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TKR Not a new patient but I need help, lots of it

I am so sorry they pushed your leg back so far. I don’t understand how anyone thinks that helps.

Back when I was in PT they pushed my leg to measure but never that far. It did hurt though.

In July I went to visit friends for the weekend and struggled the whole time with a lower height toilet, with very little to hold onto to help me get up and it set me way back! I was 4 months post op at the time and by the time I got home I could hardly bend my knee, and didn’t start to progress again until mid to late September.

I don’t think my surgeon is going to be happy with my rom at my 7 month check up tomorrow. I’m quite nervous about his reaction. I’m afraid he’ll say it’s becsuse I’m not “doing my home exercises”. I wish he would discharge me so I could relax and get on with this recovery!
 
Texaslady said:
Ever time I went for those 4 weeks 3 days out of every week My knee would swell and get stiff,then the grand final The last week they forced by leg all the way back to my thigh and then pressed my leg down I really thought I was going to scream. So think it. As set me back,my husband just was rubbing the back of my knee it was hurting so bad.
I think it is just going to take me taking care of myself.
Click to expand...
I'm so glad you decided to take control. Your knee will be so much happier without that sort of treatment, although it may take a little while to calm down.

How anyone thinks they are doing the right thing, or has the right to hurt people like that, just defeats me.
It's bullying and assault.

To you and anyone else who goes through this sort of mistreatment - don't just think about screaming. Take a big breath and shout, as loudly as you can, "STOP. STOP HURTING ME." And then, take yourself and your poor leg out of their reach. Walk (hobble) out of the room and don't come back.
Nobody should have to submit to treatment like that.
 
Whenever I hear stories like yours, it just makes me shudder. I don’t understand why people, not just many in PT but anyone, would think pain is some inconsequential bodily byproduct instead of what it is: the loudest, strongest signal the body can produce to tell us something is wrong. If there’s pain, there’s a problem.

It’s up to us, when our body is screaming PAIN! PAIN! to listen to it and decide how to help. In terms of PT, that means to stop whatever is causing the pain. Of course a TKR patient is going to feel discomfort. Yes, that level of pain is to be expected whenever we move the joint. The knee is saying, “I don’t like this, but I can do it.” I felt that kind of pain every time I walked to the bathroom or did simple knee bends. Heavy duty pain, on the other hand, is the knee saying, “Stop! I’m taking damage.”

Exercise isn’t bad. Our knees need to move. Moving is what knees are built to do. But exercise doesn’t have to mean being in pain.
 
SusieShoes yes I have learned a hard lesson, if I had paid more attention to what was said about the myth of no pain no gain. At first I really thought why it hurt was due to being so new from surgery. Stupid I know now, so I am paying for it with a set back. Since this has happened I read on the forum every morning to make sure I have not missed anything or something new I should be listen too. Thank you guys for the good advise.
 
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We trust our medical professionals to do what us right for us. That’s why when they pushed my knee in PT I thought they knew best and that’s how it had to be. I didn’t know that not only did they not have to do that, but that they shouldn’t do that!

But we know now!
 
Look at just one of the reasons we should never push through the pain:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/closing-surgical-wounds-how-is-it-done.4286/#post-90691

No wonder our knees scream when they are abused. And it is abuse! If PT keeps on after you tell them no, then it is an assault. And tell them so, and that you will have them arrested. It is absolutely no need whatsoever for anyone to do those awful, aggressive exercises! It is counterproductive.
 
It is 6am, 10/18/2017 the morning after my 6 weeks and I am really tired. I got out of bed this morning at 1:30am which was about 2 hours after I had gone to bed for the night!! In getting out of bed I woke my poor husband up for the humpty millionth time. We have been married nearly 26 years he has worked hard so we could have a good life so I try not to disrupt his sleep. This TKR has really upset my sleeping and his!

My question is when can I expect to returning to sleeping. I take a pain pill before I go to bed in hopes of sleeping all night but no such luck. It is always one of two things that wakes me one laying in one position to long or pain. I rarely nap and when I do it is short not long enough to disturb my night sleep. So I wake up and come to the den and try to fall to sleep. I normally do and sleep for a couple of more hours.

I am so very tired of this I could just scream. I really could ramble on I will spare all from my cry baby ****. Oh yeah o make tings was I even take a sleep aide prescribed by my Dr.
 
Once again I was up at 1:30am which was about two hours after I had gone to bed for the night. Yesterday was exactly six weeks since my surgery once again I was hurting, I don’t know if it is from laying in the same position to long are the fact I can not get comfortable. I tried everything from pillows so I could lay on my side.

After about hour and a half I got up and went to the den and set up to put ice on my knee I set there for about one hour before dozing off. I slept for about two more hours and took a pain pill. This is crazy I even take a medication to help me sleep,but my knee still wakes me up,how long does this usually go on for? Thanks once again in advance.
 
Hi again, @Texaslady
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here.
Please don't start a new thread.

Don't worry that we won't see a new question because, between us, the staff read all new posts every day.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.


Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.
 
I'm afraid that disturbed sleep is one of the things that accompanies recovery. Almost all of us suffer from it, but it does eventually go away. Very few of us are lucky enough to experience an unbroken night's sleep this early in recovery.

Do you remember reading this article, from the reading list we gave you soon after your surgery?
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

You can do something to help yourself a bit, though. Two of the main causes of broken sleep are night pain caused by too much daytime activity and insufficient medication.

