Pat29627
post-grad
United StatesRight total knee replacement revision went well. The 15 year old partial was loose and split. Surgery was mid-afternoon and I arrived in my room in time for a wonderful dinner of grilled cheese sandwich, chicken noodle soup, and salad. I had almost no pain since they’d given me a nerve block along with my spinal. I went home the next day after walking down the hall with the physical therapist while using a walker. I was amazed I could even go up stairs!
Once home, we did well. Our daughter, her husband and three dogs had come to take care of us for a few weeks. My husband and one dog slept on the couch and our Australian Cattle Dog slept in a crate in the bedroom. I had the whole bed to myself and lots of pillows to prop my leg.
Then….three days later, the hurricane Helene came whipping through. Our power went out. We’re in the west corner of South Carolina and have never had a hurricane come over us. It really tore things up and even two months later, there are trees down all over the area. Our entire town of close to 5,000 had no power.
We had no power and no water for seven and a half days (we have a well.) Dark evenings and long nights were extremely boring and I had nothing to distract me from pain. They charged our phones in the car. My husband and daughter would go out early in the morning to nearby towns to search for ice and water. Our son-in-law found our camp stove and French press coffee pot and provided great meals for us, cooking on the patio.
It’s a good thing the hospital had given me a Velcro-strapped ice pack holder since I couldn’t use the ice water machine I’d had for my first knee surgery. Our daughter would keep my spare ice packs stored in the ice chest. I still use those often. The physical therapist said to use ice for about 30 minutes at a time. He thinks using it for long periods of time might slow healing, I think. But he said use it as often as I need to.
So here I am at 8 weeks. I’m doing well….walking without a cane except if I go out. I have great extension and flexion (not sure about the number since it was fine a few weeks ago and he hasn’t measured it again.) My problem is pain. Besides knee pain, I have pain with walking all along the back of my leg and my ankle (which I’d broken when I was 33.) The doctor’s office said I had to wean off oxycodone around a month out and go to tramadol. I can’t sleep with tramadol, so they prescribed gabapentin 300 mg (Neurontin) for night. I still couldn’t sleep, so use melatonin 3 mg along with it, or CBD or even 1/2 ambien (which I shouldn’t do.) I sleep pretty well the first half of the night, but after that I have crampy sharp pain off and on no matter what positions I’m in. I take Tylenol and Advil before PT, but it doesn’t help much.
Luckily, my physical therapist believes in gentle exercises with no pain. He also does some massage which helps. He’s a bit concerned about the continuing pain, but said with removing the old parts and all, maybe there was a bit more trauma. I see the orthopaedic surgeon in two weeks.
Once home, we did well. Our daughter, her husband and three dogs had come to take care of us for a few weeks. My husband and one dog slept on the couch and our Australian Cattle Dog slept in a crate in the bedroom. I had the whole bed to myself and lots of pillows to prop my leg.
Then….three days later, the hurricane Helene came whipping through. Our power went out. We’re in the west corner of South Carolina and have never had a hurricane come over us. It really tore things up and even two months later, there are trees down all over the area. Our entire town of close to 5,000 had no power.
We had no power and no water for seven and a half days (we have a well.) Dark evenings and long nights were extremely boring and I had nothing to distract me from pain. They charged our phones in the car. My husband and daughter would go out early in the morning to nearby towns to search for ice and water. Our son-in-law found our camp stove and French press coffee pot and provided great meals for us, cooking on the patio.
It’s a good thing the hospital had given me a Velcro-strapped ice pack holder since I couldn’t use the ice water machine I’d had for my first knee surgery. Our daughter would keep my spare ice packs stored in the ice chest. I still use those often. The physical therapist said to use ice for about 30 minutes at a time. He thinks using it for long periods of time might slow healing, I think. But he said use it as often as I need to.
So here I am at 8 weeks. I’m doing well….walking without a cane except if I go out. I have great extension and flexion (not sure about the number since it was fine a few weeks ago and he hasn’t measured it again.) My problem is pain. Besides knee pain, I have pain with walking all along the back of my leg and my ankle (which I’d broken when I was 33.) The doctor’s office said I had to wean off oxycodone around a month out and go to tramadol. I can’t sleep with tramadol, so they prescribed gabapentin 300 mg (Neurontin) for night. I still couldn’t sleep, so use melatonin 3 mg along with it, or CBD or even 1/2 ambien (which I shouldn’t do.) I sleep pretty well the first half of the night, but after that I have crampy sharp pain off and on no matter what positions I’m in. I take Tylenol and Advil before PT, but it doesn’t help much.
Luckily, my physical therapist believes in gentle exercises with no pain. He also does some massage which helps. He’s a bit concerned about the continuing pain, but said with removing the old parts and all, maybe there was a bit more trauma. I see the orthopaedic surgeon in two weeks.
