Bilateral TKR Rhody on the Road to Recovery

Feel better and let us know what doc says.
 
Both knees Rhody, super. I need both done but my surgeon would only do one at a time. Some say their experience with first , is bad enough to keep them from second, but fortunately mine ,so far , has not gone that bad. I do wish I could have done both though and have this behind me. Anyway look forward to following your recovery. Always curious as to what position each of us can get into that gives us that near zero pain relief. For me standing in one spot is painful nearly immediately, but each day gets better. Sitting in chair with feet on floor is also uncomfortable, whether feet on floor or hanging off stool. Walking least painful of these 3 positions . Laying on couch leg out or elevated is my go to position for that “no pain zone”

Always like to hear from other posters to see what their go to positions are for pain relief as well as those causing most pain.
One thing I would caution you in is when it comes to PT, make sure you don’t have a tech that wants to push you into the pain area , outside uncomfortable level. Pain not good solid stretch good, and ice ,ice ,ice.
My best friend is my ossur ice machine and 2 weeks post op today, my swelling is nearly back equal to my non surgical leg. Again best of luck with recovery .
 
I fear I may have over iced. There's a place on each knee where, when I put the ice on, it goes numb almost right away. It's under my bandages and I've been using a pretty thick towel, so I don't believe it's freezer burn...but maybe it is? Not getting the kind of relief I was at first from icing that area, in fact, it's almost a painful numbness that happens almost right away. Anyone ever had that? What should I do?
@sistersinhim answered here:
Numb areas are normal. I still have numb areas on both of my knees. https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/numb-area-after-tkr-how-long-will-it-last.5931/
I guess we all felt her explanation was the answer.

I’ll add to that, I iced until about 6 months and that is when it began to be painful, so I stopped. You can choose what you feel is best for you.
 
The numbness thing can be so strange. I didn't notice until a few days ago that a numb area has developed on a part of my knee - and last night, I realized my calf was numb. Just checked it as I as typing this and it seems a little less numb than last night. Weird.

I laughed after reading what you said about the sox and massage. My husband was thrilled to death to not have to help put that thing on my right leg this time. For some reason, I could do it myself and but he had to do when I had the first tkr. He said that was the only thing he was dreading about this recovery. Can't wait to get back to have a real pedicure because the tech gives the BEST leg & foot massages; it's absolute heaven.

Hope you feel better & that's it's some minor stomach bug and not infection...nothing worse than being sick and not being able to get down close enough to the toilet!
 
Last edited:
Hope you feel better & that's it's some minor stomach bug and not infection...nothing worse than being sick and not being able to get down close enough to the toilet!
So true!
 
@sistersinhim answered here:

I guess we all felt her explanation was the answer.

I’ll add to that, I iced until about 6 months and that is when it began to be painful, so I stopped. You can choose what you feel is best for you.

It's not like a regular numbness...it's strange. The outer layers/muscles feel like they need to be iced. I put the ice on and then it feels like the bone is numb. Not just on the surface...but the bone. In any event, not really icing that much anymore.

@Softtail - my go to position for zero pain is - recliner, pillow length-wise under each leg, ice paks wrapped in towels (lots of times I can get there without ice now). I'm sitting at the computer - working position and have zero pain right now. I do know, however, that when I get up, both knees will be stiff and the right one will bark louder. Glad I did both at once. Beforehand, I was thinking, if it really hurt, I'd be reluctant to do the second. As it turned out, it wasn't 'that bad' and if I hadn't had them both done at once, I'd have been bummed that I didn't.

@Laurenkate - thanks. Looks like that might be the case. Feeling much better today. They sent me to their 'express clinic' yesterday. The PA that saw me said I looked great, took the dressing off my knees, said they looked good, so she wasn't sure whether to send me home or to the ER. That seemed like quite the range to me...so, she gave me something for nausea and off we went (home). It did give me a chance to get out for about a 40 minute (each way) car ride, which went fine. (The regular office is only about 5-10 mins away).

No oxy or ice yesterday and no real pain either. I think maybe I was too mentally distracted by not feeling well. Today, going with some occasional ice. So far, my home PT people have been great. Haven't touched me and if I told them something hurt, they'd either say, do fewer, don't do it as hard, or just don't do it. We'll see what the OP people have to say.
 
Glad you're feeling better! It would be terrible to develop some stomach virus, flu, etc. while recovering from a tkr. Sounds like you're doing very well.
 
Glad you're feeling better! It would be terrible to develop some stomach virus, flu, etc. while recovering from a tkr. Sounds like you're doing very well.

Thanks much. I don't feel perfect, but MUCH better than yesterday. It was like a really really bad hangover or food poisoning (unfortunately, I speak from experience :wink: ). Not back to perfect yet, but way better.

Hope you're doing well, too!
 
