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PKR Partial knee 10 October 2012

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ErniesMa said:
This whole thing has been hard on me and my acceptance of the pain because prior to surgery, unlike most, I didn't really have constant pain. I had my limitations, and it seemed like my leash was getting shorter all the time, but constant pain wasn't an issue.
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This sounds much like I was before my 1st pkr back in May and the issues I had afterwards were what seemed like many. Now that I have has the other one done (2 weeks after yours) the 1st one doesn't seem so bad after all.

Good luck to you and hoping that your recovery continues and is uneventful and a steadily positive one.
 
I try to stay positive, but today is one of the days I regret the surgery. I hope I didn't make a mistake by having it
 
I went through that very same thing at about 2 months going t post op, because it just seemed to be worse than it was before and like it wasn't going to get any better. One day it just did feel better without me really even realizing it...hang in there, you will get there and its just early days yet.
 
6-7 weeks is the time the blues to set in and for the pain to really be getting on one's nerves. I remember being acutely depressed at that time and my GP told me to increase my dose of Tramadol to 150mg 2-3 times a day. That and the Moist heat treatment worked like a charm. Don't sit and mope, take this action!
 
I felt the same way at that point. I was wishing I could go back in time and not have it done because I was in more discomfort than before the surgery. One night I said to my husband, "I'm just so tired of being in pain!" It really didn't help much when people said, "hang in there, it will get better." It was hard to believe at that point. It did get better though and is much better now, although still far from perfect. I keep telling myself that it takes a year. Unfortunately the doctor said 6-8 weeks. When that milestone came and went, and I was still in so much discomfort, that was depressing. I know how you feel. It was at that point that I found Bonesmart during a desperate internet search for some answers.

Good idea about the moist heat. I didn't know about that for the pain. I just kept using the ice. Good to know.
 
Yes, I think some doctors don't realise the mental and emotional damage they do to their patients by offering these over-optimistic predictions. Maybe a few of their patients do have such speedy recoveries but they have a tendency to issue the statement like it's the norm with disastrous consequences for those whose journey is different. Something I would dearly love to adjust. If only!
 
Before I had my first partial the OS told (me when I asked how long it would take), he said 4-6 weeks. When I was about 5 weeks I thought something had seriously gone wrong because it wasn't even close to being recovered, that's when I found bonesmart and came to understand this was a very unrealistic goal. I was very down and very upset because I was so sure that the pkr had failed! I agree with Jo, "I think some doctors don't realise the mental and emotional damage they do to their patients by offering these over-optimistic predictions."
 
Hang in there, it will get better. Too often we hear the 6 week recovery as a milestone to being all better. I think it's where the OS usually have their second post op and then they don't see the patient for a few more months so unless they have been through it themselves they aren't atuned to the ongoing struggles.
 
I guess I was really blessed with a great OS. When I asked how long this would take to recover his answer was "When it gets there." So no great expectations were had. He told me I would be much,much better than I was pre-op but he could not guarantee it would be perfect.. At 18mos. I still get a little niggle here and there but I can live with it, I just get on with life and do my best, I have so much more I can do now and that is all that matters to me.
 
Like karmigirl, I have a good OS and he hasn't given me the 6-8 week thing. When going to pt and they kept pushing me to go down stairs I had mentioned it to the OS and told him that it really hurt to do that, he told me to wait 3 months. When he told me I could go back to the gym in January, but gave me restrictions on what to do; very light weight on leg machines or weight leg extensions and NO treadmill it made me feel better. Unfortunately, I think that they refused my request for a refill on the pain meds, but I think that I can live with that, Motril seems to have gotten me through the weekend.
It's gets depressing when people tell you, "you shouldn't still have pain" or "I don't understand, my friend said it's the best thing they ever did". One friend quit talking to me after I told her to go ask her friend how long it took to feel that way. I may have had too much of a snarky tone when I told her that though.
Some days I feel really optimistic, then others I just want to put on my queen of the pity pot crown and curl up in the throne.
 
You might want to try your primary care Dr. Seems most OS have a set number of refills they will give, sometimes they stop the pain meds well before they should. Currently I am 5 weeks post op and only take meds for PT.
 
I was only taking them after work and before bed. The knee apparently doesn't like sitting here all day...lol
 
Things haven't been going too bad. I can go upstairs relatively without problems, downstairs is still a little hairy, but I can do it. I don't go one foot after the other going down them all the time because it hurts...lol. Yesterday I started getting shooting pains in my shin, more so on the lower part than the upper. I'll just be sitting there and, wow, there it is, and then it's gone. I don't understand it.
 
ok, these sharp pains are becoming irritating. I'll be walking along and I'll get one out of no where, and it about drops me to my knees. It's almost like my knee just gives out. Is this normal???
 
I don't know how to describe it, but it doesn't start at my knee, that's what's weird. Like last night when I was sitting in the recliner, it would start above my ankle and shoot down.
Would the nerves waking up make the knee give out?
 
[Bonesmart.org] Partial knee 10 October 2012
Afraid the sharp shooting pains out of nowhere are par for the course. They may continue off and on for a few weeks, then seem to go away only to come back again, but with less frequency. I'ts not the knee giving out, it's your reaction to the sudden pain. And they are usually attributed to nerves coming back around after the surgery. But this, too, shall pass.
[Bonesmart.org] Partial knee 10 October 2012
 
We are officially in a blizzard warning according to the weather alert I just got on my phone...which scared the **** out of me...I wonder if it's the weather making my knee hurt today. Weather had effects on it before surgery, but not like this.
 
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