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TKR Queasy, sick feeling

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I am 25 days post op, woke up this morning with a toothache, sensitive to cold and hot as well as just generally uncomfortable feeling. My surgeon is uber conservative in terms of infection ( which I am grateful for). He said no dental work for 3 months post op, then only with antibiotics. In addition, surgical leg cannot be immersed in water for 6 weeks, and I need to wear compression hose for 6 weeks, as well as aspirin 3x a day for 3 months, then 1x a day for 3 months.
My question is: what does one do if their tooth doesn't follow the docs orders? Anyone have experience with this situation.
Thanks for your help!
 
Hi @Sel
Your tooth having pain is something you deal with now. Don't wait. If infected it can go to your knee. Again do not delay!!
Dana
 
I agree! Get to the dentist STAT! My OS is one that insists on antibiotics before any dental work. As a matter of fact, he has already given me an Rx for amoxicillin with directions to take 4 one hour before any dental work. When you call your dentist for an appt. tell them you've had a joint replacement and need an antibiotic before coming in an they should call something in for you to take before you go. Tooth pain is miserable. I hope it gets better soon.
 
In the UK dentists / GPs / OS s don't advocate the use of antibiotics because of joint replacements now, they say they are not necessary. I did make my last hygienist appointment, for a deep clean, the month before my TKR, so that I wouldn't have it just afterwards, which is when it was due, but the hygienist said it wouldn't have mattered, she would have gone ahead anyway. An abscess might be a different thing though, you really don't want to risk one of those, I'd get to the dentist ASAP.
 
@Sel. Here in the US drs prescribe antibiotics for any dental work, even a cleaning. Better to be on the safe side, antibiotics an hr before appt. good luck. Susanne


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My OS told me to get antibiotics before any dental work done---while my father's OS said that studies show that it does not matter or make a difference.

It is interesting to see the differing protocols.

I would, however, make every effort to see your dentist pronto and get that tooth looked at and taken care of.
 
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Re: antibiotics or not? The way I see it, better safe than sorry. My 4 amoxicillin pills cost me a whopping 26 cents. Imagine the cost and pain of getting an infection and having to go through a revision. :yikes:
 
The dentist might give you antibiotics, depending on what he/she finds. My doc believes in antibiotics before procedures, but some of that may be due to my RA meds which lower my immune system slightly. He prescribed some for me to have on hand in case of procedures.
 
Today I am 4 weeks and one day postop with right TKR.
Yesterday I decided I had had it with the constant nausea and queasy tummy. So sick of being sick. I
I put together a list of protein packed foods. I started my morning with a hard boiled egg (admittedly I had to force it down) followed by a high protein bowl of oatmeal. Ok so I couldn't finish the oatmeal, but I gave it the college try! Mornings have been the worst for me. Equate how I feel to the worst morning sickness when pregnant, if you will.
I swallowed all my vitamins and supplements I usually take plus the additions from my doc. Felt pretty good. Mid morning, I forced a bannana down. Lunchtime was turkey, cottage cheese, and greek yogurt. Still feeling surprisingly good. Mid afternoon I chose string cheese and some edamame. Sounds like a lot of food as I write this, and it sure is a heck of a lot more than I had been trying to eating, but the best news was I felt SO much better!
I have realized on this TKR journey, that nobody can tell you what you will experience and you have to be resilient in adapting to whatever comes your way. I have been slow in adapting, so caught up in the moment.
Stamina is still a challenge. Anyone else experience problems with this and other than time, any helpful hints to help it along?
 
Glad you're feeling stronger. What did you do about your tooth? I hope you made an appointment with the dentist to get it resolved.
 
Sel, so glad to hear you found a way to overcome the nausea. As for stamina, it takes lots of time. Lots and lots! I'm 10 weeks with my right knee and 24 weeks with my left and my stamina is still not even close to what I would like it to be. It's only the past few days to a week that I've been able to stand or walk or a combo of both for an hour. Just about long enough to prep, cook and clean up a half way decent meal and then I'm done! And it's right back to the recliner with my feet up for awhile before I can even think about moving much again. You'll get there. Go easy on yourself, rest and just know it will come in time. Like Jamie, what did you do about the tooth pain? Hope that got better too!
 
Thanks for asking about the tooth. I should have mentioned that. Saw my dentist same day as post. He said very tiny cavity, was able to bond without Novacaine. I did take antibiotics proactively. My dentist was surprised I even felt the pain as the cavity was so small. At this point in my rehab NOTHING surprises me!
Good to know I am not alone with the stamina issue!! I so badly want to get on with my life!
Wow Janet, you are my hero - two TKRs 14 weeks apart! My fear is that will be me! Praying my left holds up!
 
