Bilateral TKR Neehutchy's Recovery<

Denise, let him be too helpful! I don’t know if there is too much help after BTKR. You might have to tell him when you need to rest or sleep but let him do it all LOL!
 
Yay! You’re home and can settle in for your recovery, doing things your way. :friends:
 
So glad to hear you’re home!

Wow, cold and sleet! It too early for that!!!!
 
Home is the best place for you. Now, you are in control of everything! Include in that control your PT sessions. Do not let them hurt you!
 
In my chair for the morning! Took a lot more effort at home than with nurses with an adgenda! LOL

Was a pretty restless night. Tried going to bed at 2 but couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep. Had back spasms and my hips hurt really badly. Got up peed and did some readjustment got back in bed and managed to fidget around wuth Bill for another half an hour and funally fell asleep at 3.....woke up at 650! Took me 50 minutes to get out of bed, use the bathroom (pooped too! ), wash up and get comfortable in my chair with ice, coffee and toast and pills!

Now we see what day 4 brings adventure wise! Should be getting a call, from my in home PT. Tney were suppose to call yesyerdsy and set up a time to come today.....they didn't. Gonna wait a few hours to see if they call, then I'm calling them, I think.
 
@sistersinhim , the hospital ones never hurt me, i was surprised! I know I did too much beford leaving, but it was all walking, a few exercises (heel slides, butt squeezes, foot punps, and lateral slides while sitting) and once up and down the stairs (4 steps). Even when he measured me, he didnt touch my leg, just asked if i could pull it back any further.

@SusieShoes my issue at home is everything is all different, LOL. My comfy chair isn't comfy any more! I cant find a comfy position ANYWHERE! And the leg doctor is very uncomfortable and throws my hip and back into spasms! Unless I'm using it wrong! :shrug:
 
Sorry the Lounge Doctor isn’t an instant success. Experiment with it a bit. I found the best way to use it (for me) was to have the bottom edge of the LD right up to my butt. If it was away from my butt, my legs didn’t rest comfortably on it. So I made sure it was tucked right up under my butt and I was comfy. You might find you need it positioned closer or less close, or maybe need a pillow atop it for the right angle.

Whatever you do, find a comfortable position and way to elevate. If the Lounge Doctor doesn’t work (hip spasms sound awful!) try a pillow stack. Here's a link on the Do's and Don't of Elevation that has ideas for pillow stacks. If your comfy chair isn’t comfy, maybe you can find another one that is, or will discover it’s better to sit on your sofa for now.

Your husband is being a big help, I see! Don’t worry about sleep being difficult to find. That’s ever so normal. Not something any of us enjoyed, but we sure remember being there!
 
Isn’t it too soon post op to be fidgeting around with Bill? For half an hour no less!:heehee:
 
Home health nurses were here today! I requested in home pt, and they send nurses! /sigh/ pt comes tomorrow. They wanted to do all this stuff. It was kinda funny. No flu shot, no pneumonia shot, etc...

They were quite adamant they were changing the dressings and doing stuff ...ummm, nope you are not. No home health nursing, just home pt. My dressing is a new special type, stays in place til it falls off or 7 days. Water proof, has a self wicking center that pulls drainage away from the incision so it shows on the face of bandage. You do not change it until it's soaked threw like the pictures on the information sheet says....then you call the surgeons pa for instructions. Here my discharge papers that clearly state that.

They never heard of that! And wanted a copy of the informational sheet on it. So we made them copies!

And...they never had seen a bilateral. And couldn't wrap their heads around no staples or stitches...just glue and dissolving sutures! And I don't see a Dr for 4 weeks! WOW was their response when they read my discharge instructions. They got a different set of info for wound care than i received, they got the old info before the hospital changed to the new surgical care and new bandage system. I insisted on them calling the joint center to talk to the coordinator. She straightened everything out and told them I was correct with my info and that they had just swithced to a new protocal that week, and I was one of the first to have that dressing type. I swear I was educating THEM!

If my back didn't hurt when I elevated "toes above nose" then my legs wouldn't swell and I'd be golden poster child...and probably really really overdoing things. BTW...I have no formal restrictions....only "as tolerated" on everything. Surgeon says I can do whatever I want, as pain levels allow. I find that very unusual....maybe even a little unsettleing. Thankfully I found BS and became informed!
 
Wow you sound like you are doing amazingly fantastic :flwrysmile:
 
Bruising asnd swelling seem to be my issues! I have a herniated disc and really having a hard time evevating comfortably. I keep getting back spasms about a half hour in....the lounge dr just isn't working out here... this miserable recliner is gonnba be the death of me. I can't seem to make it work. I need help getting in and out. Means I am stealing hubbys chair and waking him multiple times a night to move me. Soooo not what I wanted.
 
Patience. The early post op days were not what I wanted either. The spasms from the disc is not what you need now of all times. :console2:
For the first 4-5 days I needed help in and out of bed, recliner, repositioning in bed, etc. I had no choice but to call on hubs. He was committed to help me thru this and now it’s here. Sounds like Bill is the same way.

Now I can maneuver myself with the help of my bathrobe belt leg lifter but I’m a few days ahead of you. You have the double whammy of BTKR and back problems. You may want to tag susieshoes for advice since she also had BTKR.

It will get better, but the early days:bored: are challenging, no doubt.
 
Oh dear @Neehutchy thats terrible. But i think we all go though that fidgety stage and no sleep...well thats the pits.
I wasnt brave enough to go straight home, but i have a friend who did but 1 week out. She lived alone!
I take my hat off to her every day of my recovery.
 
Steal hubby’s chair. Steal (well, politely borrow) the neighbor’s chair. At this point in recovery you do whatever works. Anything that works for you and your new knees. I kicked Mr. Shoes out of his side of the bed because his side worked better for me. I appropriated the pregnant niece’s favorite sofa and ALL the pillows. I stole my sister-in-law’s ottoman and never gave it back (she gifted it, but I’m sticking to my story).

I needed help getting out my recliner, too. It was too... deep. I settled in nice and deep and at first I needed Mr. Shoes to help me get up to the edge before I could stand. This is the part of the marriage vows that tests relationships, but you two will make it through. This period doesn’t last long, and is worse for bilaterals because... two knees. It’s a recovery curve and we bilaterals start at a handicap when it comes to getting up out of recliners. But we catch up. :wink: In fact, we get really good at stuff like that.

Just relax into the situation, accept it for what it is (no fun at all) and remind yourself that “This, too, shall pass.” Because it does. :friends:
 
He is elevating the couch today!

I slept 7 hrs straight in his chair and a lot of swelling went down. Still swelled significantly. And the bruising is still coming out! The backs of my thighs and calfs are black, plum purple! Behind the knees is violet red purple. That hurts the worse...the swelling and tender bruising.

In home pt is coming at 3. Wasnt too impressed with hi. On the phone this morning. We'll see how it unfolds. He told me to adjust my pain med schedule so I was taking one an hour before he came. That was a red flag! This is suppose to be an eval, then I get the pt assistant for my in home pt. I am really ok with my out patient pt....but got home pt so i didnt have to navigate stairs the first couple weeks.
 
Beware an evaluation appt in sheep’s clothing. Remember you don’t have to do anything that hurts. And it sounds like everything hurts.
Congrats on the sleep and raised couch!
 

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