So, check that you are not doing too much in the daytime and make sure that your pain medication relief is adequate - plan to take pain meds regularly, including during the night.

I moved into the spare bedroom after my surgeries, so I didn't disturb my husband's sleep. Is there any possibility that you can do that?

I'm going to ask @Josephine to advise you about your exercise and medications. She will probably ask a lot of questions. Do try to answer them as fully as possible, so she has all the information she needs, to advise you appropriately.
 
I’m sorry you are struggling so much about sleep. I wish I had an answer for you.

I haven’t slept great for years, so the lack of sleep after surgery didn’t bother me much. I would just get up, take a little walk around the house, then settle in in the living room and check out things online, play words with friends, or try to read.

I never tossed and turned in bed because I sleep with my leg on an elevating wedge that I came home from the hospital with. The wedge has a cut out that just fits my leg, so it keeps me still. I didn’t like it at first but I have come to love it. I still use it at 7 months post op and I even took it with me the 2 times I’ve been away over night since surgery. I was always a side sleeper and would never have believed I would adjust to sleeping on my back, but I have!

I also think by having my leg in the wedge, and not being able to toss and turn, it eventually helped to keep my pain level down at night. Even now, at 7 months, my operated leg does not like it if I try to lay on my side, and I can only imagine how much it would hurt if I continued to try and kept moving around during the night.

I hope you can relax and accept that sleep issues are par for the course in this recovery, and that they are temporary.

I stressed out over other things, but not lack of sleep.

Sending a hug.
 
Hi Texas Lady! So sorry that you are in the midst of poor sleeping. I think it is one of the hardest challenges of recovery as being exhausted all the time makes recovery so much harder. It is also a challenge that most of us are unprepared for as no one talks about it ahead of time. I wish I could say it will be better tonight or tomorrow. I didn't really start sleeping better until 9 or 10 weeks post-surgery. I can relate to your frustration as I am also not a napper and none of the PM pain meds worked for me either. I slept in the spare bedroom for at least three months to spare my spouse from my restlessness. It will eventually get better so hang in there in the meantime.
 
It was three months before I reliably slept through the night. Like Jockette, I slept with my legs elevated on a foam wedge (no cut-out in mine) that kept me from thrashing about too much. It also helped keep away the pain. Anything that will keep down your pain helps because movement sometimes results in pain that wakes us up.

But there's also the disruption of the meds we take. Strong pain meds cause bad dreams for some people, or make it hard for them to reach deeper levels of sleep. As you wean off or otherwise stop these meds, that will help your sleep also.

Sleep will come. Some find it best to sleep in another room for the duration. I continued sleeping with my husband, who found my sleep problems the worst part of my recovery. He couldn't feel my pain, but he sure felt the lack of sleep!
 
(7 weeks)

I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?
 
@Texaslady, I'm having the same problem with sleeping...I'm at 3 weeks since surgery. I asked my daughter (NP) to check and see if I could take a Benadryl with my pain medication at night and according to her it is ok...so, for the last few nights I have gotten some sleep! I still wake up around midnight and have to take Tylenol but I'm able to go back to sleep. I'm not giving medical advice, you need to check with your doctor.
 
@Celle, thank you for getting me back on track with my recovery thread. I had forgot from now I will go back and read the way to do it. I really do appreciate all the help I get here. As you can see I have some strange hours post so my brain is not always fully functional.
 
I hate to tell you this, but I think we can deal with reality when we know more of it: I had difficulty sleeping even at 4 months. So as you can see from the other responses, this problem could disappear soon, or you may have it for a while. There's such a complex relationship between our surgical recovery needs, hormonal fluctuations, opioid use and after-effects, pain/discomfort levels, etc.

Here are some of the things that I tried:
  • Several people mentioned sleeping apart from their partners. That helped me not worry about my DH's sleep and him not being rested for work the next day, as well as then I could move around as much as necessary to find comfortable positions.
  • I had a lot of difficulty with the sunburny, nervy pain along the inside of my knee and thigh. Wearing tight leggings with minimal seaming to bed really helped minimize that.
  • My body temperature fluctuated a lot for a while after surgery. Keeping the room cool (68 degrees), which is recommended for good sleep, was sometimes too cool for me; but if I raised the temperature, I could wake up later, too hot! I started keeping an old child-sized quilt--soft and light--my grandmother made for me nearby. All night long, in a half-awake state, I would take it off, put it on, put it just around my shoulders, or my feet, etc. It was so comforting that I still use it!
  • My nerves were on edge, and I had some restless-legs symptoms, which also were just irritating enough to prevent me from sleeping well. I experimented with various combinations of pain meds, and also tried gabapentin, but I never found a great pain-med solution for this problem.
  • I eventually added magnesium and potassium supplements. (I learned that some routine meds I take affect the levels of these in my body.). I also added a tab of melatonin before bed. These adjustments seem to have helped the most, especially with the jitteriness. So if you have any other health issues and routinely take medications for them, you might want to investigate this.
  • I resisted checking the clock every time I woke up. It just made me crazy! I would lie there for a while, and if sleep didn't come back, I'd grab my iPad or get up and do something until I felt sleepy again. This meant accepting a nap during the day, which sometimes came along without warning!
 
Do you want me to post my questions or not?
It's entirely up to you! :)
 
Yes please I did not know the proper way to reply to original question. Thank for your help.
 
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