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PKR My recovery begins<

Good morning Tammy. I am glad they finally called you! You know, for peace of mind, you may want to go in on Friday just to get your leg looked at - the weekend can be long and scary if you have something you are worried about. I had a terrible time with nausea when taking my pain pills. I talked to the pharmacist and they suggested I eat some form of protein before taking my pills. For me, that was a small amount of almonds. I also lived on saltines and dry toast. Drink plenty of water. I hope you have a better day today.
 
Thank you Jan and Janis for all the support! I really do feel comfortable here. I agree that I would like to see the NP tomorrow for reassurance. I have a little complication in getting there though. My husband has a job interview at 1 pm. I could drive myself but I would have to go without pain medication. Of course I don't have anyone else to take me as we don't live near family and all of my friends work. I could manage it. I have regained some control of my leg so I'm hoping it continues to improve. I just took 2 Percocet for the morning since I slept through one of my doses and I woke with a lot of pain. I'm set with my ice, my pillow, my blanket and my water in my recliner. I'm probably going to go back to sleep for awhile :)
 
Hi Tammy. Like you, I was experiencing extreme pain in my calf as well as the dizziness/nausea/sweating for about two weeks post op. I did end up going to the ER for the calf pain, mainly to set my mind at ease. They did an ultrasound and everything turned out to be ok. I did half an enormous bruise on my calf, which eventually went away along with the pain. There is definitely concern for a blood clot, so if this is making you anxious, then please go get it checked out sooer than later. You are always better to be safe than sorry.
That sweating/dizzy feeling lasted a lot longer than I wanted though. I spoke about it with my OS and he said that my hemoglobin was a lot lower due to the blood loss during surgery and it would take time to build up again. I used this as an excuse to eat a lot of roast beef for iron, along with any other souce of iron I could find. It took a while, but I am feeling back to normal now.
 
@snowdrop my bruising is primarily on the front of my leg (shin) and a little to the left of the knee on the upper outer part of my calf. I don't feel like it's a blood clot, the pain is a severe tenderness at the site of the bruising on shin area. Touching it sends me through the roof. If it gets any worse or changes in any way, I will be first in line at the ER! As for the blood loss and anemia, that's a great question to ask! I have no idea what my blood loss was like. No one has said anything to me about it. It sure wouldn't hurt to increase my iron containing foods :) Maybe the husband would make me a filet :heehee:

Thank you all for sharing your experiences with me. It really helps to hear what others have gone through!
 
Hoping you are comfy with your leg up and that the bruising pain resolves for you soon.
I see the NP wants to see you tomorrow if it's not improving with the elevation, but you don't have a ride. Could you call a cab if necessary?
 
I'm feeling better so I think we're okay. I will call first thing in the morning to talk to her. If for any reason she wants to see me, I can get in there. It's kind of a long haul but I could do it.
 
I'm apparently expecting to do too much too soon. Yesterday I needed to wash my hair! I had a friend come over and help me. Before we could use the kitchen sink, I had to clear it out. My husband and son are not very good at loading/unloading the dishwasher or washing pots/pans! I didn't think it was that big of a deal, I planted myself and my walker in a good position and emptied the dishwasher and then loaded it up. Then I tackled the pots/pans. Well that took me all of about 20 min but the sink was clear. When my friend arrived, she was mad at me for doing it and I had to go sit down with ice for a bit before I was ready to wash my hair. Once I was ready to wash my hair, we did it quick and I was back to sitting in my recliner with my ice pack. I am still not able to wear the compression stocking because of the bruising but I do have an appropriate sized ace wrap that I use. I like to ice without the ace wrap because I don't feel like the ice penetrates the ace wrap. Anyway, I slept really well last night! When I woke this morning I unwrapped my leg to use the ice and noticed that my knee was pretty swollen and that I had lost any range of motion that I previously had. So I called first thing to talk to my NP. She called late in the day again but told me I had done too much yesterday. So I'm back to lying flat with my leg elevated above my heart and my ice. This is so very frustrating!!! I would figure that 8 days out from surgery I would be able to perform simple tasks like what I did yesterday. Apparently not. She keeps telling me we need to take it really slow. How much slower can we go? In one breath they say don't lie around in bed all day but then again don't get up and do anything! Where's the happy medium?? And still I'm not supposed to bear any weight. Impossible!!! I have to do bear partial sometimes. Am I being a difficult patient??
 
8 days is such a very short period of time when recovery can take up to a year! Your friend is right. Your job right now is ice, elevation, pain meds, walking to the ladies room and sleeping. Don't worry you will be back in action soon enough but right now your knee is the boss. Your ROM was decreased because your knee was so swollen you couldn't bend it.
 
tdwags,
Welcome to the ODIC, over did it club. In the early days patience is the hardest work you will have. Your knee will let your know when you over do, and over doing can delay your healing. Short term pain (patience) for long term gain.
Here is an article from Referee54: Where are you in recovery?? (TKR)
The right balance is walking around the house, doing a few ankle pumps and heel slides Heel slides and how to do them , Resting, Icing, Elevating, and Medicating on schedule as prescribed.
 
