PKR Oh my goodness the pain!

[Wren]

Good morning everyone. Thought I would give an update. Stayed up late last night watching the UFC fights, however had a successful night of sleep again. In bed about 1230 am and up at 630 am without waking up any so Im very happy about that. Im up and mobile this morning since I have some things to attend to paperwork wise. I changed up my meds yesterday a little. I backed off of the Ibuprofen and went from every 6 hours to every four hours with my percocet with continuing to ice it every once in awhile. As for pain, it isnt unbearable at this point. Really the extent of my pain is if im trying to lift or extend my lower leg my knee cap lets me know to top lol. Also, when walking (im using my cane right now) and I put to much weight on it I have a good amount of pain to the inside lower part area of the knee. Im also till having a lot of pain on top of my thigh area as well. The most annoying part though is the ITCHING......man I hate that lol. Overall though, its doing good I think. Wife went to see our grandson this morning and I chose to stay home since yesterday was a bit taxing.

 

[NavyGunns]

@Wren, looks like you are doing quite well! Keep up the positive outlook.

 

[Wren]

Well, got to experience an all new level of pain this morning. Got the aquacel off. It's not healed and was bleeding a good bit so my ice was able to wrap it with gauze.

 

[Softtail]

Early on anything that causes them to cut into your knee sucks. Would like to fast forward thru the first 3 weeks or so, but we know that can’t happen. Without doubt it will get better, so hang in there ,and don’t be in too big a hurry to dump thosepain meds, there is time down the road to back off once thehealing process is farther along.

 

[SusieShoes]

One week down, so you're doing well. The first weeks are the hardest. I hope your incision stops bleeding quickly and settles down. Keep an eye on it. Your body is doing lots of heavy-duty healing right now, so help it along by resting, icing, elevating, and more resting. Just walk a little and do little things like fetch snacks for now.

 

[Wren]

Well, we uncovered it when my nurse arrived and it has stopped bleeding. First pic is from this morning after removing aquacel. Second pic is 3 hours later, and the last pic is precautionary steri strips.

 

[sistersinhim]

Be sure to not stress that incision by trying to over bend. Just gentle walking is enough.

 

[Wren]

ok, today is day 12 post op so I figured I would give an update. Yesterday I didnt wake up until 0730 after a very good night of sleep. Knee was hurting some so I went ahead and took a percocet 10. My physical therapist came at 10 am and we did therapy for an hour. My nurse came shortley after. Therapy went good as I was finally able to do a few straight leg lifts while laying on my back. I also bending to 93 degrees. After they left I kept myself occupied and before I knew it, it was 330pm. At this point I realized I hadnt taken any pain medication since 0730 even after having pt. I finally took another percocet 10 at 4pm. I went to bed at 930pm and figured I would take a percocet 5 just in case of some pain in the middle of the night. Well this morning I got up at 0300 and its now 0530 and I havent had any pain meds. There is pain, but it isnt intolerable and I may take some at some point this morning but Im not in agony and Im walking around a good bit this morning. Incision is looking really good also.

 

[NavyGunns]

@Wren, sounds like you are doing great! I find it interesting to read from members who are getting home visits from PT and nursing. I had neither as part of my recovery. In fact didn’t even have PT start until after my first follow up visit to my OS at 2 1/2 weeks (it actually started just after 3 weeks by the time I got an appointment). That doesn’t mean I just sat around though! I did the usual stretching and mobility routines (heel slides, etc) on my own with no problems. Nothing was ever mentioned about needing home nurse visits. Wonder why such differences in approaches by surgeons?

A couple of things to keep in mind for the next several weeks that might cause you concern and frustration. While you seem to be doing well with your sleep routine right now, don’t be surprised if you go through a spell where you can’t sleep more than a couple of hours at a time no matter how tired you feel. During this time, you may also notice more “deep aching pain” as well as what I called “zingers”. At first I couldn’t understand why the pain seemed more prevalent and noticeable at night when trying to fall asleep. But what I realized is that the pain level didn’t really change much, I was just more sensitive to it at night because the rest of me was trying to relax and not preoccupied with other distractions. The zingers I felt were caused by nerves healing (these also caused my thigh muscles to contract and twitch which then added to the sharp pain of the zingers). In time, this all settled down too. You might not experience them, but don’t be surprised if you do.

 

[Wren]

@NavyGunns my home health was set up at my request through the VA so I could start right away. As for the zingers Im having something similiar. We went to see the grandson last night and while out I started getting ha sharp needle jab feeling in my scar. Once home, I was laying in bed and the thigh started acting like I had a charlie horse in it. I ende taking a total of 3 percocet for the whole day. Im doing better today. I got up at 4 this morning and didnt take any pain meds until 1030. Im hoping to not need any more at least until bed time. I have figured out that 2 to 3 ours out is my limit right now.

Also, as for zingers, I already take Lyrica for the nerve damage from my 2013 tuberosity.

 

[NavyGunns]

@Wren, first let me say “Thanks for your service!” Despite appearances from my “handle”, I never served directly, but I do work for a prime DoD contractor. The business units I support proudly support the Army, Navy, and Marines with critical equipment and vehicles that help to keep them safe so they can effectively perform their missions.

Thighs and charlie horses, boy do those sensations bring back memories! I can remember many a night being woken by zingers that caused my thighs to tighten up so much they hurt. They would suddenly release and then do it again. Only relief was to get up and walk around. Spent from week 2 until about week 6/7 sleeping either in my recliner or spare bedroom as I didn’t want to interrupt my wife’s sleep.

Be careful in these early weeks with pt so you don’t join the ODIC (over did it club). Recovery from this surgery is NOT one where the more you do PT the quicker you recover. It’s actually quite the opposite. The best analogy I’ve seen is to ask yourself if you would aggressively exercise a broken leg that required surgery to be put back together? If you want a better perspective of what your knee went through, google your surgery and look for surgical videos. I did so at about a week post surgery. Wanted to understand why it hurt so much. Wow was I surprised to see what all the surgery involves. No wonder my knee was in revolt! Treat it with kindness and respect and you will be rewarded with a great recovery!

 

[Denny39]

I’m not quite 3 weeks out, but I’ll never forget the first two! When discharging me, my surgeon said “You’ve got a couple of rough weeks ahead of you”. He was right! I watched more YouTube videos between midnight and 6 AM than I have in the rest of my life. My bed in the morning looked like the aftermath of a tornado, and I remember having to get up and go to the bathroom 3 times in 2 hours. The “joys of TKR” are not realized in the immediate future. But my 2nd-3rd week span has seen some improvement. It’s still not fun, but we have the testimony, advice, support and encouragement of many who have been there and say it was, looking back, a great decision. That day will come for us impatient “newbies” as well.

And, congratulations on that beautiful new grandson.