PKR Please reply

[Stewydog]

3 years ago I had a hip replacement on the left. There was two yrs. prior to that where I could barely walk. Money.

3 months after I had reached the point I could begin to walk without pain, I turned wrong. Tore my meniscus. 3 doctors later I found I needed a partial knee replacement. I told all of that to try to help all of you understand that I was looking sooo forward to the surgery so that I could get back to walking and doing some things that I enjoy. I had the partial knee replacement on July 27, 22 and the following day when my physical therapist came out I had full range of motion I could do every movement that she requested and so I only saw her two times. I had absolutely no pain other than from the incision and like many others I had been told that a partial was so much easier than a full that I thought that that meant it was also easier on my body!! Although I’m 65 I’ve been remarkably healthy and really have not had to think about my health too much until five years ago. Because of These glowing reports and the fact that I had no pain I went back to regular life. I did every single thing I would normally do and I wasn’t icing it much.

After one month my leg begin to turn red. I went to my surgeons office and saw the PA. She studied it and looked at it and said she didn’t think that it was anything other than bruising although my bruising had totally gone away at this point. Four days later I went to my daughters house in another state and by that time my leg all the way down the front and on the sides was a very dark brown— almost purple color and so I went to the emergency room. The doctor there put me on an IV drip with antibiotics and then gave me two antibiotics to take for 14 days. I did that and most of the bruising or coloring went away but the problem is the pain in my knee increased. There was so much swelling in my knee and in my leg for three weeks that it felt sometimes like my skin would burst but I was never told for sure that it was cellulitis or an infection. A month after this occurred I finally went to my surgeons office again and wasn’t given any answers. He’s a very cocky and self assured Surgeon and he made it very clear that I was wasting his time. His job in his mind is to simply do the surgeries that he’s so good at so I left there again not knowing if the infection in my leg was causing the current pain in my knee or not.

I have looked online for answers for hours, but I am unable to find a situation exactly like mine. My question is if the redness was cellulitis did it harm my knee replacement in some way? Because when I walk now I have pain with every step. It doesn’t hurt when I walk up the stairs or come down the stairs, but it hurts when I take every step. I don’t know if I Should continue to elevate and ice it and try the wait-and-see method or if I should continue to go back to the doctor and insist on answers about what happened to my leg and whether it had anything to do with my current pain. I’m scared now and I’m depressed because the thing that I had looked so forward to is not turning out the way that I had hoped. Did I just do too much too soon and so I’ve delayed my healing or is it something more? I don’t have any doctors in my family and I don’t know where to get these answers

 

[WFD]

@Stewydog If it were me, I would get a referral to an infectious diseases specialist that works with knee infections. The office of a revision surgeon might be able to recommend a good one. Where do you live?

 

[Layla]

Hello and Welcome to BoneSmart. I am sorry you're struggling with pain and uncertainty. Please give us the date of your left hip replacement so we're able to create a signature for you. Also, please let us know which knee the PKR was performed on.

If you are unable to get straight answers from your surgeon, I would request copies of all medical records from the OS's office and hospital for your personal records, then do some research to connect with a reputable revision surgeon for a second opinion since this is ongoing. I am sorry you have to go through this, but you don't seem to be satisfied with your current surgeon, nor receiving the help you deserve. If interested, we may be able to give you the name (s) of surgeons you can try to schedule an appointment with. I can't promise anything, but will go through Admin. If interested, let us know. I wish you comfort, answers and relief. @Stewydog

 

[Jockette]

Hi and Welcome!

The pain you have at this point is at least partly a combination of having the replacement done, and doing more than your knee is ready for. Hopefully, that’s all.

I‘m sorry that your surgeon only cares about the surgery and not your recovery. Looking for a second opinion is a good idea, but sometimes that can be hard so early in recovery, but definitely worth a try. If you have trouble with that, try your PCP for advice and/ or referrals. An infectious disease doctor is a good idea, if it is an infection, but I’m not sure you can just book an appointment with one unless an infection is confirmed.

Yes, you should be icing and elevating at this point, since you have a lot of pain. There are specific articles about those in the following Recovery Guidelines.

How is your swelling?

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.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

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​

elevate​

ice​

take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

don't overwork.​

​

If you want to use something to help heal the incision, ​

BoneSmart recommends hypochlorous solution. Members in the US can purchase ACTIVE Antimicrobial Hydrogel through BoneSmart at a discount. Similar products should be available in the UK and other countries.​

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

​

the BoneSmart view on exercise​

BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Activity Progression for TKRs​

6. Access to these pages on the website

​

Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Closure​

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.

 

[Stewydog]

Thank you all so much for replying. My hip replacement was the left side and it was NOT jiffy hip. PKR is on the right side. I live in Chesapeake Virginia which is attached to Virginia Beach. Jockette i am interested in your answer. The doctors seem to stress move move move. Get that range of motion back!! They said on their sheets to do whatever you can if its not causing you pain. I wasn’t in very much pain until the purple leg. I am woefully ignorant about how bodys work i guess. If i had full range of motion and had no pain in the area of the replacement, did i damage something by doing too much or just possibly prolong my recovery? Assuming there is no infection. Has anyone done this besides me??? I have always had trouble relaxing so maybe I’m the only one.

