TKR Reeldove's Recovery Thread

reeldove

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I had the surgery on December 30 and have gone through a grueling recovery process. At two weeks the pain was extremely intense but having just passed the four week point I can say that I am doing much better. After home PT I started outpatient PT last week which has helped immensely. My range of motion is getting better and better although the pain does persist it is usually manageable. Sleeping has been a problem all along because I can't find a comfortable position. Somedays even having the sheets touch my knee over the scarred area or the area where the necrosis was is too much. I' m finally optimistic about my result and hope to be back to somewhat normal activities in a few more weeks.
 
Hello again, @reeldove - and :welome: to recovery.

I've moved your post from your pre-op thread and started a recovery thread for you, so please continue to post about your recovery here, in this thread.

This is a long recovery - a full year for complete recovery of all your tissues - so go easy on yourself and your knee and don't try to rush anything.

Here are the recovery guidelines we give to everyone with a new knee:
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
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

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

5. We recommend you follow this schedule

6. Access to these pages on the website

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.
 
I am at week five postop and can finally say I can see quite a bit of improvement. I only use a cane when I go out which is still not often. Walking around the house I sometimes forget about the TKR and move a bit too fast. Haven’t fallen yet but some close calls. In outpatient PT three times a week which can be a bit too much. I am very type A and tend to rush the recovery but my therapist has cautioned me against too much activity. I tend to wear out physically pretty fast and have had a fibromyalgia flare for the last couple days that’s contributed to that. Still optimistic though.
 
Someone wiser than I will stop by soon with lots of good information and support, but I’m here to tell you that you came to the right place. BoneSmart will be very helpful in understanding what can be understood about what’s going on in your new knee.

Your progress sounds great, but watch that Type A push. This is a long recovery and it seems to do better when we take time to rest, ice, and elevate.
 
Someone wiser than I will stop by soon with lots of good information and support,
I've already done that!

@reeldove
You'll notice that I have merged your two threads together. You need to post in the Knee Surgery Recovery Area now.

We prefer that members in recovery only have one thread.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. If you would like a new thread title just post what you would like it to be and we'll change it for you
 
Last edited:
Big setback. I was on my last week of PT 6 weeks after surgery but slipped on a wet patch of tile and went flying. Bad news for my knee. Was taken to hospital in acute pain. Luckily hardware is intact but have soft tissue injury with swelling and pain. It’s been 5 days but I can see this is going to take a long time to heal. Has this happened to anyone else?
 
@reeldove you will notice that I have merged your two threads together as we prefer that members in recovery only have one thread.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. If you would like a new thread title just give a shout.

So sorry you had that fall. Yes, soft tissues take time to heal. Ice and elevation helps. Hope this eases quickly.
 
I am now 7 weeks out from TKR and would be doing great if I hadn't had a serious fall that severely compromised my progress in PT. I am off RX pain meds and have been playing with ways to control the moderate to severe pain in my knee since the fall. I have Fibromyalgia and arthritis so I have Flexiril already that I can take. It seems to help a bit because the muscles in my leg and knee area are very tight. Sleeping is very difficult because I can't find a position that doesn't cause pain. I'm regularly up until 2a.m. watching TV and turning over and over in bed. Last night I finally took Tylenol which I haven't taken for years and again this morning. Although it won't help the inflammation I am hoping it will calm down the pain. I can't take OTC NSAIDS like ibuprofen because they hurt my stomach and make me feel sick as a result. I have been taking diclofenac regularly (RX from my rheumatologist which doesn't upset my stomach) for arthritis pain but am stopping while I try the Tylenol. I'm hoping it will help because the pain severely curbs my ability to move and consequently do things like moving around the house, clean, cook and - the worst - driving. Anyone had any help from Extra Strength Tylenol for pain?
 
@reeldove
I have moved your post from Loobs39's thread to your own thread.

By putting the above post in her recovery thread, you were disrupting her thread, which should be about her own recovery.
Forum etiquette: being polite when posting

Please post any updates or questions about your recovery in this, your own thread. We will see them there, as someone checks all the new posts every day.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.

Just in case you couldn't find your thread, here are the instructions on finding your thread,
How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on. Please do that.
 
Last night I finally took Tylenol which I haven't taken for years and again this morning. Although it won't help the inflammation I am hoping it will calm down the pain. I can't take OTC NSAIDS like ibuprofen because they hurt my stomach and make me feel sick as a result. I have been taking diclofenac regularly (RX from my rheumatologist which doesn't upset my stomach) for arthritis pain but am stopping while I try the Tylenol. I'm hoping it will help because the pain severely curbs my ability to move and consequently do things like moving around the house, clean, cook and - the worst - driving. Anyone had any help from Extra Strength Tylenol for pain?
Tylenol provides very good pain relief, provided that you take it regularly.

The most effective way to take Tylenol is 2 x 500 mg tablets (Tylenol Extra Strength) 6-hourly, to a total of 4,000 mg (4 doses) in 24 hours. You need to take it regularly, to keep up the levels in your bloodstream. If you just take the odd dose now and then, it's far less effective.

Check all other medications you're taking, to make sure there is no Tylenol/Acetaminophen/Paracetamol in them. If there is, scale back one or two of your regular doses, so you stay within that safe 24 hour limit of 4,000 mg.
 
I got a good deal of pain relief from acetaminophen (Tylenol). That fall sounds like a crummy setback, but your soft tissues will heal and you’ll get back on track.
 
Have been taking Tylenol 500 mg. x 2 every six hours as suggested and it has significantly lessened my pain. Thanks for the info folks, looks like I'll live after all.
 
2 1/2 months post knee replacement and three weeks post fall I'm doing much better. Was going to return to PT but, after having an assessment there yesterday, I found I am pretty much back to where I was before the fall. In addition, they wanted to schedule me for PT twice a week, two days in a row, which is just ridiculous. Would aggravate the joint and case additional pain rather than easing it. Saw my surgeon today and he agreed with me so I have canceled the out patient PT and will continue at home. I just need to work on getting my leg completely straight, there is still a bit of a bend in it when I try. Any suggestions on how to achieve this?
 
Your leg will straighten more as you continue to heal. Walking, though not to excess, will be very good for it. Some members like to take a longer stride when walking, to help stretch the back of the leg. Just be careful. I found I wasn’t able to do that, it made my balance a bit off.
 
In my experience, most people have found it takes longer to get the extension than it does the flexion. On the opposite side of things, as usual for my crazy body which does everything backwards, I have good extension, but not the best flexion. I tell you this to point out how everyone is different, and our bodies/knees recover at different rates.

What I have found to be exactly the same with every single recovery is the need for a ton of patience. This is a long recovery; on average it takes a full year, although many people feel much better around three months. There is still a lot of healing going on for months after the three month mark, but a lot happens in those first three months. Walking around for your daily activities really does help with extension. If you consistently practice walking with a longer stride, as Jockette mentioned, (and notice how it tends to stretch the back of your knee more), it will help over time. Just don't stretch it too far early on so you don't over-extend it. I've done that and my knee had an instant hissy fit each time. I also purposely straightened my leg as much as possible when standing in place, and noticed over time how much more it straightened.

Time is our friend with this recovery, even when we don't think it is. If you look back at where you were at two weeks, one month, six weeks, and even two months, you will see that you are improving. It just seems so slow and takes so long when we're looking forward, but looking back helps with our perspective on how far we've come and how we're doing.
 

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