TKR Redbedhead, home and doing fine if a bit smoked out!

[1ELISEA]

Great news that you are doing so much better!

 

[ChrisO]

Glad for the rains. Odd about your pup, I wonder what he is thinking.

It sound like you've got the elevation thing under control. Goog job. I wonder why our hospitals don't send us home with inflatable wedges. I came home with or was sent everything else....walker, quad cane, potty seat w/arms and two polar ice machines... Yet like you I had to build pillow mountain . At one point I was tempted to see if I could find an inversion chair on e bay.

Rest, ice, elevate and medicate!

Good luck and enjoy the rain and your nutty puppy.

Chris

 

[redbedhead]

Today is a bad pain day. I know yesterday I was able to go a LONG time with out the percoset, and I was thinking I would be able to go as long without it today. WELL THAT WAS STUPID!!!!!!!! I didn't stay on top of the pain meds, and ran out at 3 am. since it is a "controlled substance" I can not have the Dr call in a refill. I actually have to go up to his office and pick up the 'script, take it into the pharacy and wait 2 hours to get it filled. BAD Part of that is that I am still not allowed to drive, so Mom will pick up the script for me, but not until she gets off of work at 4:00(SHe has a meeting with the board of directors that she can not miss today, so no ducking out early) so I will not have any percosets until 6-7 tonight, and of course there is a weather front changing and making things throb! SO I am muddling through with my old arthritis standby, Tylenol and Ultram. Not as effective but at least the throb stops for alittle bit.

Mom and I both were disgusted with ourselves for not getting it done yesterday. WE both said We should have know better than to think I could be done with the pain killers since I still have my staples, and still use the walker. If I was another week out maybe then I could have started going without, but not right now!

All I can say is EVEN if you think you are getting close to not needing the meds, GET Them filled because one day will be easy and the next could be a nightmare. Don;t let yourself run out and have to suffer. Because it is hell to play catch up once you get the meds.

 

[bottomshollow]

What a way to have to learn this lesson, Red.

But I'm positive it won't happen to you again! Hope it doesn't take too long to get ahead of the pain again. Take care.

 

[redbedhead]

What a way to have to learn this lesson, Red.

But I'm positive it won't happen to you again! Hope it doesn't take too long to get ahead of the pain again. Take care.

Yeah what a way to learn, too Bad I come from the school of hard knocks (use a 2 x4 to knock me over the head to learn something) so I can almost bet, that when I have my ankle surgery or my elbow surgery I will do it again. Just they way I am I think!

 

[Nyland]

Hi Red!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I hope you have your meds and are more comfortable now.

 

[TracyW]

Hi Anna, I wanted to see how you were doing. Thank you again for all the support on my thread.

You're ingenious pillow ramp is now committed to memory for future use and I think you're icing the foot and knee was a great choice. Happy to hear that you're able to spread the pain meds schedule out and that the pain is subsiding. Good luck at the OS tomorrow and I can't wait to see your scar pic.

Wishing you a restful day with your new knee!
Tracy

 

[redbedhead]

Hi Red!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I hope you have your meds and are more comfortable now.

Yes I do have the meds and IT IS A GOOD THING!!! I had pt this morning, and was still a little painful from the mess up yesterday. Luckily, my PT is very kind and gentle and we skipped some of the more "agressive" flexion exercises so help it today!

Thank Tracy, I can hardly wait to see the scar myself. keeping it under wraps for 2 weeks is HARD! especially since I want to see it so bad!

 

[kneeper]

Glad things are going better now that you got the pain meds. I like that the PT understood what you were up to and not up to under the circumstances.

 

[Leisa]

Redbedhead, (Hi I'm Leisa, waiting on my first tkr) It sounds like you have had a time girl. Please rest, elevate and ice. I tell you, you are much nicer than I am. If there was a little one (and I have 6 grands) patting my freshly cut on leg.. I would be calling mommy and daddy. "get this child if you don't want it tied to the lamp" Take care and I will watch for your continued updates. *so happy to hear fires are getting under control. We have watched all this unfold on the News in horror.

 

[redbedhead]

Glad things are going better now that you got the pain meds. I like that the PT understood what you were up to and not up to under the circumstances.

Yeah I have a GREAT Physical Therapist! I have used him for all 4 replacements this year. His name is Dan, and he is one of the founding partners for the Therapy Group, they currently have 3 different outpaitent clinics and just started a Home Health side also.

