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IBINLIMPIN

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My TKR is scheduled for day after tomorrow. I'm actually looking forward to it and that seems a little freaky to me.

What about stairs; I haven't read anything about stairs; maybe haven't looked in the right place yet? I have a tri-level house with NO bedrooms on the main level. Should I set up tent in the Family Room for a while? I was figuring I'd just stiff leg it up the stairs at night; bad idea? I really hate sleeping on the couch.

My surgeon said he would have me up and walking the day after surgery. Is this a normal thing? Also, he mentioned nothing about a Catheter??? I don't take to catheters very well. The last time I had one the nurse tried flushing it out and it ended up flying out of me like a fire hose whipping in the wind. My dear wife who was setting right next to me almost got her eye put out by the flapping hose that struck her more than once. It sounds funny now but I had the look of homicide on my face when that nurse said "oh my, oh my" and kept repeating it until I said GET A DOCTOR NOW.

I digress; anyone with opinions or experience with stairs? I have banisters so that should help a bit.
 
I never found stairs a problem, (except I still can't do them properly like normal folk yet at almost 11 weeks, others can though) just haul yourself up with the help of the banisters, carefully of course. I used to come dowm backwards. Now I go up and down with bannisters on one side and cane on the other the best I can. One day our new
knee(s) should just glide up and down!! They should teach you stairs before you get out of the hospital.

Yes it is normal to get up and walking the day after surgery. important because a) you need to get legs moving to avoid blood clots and b) to get that knee operating ASAP

All the best on 26th, make sure you post ASAP after, or get someone else to let us know how you are. I will be thinking of you. Sue
 
IBIN,
You just haven't found one of the many discussions we've had about climbing stairs. I am 9 weeks post op. I live in a two story house. I go upstairs anytime I want to now. It took me about 3 weeks to be confident of them. You will have pain meds that will effect your balance so you just have to be more careful I did set up a bedroom down stairs. Scarf up the urinal they give you at the hospital. It will come in handy at first. I slept on a couch or in a recliner the first week. Got tired of it and did the one leg thing upstairs. I will tell you, you need to be careful of pushing it though. You will really be shifting a whole lot of responsibility on to your good leg. Pick a room with a t.v. because most of us developed a pretty good case of insomnia. It goes away but was something none of us were prepared for.
We have also had many discussions about the constipation....for gosh sakes take a stool softener. It will save you a big (pun intended) problem when you get home.
Yes, they get you up the day after. It is no big deal at all really...Sounds intimidating but isn't. You will be on a walker. The therapist is right there with you.
Best of luck with the surgery and check back in and let us know how you did.
 
Just breath, I know its hard but its important. I was in your shoes last week. up day after DR means 50steps with walker. I set up camp in LR recliner. My BR is up but no bathroom. banisters help but cane does half the work.
 
I just had my surgery a little over 3 weeks ago. They had me up the next day also, so I think that is the norm. Movement following surgery is good, as long as you don't overdo it. The therapists will guide you. Be sure and ask all kinds of questions of your nurses and therapists. They have been through this so many times with their patients, they are a wealth of information. And they are around much more than your doctor! The best things going for me in rehab have been good gel ice packs (we bought 4 of them so I would always have one frozen to use) and an exercise bicycle at home. The bike has allowed me to stretch fairly easily without a lot of pain. I wish you the best of luck.
 
Hi IB, good luck. You know it will depend on how you feel, but don't rule out setting up a comfy sofa. If you are going to do it, make it cozy as possible. My sofa is comfortable BUT it is low and very cushy so it is very hard for me to get back up. I really can't do it at first, after about the 2nd week I actually was more comfortable on the sofa. We have a king sized soft sided water bed. My husband is a man sized man and when he is already in bed and I have to get up so many times it is hard for me to get back in, plus he snores. I usually in a normal life fall asleep before he does, but with this getting up at all hours going on it is hard to sleep to begin with let alone hearing his snores, plus I hate moving around all the time waking him up. So I moved to the living room for a while last time had first knee 1/4, just had knee 2 done 3/14. Lucky we have a ranch home so the steps are not a concern. My laundry room though is downstairs and I can do the steps, I just don't do them every day. Going up you put your unoperated knee first (don't try to alternate yet!) then going down you put your OPERATED knee first. Take it slow, I hold the railing and find that going down at a slight angle takes the pressure off.
I know some people had no problem with steps and others have. Think it is an individual thing, plus how deep your steps are, how many that sort of thing.
Good luck, come back to us asap so we know how you are doing.
Will pray for you to have a speedy recovery and as pain free as possible.
Kath
 