Thank you all again for the good advice. Yes I joined the ODIC! It's not easy to be patient. I compare this surgery to my scopes and as my NP said "this is way more than a scope! It doesn't even compare, this was a MAJOR surgery!" So that's where my disconnect is. I will try and keep my activity to bathroom breaks and ankle pumps. They haven't started me on heel slides. Maybe on Monday when I go to PT.
 
Another question, I know the standard protocol is ice for swelling. Is heat okay to use occasionally? I happened to rest my very warm cup of coffee on my thigh and it felt so good! I was due for pain meds at the time so I was really aching. I have a heating pad and thought I could try it on low just to relieve that ache when I'm due for pain meds.


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Do not put heat on your knee. Ice is the key. Heat on the upper thigh may be ok but no where near the knee. I didn't put heat on my knee until I was almost 3 months post op. You really will do yourself and your knee a favor if you rest, elevate and ice your knee as much as possible. Icing and elevsting will help with swelling and pain. This is a long recovery buy it is worth it in the end. Doing too much just causes setbacks in the form of swelling. I'm 14 weeks post op and have had a rough week at work with a lot of standing etc and my knee was swollen and painful last night. But my left tka knee felt fine. It just takes time. Hang in there. It does get better!
 
Yikes! I wasn't standing for more than a few minutes at a time for weeks--I never would have done 20 minutes that soon. You've gotten a reality check. :console2:Good for your NP for explaining it. :thumb:

I'm glad your friend came over to help you wash your hair though.

I used a heating pad on the thigh muscles sometimes---just not for too long at a time and so long as it is away from the knee itself.
But what the knee wants is elevation, :ice: and rest. Remember, the knee is the boss. :)
 
Okay I NEED a shower! Big problem is stairs. I haven't any clue how to navigate them. We have a finished basement with a shower. However, there are stairs to navigate down. It's a lot less stairs than going up to the Master Bedroom. I was thinking about going down on my butt. The problem is getting down low enough to go down and then getting up back at the top. Tips? Ideas? I stink!!! :eeeuw:

Oh and I think I'm going to try the heating pad on the lower leg where all the bruising is. I'll counter act that with ice at the knee!
 
Stairs! I live in a five-level sidesplit, so no matter where I want to go, there are stairs! The thing to remember is to always keep your surgical knee straight and let your other knee do the bending. You will go up and down the stairs ONE at a time...when going up, bend your non-surgical leg to take the step up, then bring your surgical leg up beside it. Then take the next step the same way. When going down, put your surgical leg down first, then bring your non-surgical leg down beside it and then take the next step down(again, surgical leg first). Just never bend the surgical leg...that will help you remember which leg goes first. Make sure you have a railing and your cane with you to help you. The first few times, it would be great to have another person nearby as moral support until you get used to it. Oh, and go slowly...slowly...take your time.
 
@snowdrop Thank you for the stair navigating tips! I'm not supposed to bear weight at all this weekend but I'm going to have to do it a little bit for this task!!! I can't go to PT or the Dr smelling this bad! LOL My husband bought me cleansing cloths but it's just not the same as an actual shower! Oh and I'm not supposed to get my incision wet yet. I was going to wrap it in plastic wrap unless you have any other ideas :tada:
 
Well, be very, very careful while doing those stairs. Perhaps someone can help you with the weight-bearing part. I know what you mean about the cleansing cloths...not the same! I actually bought a tube of body cleanser made by Teva...I use it with non-scented baby wipes and it does a pretty decent job in a pinch. But nothing is the same as a shower! Unfortunately, I don't have any good suggestions on keeping your wound dry. Mine was covered with a waterproof dressing, so I was lucky. When my staples came out thhough, I had to keep it dry for three days. I sucked it up and didn't shower over that time, but wow, the first one after that was wonderful! I hope someone else can hop on board here to help you with suggestions on keeping the wound dry. I'm not sure if saran wrap will work. I DO know that it's very important to keep it dry!
 
Had a really rough night. Starting to regret my decision to have this surgery


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Hi,

I hear you how hell like that early recovery part is. For my 1st surgery I set very high expectations and over did it too! This time around I set the bar low which is more realistic. My daily goal is to do a tiny bit more than the day before with less pain. To achieve that, I ice, rest, rest, rest, do some of my exercises ( i split them off in 2-3,sessions with icing and rest in between). If I feel like crashing in my bed, I go crash. Hubby and son are "demanded" to pick up the paste in the house...this is team work.

For the stairs I have used a crutch on the good side and the railing on the bad side. I find a crutch more stable for me than a cane, but it can also be done with a cane. The physio showed me how to maneuver the stairs. Ask your physio to show you how to do it. It is slow and a good workout the first few times but you will surely enjoy the reward and accomplishment of getting to the other level. Plan your trip well an insure you are well rested and iced before taking on the journey of going up or down a level in the house. Make sure you plan rest and ice before going back to your main level that 1st time!

Hang in there, I did feel the way you do but trust me , all the hardship of recovery will pay off and you will enjoy your new knee when it is healed! I realized I had made the right decision for the 1 st and decided that all the pains and hard work was worth it and just got the 2 nd one done.
Sending your way strength and energy!
 
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