 

[redbedhead]

Well I got my "aquaseal" dressing off today, and got my staples out, but before i got a good look at the incision, Everything got covered up with steri-strips! So I still don't know what my knee looks like!!!!! Oh man, that was what I wanted today! I keep fallinf asleep at random times today, Must be the pain killers.

In other news I am no longer supposed to use my walker, Just my quad cane. That will help my elbows , since neither one of them wanted to straigten to day. I am looking forward to the day I get to walk without any assistive devices!

 

[Jacky48]

Red, don't push to hard too fast you just went through major surgery! Nice and easy will get you there much faster without major set backs! Walking without assistive devices will come soon enough! I still use my cane in certain areas and I will when I know it's safe to give it up!

 

[redbedhead]

Oh yeah, Trust me I know not to get rid of assistive devices too soon! Currently I use the walker in the morning when I first get up (Arthritis in spine and ankle still stiff in the morning, but no more stiffness in hips, knees are coming along as they heal they get better and better!) but then after I get my pills into me and get them working, I transition to the cane for the rest of the day. I surprised myself with 10 steps without anything the other day when I was putting groceries away, but it was NOT pretty!!!

Today I have officially stopped taking the Long acting pain killer and am just taking the breakthrough pain killer. I am able to go about 6-7 hours between pills even!

I am having problems with my elbow on the left side, but I think you can notice that it was acting badly with the first hip surgery in October, and it just gets worse and worse. SO I think along about september I will make an appointment with the Surgeon

 

[redbedhead]

I am officialy OFF ALL NARCOTIC PAIN KILLERS!!!!!! I have not had any percoset since 9 pm Saturday evening, and do not miss them at all.

my steri strips have all fallen off so I am going to take a picture of my knee tonight when mom brings back the chip for the camera (she took a trip into the mountains and took the chip and digital picture frame to work to show off).

Edited for spelling, was typing with one hand and holding the dog on my lap with the other!

 

[Janet2012]

How are you feeling without the narcotics? Are you taking something else in place of them? I'm working on transitioning off the percocet and haven't found the right balance yet. And after six weeks of taking 5-8 pills a day, I'm afraid to just stop them all at once. Today I'm taking one percocet and one extra strength tylenol, and that will probably be three times today. I'd like to be done, but need something still.

 

[kneeper]

Oh yeah, Trust me I know not to get rid of assistive devices too soon! Currently I use the walker in the morning when I first get up (Arthritis in spine and ankle still stiff in the morning, but no more stiffness in hips, knees are coming along as they heal they get better and better!)

I can so relate. My ankles were quite wracked up after my tkr.

Congrats on being off the narcotics.

 

[kneeper]

How are you feeling without the narcotics? Are you taking something else in place of them? I'm working on transitioning off the percocet and haven't found the right balance yet. And after six weeks of taking 5-8 pills a day, I'm afraid to just stop them all at once. Today I'm taking one percocet and one extra strength tylenol, and that will probably be three times today. I'd like to be done, but need something still.

Yeah, you'll probably want to experiment with reducing the percocet bit by bit over the course of a week or two but not stopping it all at once.

 

[redbedhead]

How are you feeling without the narcotics? Are you taking something else in place of them? I'm working on transitioning off the percocet and haven't found the right balance yet. And after six weeks of taking 5-8 pills a day, I'm afraid to just stop them all at once. Today I'm taking one percocet and one extra strength tylenol, and that will probably be three times today. I'd like to be done, but need something still.

Well, when I am not recovering from surgery, I have a prescription for Ultram (generic name is Tramadol) that I can take 3 times a day for the arthritis pain, So I am taking 1 of those every morning, and a tylenol when I need it. I did have a migraine the first day after stopping the percocet, BUT I am a migraine magnet LOL! Definitly spread out the narcotics don't stop all at once, and keep cutting them back when you can! Don't let your pain get out of control thouh, listen to your body and see what it says about the pain control, you may be able to get away with just a tylenol to hold you over and make it a few more hours between percocet you will never know until you try.

 

[Janet2012]

I came home with Tramadol, but hadn't taken it. I've tried taking it four times now, and every time it's put me to sleep, so I don't like it for day time. Maybe if I take it at bedtime for a while, I'll get used to it and be able to take it during the day. I look forward to the day that I don't need anything!