Early mobilisation is essential simply because it greatly reduces the risk of post-op thrombosis. But it's also good for the knee (and you!) as well.
 
My doc had me up and walking the same day as the surgery. My surgery was at 7 am and I was up walking by 1 pm. Same day. Went well. Stairs were easy going up, harder going down if you alternate, but if you use two feet on each step, you can do it right away.

I had an epidural rather than a general anethesia (sp?) and felt great while in the hospital, but I also took my pain meds every 4 hours. Had a drip, but don't know what it was. I'm allergic to morphine, so... anyway, the pain kicked in when I got home.

I'll send up a prayer for your surgery to go extremely well. God be with you!

Skeet
 
In addition to what has been said,,,,

Stairs..they will show you a technique for going up and down stairs. It is fairly simple. You go up with your non TKR leg and pull the TKR leg up after it. You reverse this going down. You start with your TKR leg and follow with your non TKR leg. You use the railing for support.

Icing and elevating the leg that has had the TKR is important for the first couple of weeks to get the swelling down. I had a "icing machine" that a friend of mine used for her TKR that seemed to do a better job attacking the swelling than the bags of frozen peas I was using.

Another point...I had a lot of bruising in the thigh area (assume it was from the tourniquet that was used during surgery...Josephine can comment here). I was told this was normal.

And finally you will not be able to lift your TKR leg off the bed at first. You will be able to stand and walk with this leg but it took about 10 days for my leg muscles to come back to where I was able to lift my leg normally.

I am coming up on three months and things are doing great. Still working through some stiffness but am able to take 40 minute walks with the dogs without any problems. ROM is good but still have to work on getting the last 3 degrees of extension.

Feel it was well worth the effort required and glad I got my TKR.
 
My therapist had a little saying to help me remember which leg to use when on the steps at the beginning of recovery....."The Good Leg goes up toward Heaven and the Bad Leg goes down to Hell. I think of that every time I do a step and it makes me smile in addition to using the correct leg.
 
Ah, yes, up with the good, down with the bad. I memorized that very quickly!! - That's how you remember which leg to lead with when doing stairs for those who have not yet had the surgery :)
 
Here's a tip they will show you

You use your "good leg" to lift your op leg up. Just hook your foot of your good leg under you heel of your op leg and swing it wherever you want it to go. That way you can control it yourself and not have to wait for help lifting it.

I am ashamed to say I had what was undoubtedly my worst, bitchiest moment when leaving the hospital. ( I had a meltdown and demanded to go home a day earlier than everyone else thought I should... what WAS I thinking? Ok, it was Dec. 23rd and I was sure I was ruining everyone's Christmas by staying until Christmas Eve).

I had a really hard time getting into the car.(I knew by then it was a big mistake to be leaving but had too much pride to admit it and ask them to reverse my release....) I was surprised they released me with just a little ace wrap on my knee and couldn't bend it enough to get into the passenger seat of my Subaru. So I tried to slide into the back seat and was struggling to scoot and lift at the same time. My honey reached over and grabbed the knee of my baggy sweat pants to lift my leg up so I could "scoot" back and I absolutely SNARLED at him "DON'T YOU TOUCH MY LEG!"

Thank goodness God gave him the patience to take a deep breath, step back, and let me deal with it. By the time we got home I was bawling my eyes out and wishing I hadn't been so foolish.

Moral to this story: Don't be a hero. Do what you can for yourself, but accept help gracefully.

Good luck!
 
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