 

[LaJudes]

l would certainly see a revision specialist . My tkr knee replacement was stiff hot and painful from day one . lt actually seemed to get worse rather than better . Then l got the cellulitis around the knee area . They treated it several times but it always came back .Then l started getting a sore just bel my knee cap . So they treated that with antibiotic and it also kept coming back .The orthopedic surgeon sai he was sure the infection was not in the knee joint . just surface . After a year of messing around including doing surgery on it to clean out the so sore , they finally sent me to a revision specialist . He said right away, the sore was coming from the knee replacement and removal it all the next day . lt was horrible infection . l was in the ho for 8 days and in a wheelchair for 3 months . If you read my blog on here, it's all there . So please do get it checked out further .

 

[Stewydog]

Thank you so much for your info. This is the first time I’ve been on a forum. How do i get to your blog? I don’t know how to navigate any of this!!!

Thank you

 

[kiwicurls]

You definitely need further investigations. If there is infection it must be diagnosed and treated. Try not to worry, they will find the problem.

 

[Stewydog]

Thank you so much for that. I feel discouraged to have gone through this and I’m not well. I actually feel grief—along with pain!!

 

[Stewydog]

By the way i live in Chesapeake VA.

 

[benne68]

Hi @Stewydog To get to another member's story, put your curser over that person's name (in blue) until it is highlighted, then click on it. That will take you to the member's profile page, where you can see all of their posts. Scroll down the page and look for the ones that say "posted the thread" and click on the title of the thread. You'll be able to read the member's recovery story.

To get you started, here is LaJude's thread: https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/pt-hates-me.72020/#post-1564109

 

[Stewydog]

When you have me that advice about getting to a persons thread I did it but its a month later and I can’t remember how. I am on an iPhone so I don’t have a cursor. So with an iPhone how do i get to the thread of someone who answered me?
Thank y’all so much for answering

 

[Jaycey]

@Stewydog Just put the @ sign and the member's user name just after it on in the reply box on this thread (like I did with your user name). Then post your response to the member. This will tag the member to come back and see your response. Here's a little tutorial: How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you.

 

[Layla]

Please let us know if you're still struggling. We want to help make it easy for you.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
@Stewydog

 

[Stewydog]

Thanks so much

 

[Stewydog]

@Layla Hi. You told me to let you know if I’m still struggling. After i posted i saw my docs PA and she gave me anti inflammatory meds. I took them for five days and felt great. They also did a blood draw to see my inflammation levels. It showed them as normal. About 1 month ago i had to have a GYN procedure. Hospital. Anesthesia. That night my knee was on fire!!! I took an anti inflammatory and it was ok the next. day. 3 weeks after that i did another blood draw so my knee doc could compare the two inflammation levels. This one showed two times the inflammation level of the first one. He is insure now if my knee is actually infected or if its a trsult of inflammation from the GYN procedure. Sometimes when i walk I won’t have pain for hours. But at some point in the day it will start to ache again. Now I’m worried again that its infected and i have to wait another month to find out. I’m scared. I just cannot CANNOT think about how i could het through revision surgery.

 

[sistersinhim]

I can certainly understand your fear. We were and are afraid of getting an infection. Inflammation is better than an infection I imagine. I've never heard of a knee flaring up like yours did after your GYN procedure. I pray it settles down and that your knee is not infected.

 

[Stewydog]

Its so confusing. Some days i have no pain for several hours and then I’ll start to feel that old familiar pinch each time i take a step. There are very gew articles on PKR but the ones i jave seen say 4-6 weeks out and you’ll be doing regular activities. I wish i could just find an answer to the question “if my knee is infected, would i have pain all the time?”.

 

[Jockette]

There are very gew articles on PKR but the ones i jave seen say 4-6 weeks out and you’ll be doing regular activities

I also have a PKR, mine is a Patellofemoral. There is very little difference in recovery between it and a total replacement, both take an average of a full year to heal. I didn’t know that until I found Bonesmart, one month after my replacement. I was very disappointed, and even angry, to learn this, as I was expecting to be fully healed by 2-3 months, according to what I had read, and what my surgeon’s office did, and did not, say. Bones were still cut, drilled, and a metal implant hammered into the bone. The only difference is that it happened to only one part of our knee, as comported to all three knee sections that the Total does.

What partial did you have? We’ll add that information to your signature.

 

[Flashlight]

I'm wondering if the position you were placed in during the GYN procedure was too much on your surgical knee. How long were you in that surgery? If there was an infection, I'm sure it would cause you increasing issues it wouldn't come and go. When you went to the ER were you seen by ortho? My leg turned various shades and my lower leg was still swollen a month out, but it wasn't red and hot, and I wasn't running a fever. If you can go up and down stairs without pain that is wonderful! I'm hoping by 6-months that I will be able to do that. Are you taking ibuprofen or Tylenol? Maybe you just need to give yourself some time to heal.