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TKR Pineapple's knee

Thank you all. I have decided to keep on the OxyContin for a while and go to 1 and a half Percocet every six hours, and take it from there. I have taken 5 mg of oxycodone for RLS and PLMD five or six nights a week for years (this is the only med I can take and I have gone through them all). What I am really concerned about is increasing my tolerance so that after I am done with the need for narcotics for my knee, 5 mg will no longer work for my sleep disorder. I don't like taking the stuff to begin with but my kicking in my sleep is severe and interferes with restful sleep if I don't treat it.


Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
Pineapple, your approach sounds like a good one for the time being. Remember you can talk with your doctor about other "step down" medications that may work for you - hydrocodone and tramadol are two that many people have success with. It may be you've tried them before and they are not for you, but I suggest them as an option just in case.
 
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Today is my knee's one month birthday. Yesterday the Physical Therapist pronounced it beautiful (he likes my surgeon, lol) and then warned me not to overdo it. I start actual PE tomorrow but with that advice I am relaxed about it.

I took a long walk down the street and back. And I realized that this isn't just a recovery for the knee. Every bone and muscle in my body is now in a slightly different place. The muscles in my feet are bearing weight differently. My back is straighter and the bones and muscles are arguing about whether to stay tall or assume the old protective lean. My arms are swinging more freely because I am not guarding my hips or knees with the weight of how I carry them. So I have aches and conversations happening all over my body that will take time to resolve into a unified new whole. But the arthritis pain is gone and I can enjoy walking in the sun for the first time in many years.

In other words, so far, so good. As for the rest, time will tell.


Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
That's really good to hear, @pineapple. :yes!: :SUNsmile:

Now that you're walking differently, you may have to consider buying new shoes, because your old way of walking could have worn tread patterns in your shoes that are no longer appropriate for the "new you."
 
This is a few days over a month since surgery. I never thought a little cleaning and a bath would be fun, but they were. I am clearly going stir crazy. But whatever I can do, When I realize I am not pushing through what used to be constant, unrelenting, exhausting pain, I think that this knee is a miracle.

Also, every time I take a bath I can see my knee getting more bend. It is a very small change but encouraging. Since I only had about 90 degrees before surgery, I think I am already better than that.

Still feeling uncertain about pain meds. I can do without in the morning or just take Tylenol but within 6 hours I want a Percocet and a half. And at night I take 10 mg OxyContin and a Percocet. I am glad I double checked Tylenol dosages and the amount in Percocet so I don't accidentally take too much. I will say my RLS and Periodic Leg Movement Disorder are under complete control. Just hope it stays that way when I go back to the pre-op dose of 5 mg a night.

More than anything I want the brain fog and zombie crash to dissipate. I can't fight it, it just takes over. But I am so full of dreams for all the things I can't wait to do. And because I was so disabled by my knees, those dreams include just about everything from getting back on a horse to cleaning under the sink.


Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
pineapple,
Glad you are seeing improvement, and can start doing more. Sounds like you are doing OK with your pain medications, just stay ahead of the pain. As you heal you will naturally forget to take them, weaning off slowly.
Hope your dreams come true, even cleaning under the sink.
 
I have a question. I am five weeks out as of yesterday. The knee is doing well. My knee does not seem swollen or hot although I think one of the dissolving stitches let go when I bent it last night and it was a big ouch. Should I still elevate and ice? Pain meds continue to be way down. But at night I still take some. I guess I am wondering how long you treat preventative lay and when you treat by symptom.




Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
If it doesn't feel uncomfortable to ice and elevate, I'd keep dong it for a while yet. It's not much more than a month since your surgery.

You'll find that you gradually start to ice and elevate less frequently, but I found that I would still have to do it after doing more than usual, even after 6 months. The knee will let you know when it feels you've done too much and it needs a bit of extra pampering.
 
I'm just in my second week back at work ... For the last 2 hours all I could think about was getting to lie on the sofa with my ice packs! Bliss!


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
PT is going well. The therapist is responsive to what I want and nice to talk to.

I am going up and now down stairs normally. My rom is probably 110 from a start of about 90.

Sometimes the knee is sore. Sometimes I forget I have it.

But even though I would say I am having a positive and uneventful recovery, I am feeling depressed. I have been really depressed in the past and whenever I start to feel this way I get anxious. I am well enough to be moderately busy but not able to get a job, which after three years of pretty much total disability I need to survive. I guess this is one of those dark days.



Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
pineapple,
It is normal to have the blues after TKR, no matter how well you are doing. Hoping after your second TKR you will get your life back.
 
I agree - the link Celle gave is very true. For me I felt pain meds and especially getting off them affected me a lot. But the whole ordeal is hard.


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
I am almost off pain meds, maybe that's the trigger. Pain meds definitely have antidepressant qualities. There is a new antidepressant coming out this year that has some kind of synthetic option in it, seboxin?, unless the name escapes me. They say they're adding something to the mix that keeps it from being addictive. We'll see.

I am mourning the years I lost to these knees. I went from super active and athletic to almost fully disabled in my fifties. Couldn't work. Couldn't do things around the house. Now I feel like someone standing outside their house after a tornado has leveled it. They are grateful to be fine, but their home is gone. I will get over it, but right now it makes me terribly sad.


Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
pineapple said:
I am mourning the years I lost to these knees. I went from super active and athletic to almost fully disabled in my fifties. Couldn't work. Couldn't do things around the house. Now I feel like someone standing outside their house after a tornado has leveled it. They are grateful to be fine, but their home is gone. I will get over it, but right now it makes me terribly sad.
Click to expand...
I can empathize with your regret for the lost years. I needed a knee replacement, but was advised to wait until I was "old enough". That proved to be 9 long, painful years, during which I gradually lost almost all quality of life.
My new knee gave me back my life again and I'm so grateful for that.

As your recovery progresses, I think you'll gradually lose the sadness over the lost years, and you'll be able to move forward into a better life.
 
pineapple said:
I still don't understand the healing process. How does the bone heal? How do the stretched muscles recover? How about cuts in the muscle? The nerve? The skin, subcutaneous fat? How fast do muscles lose and then recover strength?

I have garnered small pieces of info from here and there, but I really don't have a precise picture of how all of this takes a year? To be told my parts were sawed, cut and hammered is just too vague to me. If I had more info I would be able to watch the recovery and be more patient.
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I don't have all the answers, but I hope some of these articles will help. Healing isn't an exact science. Things don't happen on certain day, or even within a certain week or month, but they gradually proceed on a similar course.
Knee replacement surgery types and suggested videos
TKR surgery - WARNING: real life photos
Healing: how long does it take?
Scar tissue and adhesions - what's the difference?
MUA (Manipulation under Anaesthetic) and Adhesions

Soft tissue often takes much longer to heal than bones do. You only have to think how long a sprained ankle takes to heal to realise that. When you have a knee replacement, some of your soft tissues are cut, but others are pulled aside and can be bruised and stretched as a result.

I hope this helps a bit.
 
I am confused as to how my knee can feel so good and I can be so tired. Don't know if it's physical or psychological. The surgery was a shock in a lot of ways. I had no idea how much constant pain was putting me in a state of suspended animation. I feel like I woke up and I lost three or four years to a kind of denial which is encouraged by this idea that you should wait until you are truly crippled to get help. Also, I was worried about finding a good doctor with Medicaid, which I was on because I couldn't work.

Also, I had a lot from many people for fear of rejection. People can be afraid of disability, as if it's contagious.

So here I am, getting physically sound, but with a lot of emotional baggage to get through. Perhaps it's regret. Perhaps it's a fear of losing what I have only just got back. And I have a second knee to do, which I am both wanting done tomorrow and afraid to touch. And I am so tired!


Pineapple
LTKR 2/2/16
RTKR Scheduled for approximately 5/15/16
 
It could be both. But I can tell you this surgery knocks the stuffing out of you for months. Pain levels in the knee aren't the only thing going on in this recovery.
It's easy for me to say now that I'm recovered with 2 good knees, but try to focus on what you'll be able to do in the future rather than regretting the time lost.

I can identify with the wanting the 2nd one done now and not wanting to face it yet. I was the same way as my first tkr knee became the "good knee."
 
pineapple said:
I am confused as to how my knee can feel so good and I can be so tired. Don't know if it's physical or psychological.
Click to expand...
It's physical. It's called the energy drain and it will take quite a long time to go away, although you will gradually experience it less. It happens because almost all of your body's energy is being directed towards healing your knee. This article may help:
Energy drain for TKRs
 
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