very early in the recovery process.

 

[tiredwife]

@DKing Sounds like you at least need a clean out surgery on your shoulder. I have OA in mine and just had my first injection, they didn't see any spurs on my xray. My husband has had both his shoulders cleaned up. They are bothering him again, but after 2 TKRs he isn't ready to do anything about them yet. Hope you get some relief for yours soon. Everyone feels the energy drain after TKR. Your body is taking all its energy to heal your knee!

 

[kneeper]

Certainly have a blood test if you think you have an iron deficiency. But I'm betting you don't and your fatigue is just the result of your surgery. You're just a scant 4 weeks out and that is very early in the recovery process.

If they didn't give you iron to take at home you're probably ok. The energy drain can last quite a while--I had to remind myself of that too at as much as 8 weeks out.

 

[DKing]

Back to PT today. ROM up to 125. They were impressed with my progress and kept referring to being 6 week out. I had to remind them I'm only 4 weeks out. They were shocked.

Went to other ortho doc after PT and he agrees that surgery is the only option. He gave me a cortisone injection and suggested I call and schedule surgery for first week in December. He thinks knee should be healed enough by then. I want it done before Dec 31 to take advantage of already meeting insurance deductible.

We were discussing the problem with pain prescription and he told me that as of Oct 5th, the pharmacy can no longer call for refill. You will have to have a hard copy of the prescription every time.

 

[kneeper]

 

[DKing]

PT went great yesterday. ROM up to 130. Knee has a little click when I walk but PT says don't worry about it right now, but it's hard to ignore.

I'm still icing to keep the swelling down but overall, the scar looks very good. I'm walking more and more each day but the more I walk, the more often I have nap attacks.

My biggest goal is to get doc to sign off on driving. I'm starting to get cabin fever. I usually visit my mother who is in assisted living at least every other day and she gets really stressed when she has to go several days without seeing me.

The shoulder is better after the cortisone shot, but it still aches, especially at night. I'm finally able to sleep several hours at a time instead of just one or two hours. I'm pushing for surgery on it the first week of December, I'd like to start the new year with no broken body parts.

 

[dtmbf]

Re your pain meds - yes, they (the Feds) changed the rules on how narcotics can be prescribed. You do need a hard prescription for each refill - MA, the state where my health insurance is from, already had that rule in place. So I had to make sure the MD ordered enough actual pills to last for the month (so many of them just write for 30, 45 or 60 pills regardless of how much or how often they write to take them) based on the prescription and since I lived an hour from his office, he would mail me a hard script for refill. They are able to give you more than 1 hard script if they date them correctly. But the rules just changed for most MDs so they are just getting use to them.

 

[Jane B.]

Mary Beth, I'm glad you posted this about Massachusetts, because I knew that the prescription for the occasional percocet (5 mg) I took pre-op for pain had to be picked up at my internist's office.

May I ask who did your surgery? (PM is fine.) Burke at MGH did my surgery. If I ever get another knee done and Burke has retired, I'll need another name. Thanks.

 

[dtmbf]

@Jane B. - I had my surgery at the Baptist - Dave Mattingly from the Longwood Orthopedic Group did both my hips and my knee. Jim Narius from that same group is also pretty good from what I hear when I was on the unit post op. Mattingly is very difficult to get to see - I had to wait 5 months for a 1st appt. which was for my hips. Once you're a patient then there's no problem.

 

[DKing]

Had my follow up with the Ortho doc today. He is thrilled with my progress and released me to drive, yippppppeeeee!! I don't have to depend on someone else to chauffeur me around. It's a good thing because I was having a severe case of cabin fever.

My knee has been clicking for about a week. He's not concerned about it, he says it may click for a few weeks until all the tendons and ligaments recover from the surgery. Has anyone else experienced clicking and if so, how long did it last?

Other good news, he agrees that my knee is recovered enough so I can have surgery on the shoulder on Dec 3rd. Not looking forward to another surgery, but I am looking forward to getting a good night's sleep without hydrocodone.

I'm still worried about the drop in oxygen sats when I'm sleeping. Hopefully I can get a sleep study done before the end of the year because I've met all my deductibles and it won't cost much. I'd sure like to start the new year with all my parts working properly.

I'm going on a two week cruise in November to relax and recover. I plan on lots of rest and relaxation.

 

[PuppyLove]

@DKing i have some clicking in both knees and the OS reassured me that it's normal. I had a problem with dropping oxygen sats in the hospital. They finally figured out that their probe didn't work well on me and put a special probe on my forehead (I looked really special). It was more accurate and the drops were just to the mid 90's and not the low 80's like the first probes registered.

Isn't driving wonderful? So glad you have that freedom back and I'm sure your mom is also. Have fun on your cruise!

 

[DKing]

@PuppyLove The monitors were set for 92 and as soon as I fell asleep (and sometimes when I was awake), the dang alarm would sound. They had to lower the threshold to 85 just to keep it from sounding the alarm. This is the third time I've had problems with oxygen sats in the hospital. I frequently wake up at night with a "jolt" and evidently I snore very bad so they're pretty sure I've got sleep apnea. I'll be glad to get a definitive answer.

 

[PuppyLove]

Good luck with the sleep study!

 

[kneeper]

I'm glad you'll be able to get a sleep study before your next surgery.

 

[DKing]

Week 16 Update

Knee is doing well, still have a little stiffness and soreness but the only time it bothers me is when I turn over in bed or get in and out of a vehicle. It's still a little swollen, about an inch bigger than the other knee.

I'm still clicking with every step but I don't notice it as much. Overall, the pain is so much less than before the surgery, I'm a happy camper.

I had the rotator cuff surgery on Dec 10th. I started out wearing a brace and sling that held my arm close to my body for the first 3 weeks. Was allowed to remove the brace last week and now have 3 more weeks in just the sling. Sleeping in the brace and sling was quite a sight, flat on my back with my arm sticking straight up from the elbow. I prefer a very cool room at night so had to put a glove on my hand. The shoulder is still very sore and limits my activities but I start physical therapy on the shoulder next week and I think it will improve quickly.

My sister-in-law had the same surgery a year ago and she says it took almost a full year before her shoulder was back to normal. I'm not looking forward to a year to fully recover, but I'm already able to sleep better.

I did my sleep study on Dec 20th. Was a little strange sleeping in a strange room hooked up to a dozen wires, knowing someone was listening and watching my every move and sound.

Turns out I have moderate to severe sleep apnea. There were times my oxygen saturation would drop to 72. It's no wonder I'm exhausted all the time, I'm not getting any sleep or oxygen! I'm not looking forward to wearing a CPAP mask at night, but if it will allow me to get a good night's sleep, I'll get used to it.

The past year has been a challenge, but I'm going to start 2015 with all my parts working properly!

 

[Pumpkin]

I have sleep apnea, you will feel much better once you get used to the CPAP machine. I had two goes at getting used to the CPAP, finally got used to it and would not feel right to sleep without it now. No longer falling asleep in the evening.
Glad you will have it set up before your next surgery.
Glad to hear your knee is doing well.

 

[PuppyLove]

Hi @DKing ! I'm glad you got answers to your sleep apnea. Can I ask where you had the sleep study done? Hubby is waiting for a referral for one and I think it will be in FW. I'm glad your knee is doing well. I can't imagine having another surgery so soon after a TKR. I hope 2015 is a wonderful year for you!