TKR Pain

[Pumpkin]

You are right on track for recovery, many of us take pain meds for 3 - 4 months.
Where are you in recovery?? (TKR)

That tight band feeling can go on for months for some, weeks for others. As long as you have swelling, you will have a tight band feeling to some degree or another.
"Tight band" feeling across the front of my knee

pain still awakens me each morning.

Set your alarm to wake you up in the middle of the night to take a pain medication. Keeping on top of pain will better control your pain, and in the long run you will take less medication.

Post op blues are normal and can go on for months. Re read the article about sleep deprivation in the recovery guidelines on Pg 1 of your thread.

Do not compare yourself to others, we all heal differently, some faster some slower. Most of us start feeling a lot better around 3 months. You are still in the early days and your soft tissues are still very angry about this surgical insult.

You cannot rush recovery, but you can set it back by doing too much.

 

[BamaBelle]

@ Jockette, I have read the article and a lot of the others. I do get overwhelmed because some days it seems as if I'm not progressing at all. And like you said, I haven't done this before. Thank you for your encouragement!

 

[BamaBelle]

@ Pumpkin, thank you!

 

[kmak81230]

((Hugs)) BamaBelle! This is s long slog of a recovery though I think over the next couple of weeks you may start to turn a corner in terms of surgery pain. There really are no "shoulds" in this recovery. Every body (and knee) is on its own timeline in terms of healing. This is made even tougher because the recovery is not linear - kind of like line dancing, two steps forward one step back or visa versa. You probably won't see big improvements day to day but rather week to week. For me, at 5 months out, it's now month to month progress. Hang in there!

 

[Thesoutherncook]

It WILL get better and then it will be like childbirth, you'll try your darndest to forget all about it until someone comes along and tells their story...then it will all come back!
Week 4-6 are usually turing points....you will feel the fog begin to lift. You'll feel like getting outside, mayve even go for a short walk in your yard? This does NOT last forever, but you have to keep telling yourself that you have had MAJOR surgery! Tie a knot in the end of that rope and HANG ON! We're here for you!

 

[Bikesouth]

Don't worry your normal. As mentioned above you will see improvements soon. The blues that come on suddenly will wane also. To let you in on a secret some men cry after TKA for seemingly no reason.

 

[BamaBelle]

Thank you so much for your encouraging words! Not sure I can make this journey without all of you!

 

[Pheebs52]

@BamaBelle, I'm sending you some big (((HUGS))) and a large, shiny red box of Patience. They'll both be delivered by Pixie Express who will just magically appear at your door. Keep the box of Patience under your bed, and each night, dip your fingers in and place some right between your eyes. If done faithfully, this will help you accept your present, slower and ouchy lifestyle.

Don't fret, 'cuz fretting just makes things worse. Besides, everything you're feeling right now is...well...*normal*, for just 5 weeks post-op. It's expected; pffft! As such, just take your meds and try to distract yourself in any way you can. For some of us it binge watching tv, others reading. Fantasize about how you'll be feeling in a year and all of the fun things you and your new knee will do! Perhaps there's a trip you've always wanted to take. If so, make some travel plans! If you have a hobby, indulge! If you enjoy shopping, (who doesn't?) Amazon certainly delivers, lol. Try some healing, meditation music on Utube @174KHZ....it's lovely.

Soon, you will be in less pain. With any luck, things will improve a bit in the next 2 weeks and then even more each week thereafter. You won't feel *perfect*, (that takes anywhere from 6 months to a year or more) but probably much better than you do right now....kinda hard not to, eh?

Hang in there, better days ARE coming!

 

[Polkadot]

Hi, @BamaBelle, I could just "second" everything @Pheebs52 said, except that she's the one who sends the boxes of Patience out! We're all impatient, but the knee knows. The knee is in charge. Darn it!

One tip I have started doing: When you read a post that gives you a bit of an "aha" moment, you can bookmark it for future rereading. There's a button on the right at the bottom of each post. It calls up a box where you can save the bookmark. I just write in the "title" line: Inspiration 1, Inspiration 2, etc. (I ignore the rest of the fill-ins.). This works for articles, too.

When I get impatient or down, I can get back to the 'gems.'