Glad you got the tooth fixed without incident:) I did mine so close together because I just wanted it all over with and that's the least amount of time between that my OS will do it. He will not do bilaterals either. This recovery is so long and I thought this way at least some of it could overlap :) Also, I reached my out of pocket maximum on the 1st one so the 2nd was FREE! It's a good thing I did the left one first though because the right one has been much more difficult and I don't think I would have been so eager to do it again if I had switched them. Oh well, the worst is over now and there's no going back. I'm only looking forward now. Hang in there! It does get better, you'll see. I know it seems impossible now but it does.
 
Thanks for the encouragement. For someone like me, busy, active, multi tasker, these tiny increments of improvement are really frustrating. I truly believed I had put the hard work in pre op, my post op would be a breeze. Instead a month out I am finally 95 ROM, still swelling a bunch, and having to sit, elevate and ice for good portions of my day. I have known a long time that bilateral TKRs were in my future, but thought I would see 70 before I had to do it. Now I'm hoping to hit 60 before my 2nd, and that's it's like childbirth and I will forget all the bad parts!! I'm just happy I chose to do this over winter when my outdoor activities are limited anyway.
Have you had any difficulty with scar tissue? I ask because God the 2nd time since surgery while turning over in bed, I experienced severe pain where it felt like my knee would not bend. I asked my PT this morning about it, he said it sounded like scar tissue and more than likely would resolve itself. Hoping he's right, dreading a repeat of that episode in my TKR journey!! Wishing I had kept a blog, so next time I was better prepared!
Take care!
 
Hi Sel, best of luck with your recovery, I was also overdoing it and was only causing more swelling in my knee, I am now listening to my body and not overdoing it and feel the benefits more and find resting is the best thing for the body. Holly
 
This can serve as your blog for the 2nd time around. I used mine that way. In the early days when I would think thinks like, I had better movement at this stage, or the pain wasn't this bad last time, I could go and look to see where I had actually been. I haven't had scar tissue issues so can't help there. I have only this week though gone back to sleeping in bed after 169 very long nights either on the sofa or in the recliner. It is still very difficult for me to turn over in bed and sleeping on my side is not possible, yet anyway. These surgeries have trained me to be a back sleeper of the first time in my life. Even though my ROM is good now (125 left, 112 right at last measure) I just can't seem to get my knees in the right position to turn over easily or sleep on my side. I even started peeling my pajama bottoms off thinking my bare skin would slide easier against the sheets. It does but the bending is the problem for me. In the early days especially, I found that if my legs were in one position for too long, either straight or bent, it was very painful to change their position. That might be what you are experiencing too. Even now I find myself constantly (almost it seems) moving my legs around to keep them from getting painfully stiff or stuck but it's getting better. By spring you should be able to get back to some of your activities. This is a long, boring, depressing road we're all on. Just try to think positive and imagine what your life will be like with pain free knees :)
 
Seriously, I cannot imagine doing this at 70, 75 or older, this is not for the faint of heart. I am in my own bed, however sleeping is short and infrequent. My poor husband has taken up residence in a guest room. His internal clock wakes him during the night and brings me ice pad, which helps some, but the stiffness is a killer after having been asleep for awhile. I too am a side sleeper, a very hard habit to break. I'm going to keep trying, I refuse to give in! My OS, is adamant I not touch my incision for 6 weeks, so the pieces of glue stick yo my yoga pants a pjs, totally creepy. Hoping at the 6 week checkup I get OK to start applying Vitamin E oil to scar, and the glue remain go away!
Thanks for chatting Janet, I am sure you too found this a great source for info, advice and compassion on thus journey.
 
Hi there, Sel! I am on day 29 and I also have stamina issues. Some days I feel great, and others I am just wiped out by 2:00! I am still on OxyContin and Oxycodone due to pain, and find that keeping something in my stomach all the time really helps with nausea. I have been eating Goldfish crackers like they are going out of style!

Your ROM is better than mine - I hit 85 this morning and I am very pleased. I am just healing really slowly...no clue why, but just have to deal with it, I guess.

I am lucky in that I gave up side sleeping years ago when my shoulders started bothering me, so sleeping isn't a huge issue for me anymore. I sleep through the night at least 2-3 nights per week - still waking up due to pain once in a while, but I find that getting up and moving a bit normally quiets the pain and I go right back to sleep. I feel bad for you side-sleepers! I tried to roll to my side the other night, just to change position for a few minutes and my knee got really angry! :)

So glad you're doing well!


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Stamina takes a long time to come back, but will improve a little at a time.
 
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