Yeah, food poisoning is a lot of fun. We try to head up your way in October and I always look forward to having mussels when on the Cape. Had some in Martha's Vineyard a couple of years ago and, like the old joke, 3 hours later, thought I was going to die and 2 hours after that, praying I would die. Since it's impossible to get on my knees to hug the porcelain throne these days, my husband has asked that I not order them on this trip. Silly man; i'm never eating mussels again! Other than that, things are ok. I'm starting to get those occasional weird shooting pains through my kneecap - but am starting to realize how wonderful it will be to have two functioning knees!
 
Yeah, food poisoning is a lot of fun. We try to head up your way in October and I always look forward to having mussels when on the Cape. Had some in Martha's Vineyard a couple of years ago and, like the old joke, 3 hours later, thought I was going to die and 2 hours after that, praying I would die. Since it's impossible to get on my knees to hug the porcelain throne these days, my husband has asked that I not order them on this trip. Silly man; i'm never eating mussels again! Other than that, things are ok. I'm starting to get those occasional weird shooting pains through my kneecap - but am starting to realize how wonderful it will be to have two functioning knees!

Too funny...I agree that the worst thing about food poisoning isn't that you think you might die, it's thinking you might NOT. (It was escargot for me when it happened...and yeah, no worries that I'll ever have it again..despite how much I like(d) it ).

The other night, I knew there was gonna be no way I could hug the porcelain throne, with the plastic riser on top, so I made sure to have the trash can handy when I sat :wink:.

Are you using anything to get around, or getting about unaided?
 
Ugh. I thought mussels were bad!

Using a cane in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning until my knee warms up enough to allow my entire foot to hit the floor. Not using it much in the house until early evening and I use it when I'm going out. It might not be necessary but if I don't use it, exhaustion really sets in about 7 p.m. & my lower back starts aching. I'm not thrilled about still needing it, but it helps me extend my leg when walking and helps with walking a bit faster and longer.

In some respects, wish I'd been brave enough to have both knees done at the same time. It's amazing what I don't remember from the first recovery. You'll get the recovery over with at once then move forward without having to worry about going through it again.
 
Decent day so far, stomach just a tad queasy still, but am eating and handling it ok. Wondering if part of my stomach issues came from just taking SO many pills leading up to that day. There were days I was taking 20 pills. Am down to Aspirin and Acetaminophen with oxycodone as needed. (Oxy: Took one yesterday morning and 1 last night, none on Friday and none today. Hopefully, I'm done with that.)

I 'think' they want me to take the aspirin for 28 days (to reduce clotting risk?), but the acetaminophen is something I have a question about. The "express" place I went to yesterday said to keep taking it, so I had to go out and buy more. But, if there's no "healing" component to doing so, I'd just as soon stop. I don't think I'm getting enough pain relief from it to keep taking it. Is there something 'healing' about it, or is it just to help with pain management?

Tomorrow is the day...returning to work 1/2 days. Tomorrow starts with 2 hours work, break for OS follow up visit, then back for two more hours of work. God willing, of course.
 
Hope you manage well at work tomorrow. Gives a whole new meaning to Monday morning!
 
Made it through the first half of my (half) work day today. Toughest part is getting comfortable...then once comfortable, moving.

Had OS follow up and they said all looks great. They took the dressing off. I thought I was going to have sutures or something, but apparently, just glue and internal stitches.

Interesting oxy thing...
After I was sick Thursday night (stomach bug, apparently), the knee pain wasn't really bothering me (too busy feeling sick, I guess). So, I didn't take any oxy on Friday - just didn't think of it. Friday night into Sat AM, I was sweating profusely.

Then, I took one Sat AM and another Sat PM, none yesterday...and mild sweats again last night. OS ofc said that was likely my body withdrawing from the oxycodone. Just seemed strange that...I was taking about half the allowable, never really felt any craving or desire to take it (nor any great pain relief either, actually)...but my body would still have withdrawal symptoms like that. Oh well...'nother reason for me not to take it.
 
Last edited:
Question...they took off the bandages/dressing and just left a series of steri-strips.
Those things catch or snag on about everything I wear, including shorts.... what do people do about this? It doesn't 'hurt', it's just annoying as all get out, and I know it'll just keep popping up the edges and sides and become even more annoying.

I thought I caught a glimpse of saran wrap response somewhere here once long ago, but would like to get an idea of what that looks like before I go and do something stupid with it.
 
Well. It's done. Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers, it's been quite the amazing experience. Will have (a lot) more to write later, but just wanted to thank this forum for the info and support!
 
I totally agree! This forum helped me as well! It made me so aware of what I needed to do before and after my bilateral knee replacements!
 
Rhodyjust read your post on steri strips and it’s like you were describing my experience today verbatim. Just got my bandage off n doc put on steristrips that curl n catch, so wonder by tomorrow just how many will be left on incision. If anyone solved this please chime in , or maybe they aren’t expected to survive much beyond getting us out of doctors office n home lol. I actually taped the edges down on the top 4 where they were hitting my shorts. Looks like a crossword puzzle.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • Jaycey
    ADMINISTRATOR Staff member since February 2011

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,180
Messages
1,597,061
BoneSmarties
39,364
Latest member
All2Gd88
Recent bookmarks
0

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom