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My two week post op report. Kimsey49

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kimsey49

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Some back ground is in order. I am a 58 yo man that has had one THR-R a year ago and a TKR-L on March 30. These past two weeks have been filled with lots of pain with some pretty good gain. My knee keeps me up most of the night, I wake up about every two to three hours and have a a very hard time getting in a positon of comfort to sleep. I try lying on my back with my leg elevated on a long pillow mostly, but I wake up all the time. I do take my pain meds at night, but wake as soon as they wear off. I wish there was a longer acting version. Overall I feel I am progressing well, I walk with a cane and have ROM of about 110. Still have considerable swelling and I think this is what is causing most of my problems. I ice my knee every 2 hrs 24hrs a day and try to keep my knee up as much as possible. I do PT twice a day with several hours in the passive knee thing a ma jig. My mood is positive and upbeat, and I am so looking forward to summer. Thanks for listening, I will give another report in two weeks.
 
Kimsey -- it sounds like you are doing great! doing all the right things with - as you say - a lot of gain. Fighting through the pain with excellent results! I think you'll have more to post before 2 weeks are up; the changes come fast and furious now --- I am almost 3 months out and can't believe what I can do now. So as everyone on this forum says -- it just gets bettter after you get through those first weeks and the swelling subsides. That DOES make a big difference. One morning somewhere around 3 weeks out I woke up and could see the shape of an actual kneecap. It was a very good day :)
Keep up the good work!!!
 
Kimsey - I found weeks 2-3 to be most difficult with lots ups and downs. I had lots of progress but also many sleepless nights and restless days. Take your meds and rest a lot during the day. I would lay down in bed and watch TV for 2 hours most afternoons, then try to stay up to about 10pm at night. I used the recliner a lot too. A little exercise went a long way so slow and steady is the course at this point. I'm 57 female with LTKR on Feb 23 (seven weeks almost). All improves greatly about week 4 and on. Soon you'll be real glad you did this. I'm getting ready for my right knee for June 8 already. Wow not sure I could have thought about another at week 2-3 but I'm all set now! Getting better every day. My best to you.

Hope
 
Hi, Kimsey! You are doing great for this early in recovery! It's a really common thing for you to awaken at night when it is time to take the next dose of pain meds. That's why it's SO important to keep on that schedule. I agree that, if you are still swelling, it's probably a good part of the pain. Are you sleeping with ice on that elevated leg? If not, try that. I kept gel packs on my knee ALL NIGHT LONG! And it did help. You might also try purchasing a body pillow (they are sold at Walmart for about $10). You can lie on your side with the pillow between your legs and it gives some people comfort when lying in bed. Hang in there.....you know it will get better!!!
 
Correct, Jamie - I was going to ask why you are using ice so little. I had it one for hours at a time, several times a day in the first couple of weeks. You shouldn't ration yourself so.

Did someone say you shouldn't use it more than this? I've had sone nurses tell me very weird things about using ice and I ignored all of them!
 
Kimsey

Asked your doctor about extended release pain meds like MS-Contin each dose last 12 hours. I took one at 8 am and 1 at 8 pm and for breakthrough pain or before PT I used a low dose of Dilaudid. MS-Contin is morphine and Dilaudid is morphine derivative. There is also Oxycontin for time released.

Simon
 
Hi Kimsey,

I have had a hip and knee done too, the opposite sides to you, hip first then knee as with you. Wow I think you are doing great, I think at two weeks I was still wondering what I had done to myself.

I think sleep is so interrupted because (Jo please correct me if I'm wrong) but sleep cycles run in 90min stints. Usually we would just turn over and start another cycle when we wake, but after such major surgery when we wake we have pain, or stiffness, or tightness or all of the above, it's not quite so easy to resume sleep.

You will begin to sleep better soon, it really is an "interesting" to say the least recovery. I'm about 4 1/2 months PO and feeling great, hope you will too. I remember seeing my knee cap for the first time too, it was a great milestone that I had forgotten about.

Best wishes,

Chris :)
 
Thanks everyone for all the kind words and advice. Actually I do Ice my knee day and night. I keep a couple of ice packs in a little tub next to my bed at night. Jamie, I have one of those body pillows and your right they work great. I will keep on keeping on because I have a vegetable garden I want to plant soon. More later...
 
Kimsey.....don't worry. You'll get there. It can just take some time. And it's pretty amazing, but people who have two joint surgeries, each at different times, often report that the recoveries were totally different! Go figure....same surgeon, same body, same mind....one may be a little tougher than the other. But you will see progress each week, so hang in there!!!
 
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