TKR Now the fun begins!

Mydogray

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I had my LTKR today, 11/5. I’m currently in my hospital room trying to get some sleep. Looking forward to help and support from the Bone smart community. Tia!
 
Welcome to Recovery!


I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​


4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only One Recovery Thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Just got home! Mostly pain free except when walking. I’m not scheduled for any pt yet and may never be. It depends how my two week follow up goes. I’m currently icing and elevating. I was sent home with some simple exercises to do 3 times a day. So far, so good!
 
Sounds great! :flwrysmile:
 
Good report!

Keep up your meds, icing and elevating.

Get your daily activity up as soon as your knees are ready. Keep moving and go easy on the PT.
 
Last night was very rough. I think I over done it prior to leaving the hospital. I was able to attempt my first pt session until about 18 hours after my surgery. I walked the hallway twice In the morning and did the three stairs twice. I did the same thing just prior to being discharged. Last night and now I am in lots of pain in front of and behind my knee. My pain med is Vicodin 7.5/325 every six hours as needed. Is that enough? I’m currently icing with a machine the hospital gave me and elevating. I know this is early going in my surgical adventure, but man, this hurts! Have a great day everyone.
 
You’re home now so you are in full control of your activities. All you need at this stage are gentle bending movements to keep your knee mobile and short walks around the house every hour or 2 that you are awake.

Keep up the icing and elevating.

Reread the Recovery Guidelines frequently. Following them truly will help you to avoid additional pain (aside from what is par for the course right now!)

Hang in there.
 
Welcome and good luck in this journey. Your pain will be all over the place and sometimes, you don't even have to have done anything :what: We all are so different. I've read a lot of the different recovery blogs and it helps so much to get a different perspective as we each travel this road of recovery.

Best of luck and as @Jockette mentions really read through the recovery guidelines....they are a life saver!
 
The first week, or two, are horrible. Ice, take your meds, ice, post on Bonesmart, ice, take more meds, and find something to watch or listen to to keep your mind off hurting. It will get better fairly quickly, considering what they actually did!
 
I’ve rested, iced and elevated all day, and I’ve taken my meds as scheduled. Im feeling better this pm. Yesterday was too much. Thanks for the compliment about Ray.
 
Glad today is better. :)
 
At my 2 week check xrays were taken, ROM was measured and stitches were taken out.
 
At my 2 week check up they just removed the staples, put steri strips on and sent me on my way. I think he watched me walk a little and made sure I could bend/straighten my knee but never officially measured it.
 
My OS didn't require me to come back for a month. The home nurse took my staples out at 2.5 weeks. My OS took xrays and asked to see what I could do with my ROM. He gave me a prescription for PT, which I didn't use. He never touched my knee, just looked at it.
 
Just had my followup Wed at 9 days vs 2 weeks. Took bandage off, took xrays, answered questions, checked ROM, gave me a script for out-patient PT and see you in 4 weeks. I didn't have staples or outside stitches so I guess that is why he does a 9-10 day follow-up. He also gave me permission to drive (left leg) when I am ready and off narcotics.
 
Thanks for the replies. Day four and I was left alone while my wife and daughter went shopping. Somehow, Ray, my dog managed to lock himself in the bathroom. I was able to get up by myself and rescue that crying baby... I know to be careful just happy that I could handle a puppy emergency. Thanks, everyone!
 

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