 

[OJ2]

We all get impatient or down. It goes with the territory. Keeping a good mind set is hard, but very important for your healing. This is not something your surgeon talks about, but he/she really should. That and the no sleep issue. UGH!

 

[chsed]

Hi @BamaBelle, reading your posts brings it back to me for sure. You're in the hardest part of the recovery process, as everyone has said. I experienced those post-surgery blues, and I'm not a person who gets depressed. But combine the non-sleeping with the pain and the therapy and feeling like you just should have left well enough alone, and who wouldn't get depressed?! And no one tells us to expect those things, either!

I ran out of therapy coverage at 25 visits, and you know what? It actually was the best thing to happen to me. No more therapist making me do wall bends or forcing my knee straight. I give him credit for doing a lot that needed to be done, but once I ran out of visits, I decided that I was in charge of my own recovery, and that I would ride my bike everyday, seven days a week, 20-30 minutes each day {as I was already doing}, and then I would lay on my bed with my leg hanging off for extension stretches with heat applied, for 10 minutes, twice a day. And no more! The knee appreciated this new regimen, and slowly got better and better and better. Now at 14 months out, I'm told no one would ever guess I ever had knee problems.

So listen to everyone here, and give your knee time. Time is the best thing ever. Be patient with yourself and your knee. There will come a time you'll be glad you did it....even if you still wouldn't want to do it ever again! ;)

 

[BamaBelle]

@chsed,
Thank you for the encouragement! I definitely need it. I saw my OS today for 2nd post op visit. He told me that if I don't get my flexion, he will have to MUA! I told him that could not happen. Why are the doctors in such a hurry to do the MUA? Tomorrow I will be 6 weeks post of. I know I have to be patient and I'm really trying, but when the doctor starts talking manipulation at 6 weeks, ugh !

 

[Jockette]

I don't know what their rush is either. Wouldn't you think that common sense would tell them that we are all different and heal at different rates?

Before surgery they are so nice, assuring us they can fix our painful knees. But they don't tell us anything about recovery.

Then in recovery they become different people with overly optimistic expectations and demands. And if you read enough on here, the expectations vary greatly.

It is disappointing and mind boggling.

 

[JMackay]

I had my 6 week check-up this week and was told I would have to have an MUA if I didn't get better ROM. This is definitely a roller coast ride because one day you think you are doing ok and the next you can feel really down. Just know that you are not alone. It is a long journey.

 

[Pheebs52]

@BamaBelle, just because your surgeon *suggests* an MUA doesn't mean you have to do it. It's your knee and your recovery and you get to choose the path. Tell him you prefer to wait and see what develops. You didn't give your ROM numbers, but I'm curious as to what they are. My flexion was very poor at 6 weeks (maybe 70 degrees, possibly less) and it remained very stubborn until recently. Now, at 4+ months post-op, my flexion is 110 and extension is zero. My surgeon just wanted to take a "wait and see," approach, and said if needed, (doubtful) an MUA could be done at any time. Thankfully, he was right!

 

[JMackay]

My ROM right before the appointment was 93.5 but yesterday it was 100. I think these are great numbers for 6 weeks.

 

[OJ2]

I wont even see my surgeon until 12 weeks. I did see his PA at 4 weeks, he checked out the incision, I had an X-ray, and he gave me encouragement. He also told hubby I was doing great, which was the biggest benefit of all. Hubby has never had a tkr and does not understand the complexity of recovery. Of course my surgeon is available by phone or text if necessary, but I appreciate his letting me heal. I appreciate the therapist being encouraging to me, because this is all very darn hard, and it is easy to get discouraged.

 

[BamaBelle]

At my last flexion measurement, with a hard push, it was 105 (I left that therapist that day!).

 

[BamaBelle]

Smarties,
I'm having pain down my shin. The pain isn't constant, but when it's here, it's a burning sensation. Is it nerve pain?

 

[kmak81230]

It certainly could be nerve pain . . . but I'm no expert for sure. I had a lot of nerve pain for the first 3 months or so - down my shin and into my foot. It was almost more annoying than the knee pain as it made it hard to find a comfortable position sometimes when sitting or lying down. Thankfully I don't have it anymore.