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TKR Roller Coaster Ride Number 2

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I am amazed at the no bruising! Swelling looks ok too but it is harder to tell. Good for you!!!

I have internal dissolvable stitches and steri-strips. The strips come off Tuesday and then I will post my scar on my thread - it will be the 2 week point.

Seems like you are doing great!
 
mystikfairy61 said:
A mutual friend and me and my hubby at his work said that if I did like I did with my hip, that I will be driving again in 3 weeks. This is my left, so that is a real possibility. My biggest concern is that I hope I didn't overdo and that I don't pay tomorrow for the trip today.
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Remember that you should be off all narcotic pain medication before you start driving.
Just in case you feel tempted, please don't cut down on your pain relief, just so that you can start driving again.

It was probably too soon for that trip to Walmart, even if you did enjoy getting outside. Do try not to overdo - your knee will thank you for it.

Knees do take longer to recover than hips.
 
@Celle I would never drive while on my meds, my hubby takes care of it and my daughter as well. I just found it kind of funny that our friend made that statement about me. I know that I probably shouldn't have done the Walmart trip, but I am icing and elevating today religiously. I promise I won't do anything intentionally that would set me back or cause problems. I only took about 5 steps to get from the car to the cart and rode the entire time I was at Walmart. Thanks for your concern, I really do my best to follow the BS mantras everyday!!
 
:thumb: Glad to hear you're doing it the BoneSmart way!
 
Hi @mystikfairy61 I'm so glad to hear you are OK after your trip yesterday. It was very ambitious for day 4 but it seemed like you took care of yourself once you got home and then are taking it easy today. Good job! Hope you have a restful evening.
 
Great looking knee you have there!!!!
 
6 days today!! @Jamie @eldon Thanks, I think it looks pretty good,:thumb: there is only minimal swelling and the only time I can tell it is when I get up and move, there is a spot of bruising right near the top next to one of the staples, actually looks more like pink discoloration. :cheers:Have truly be blessed so far!! I have tried to take just one pain pill at the 4 hour mark by taking one, waiting an hour and there is still pain so I am staying on the 2 every 4 hours for now. :chillpill:I am on Percocet 5/325. I have only had to take Tramadol 2 times over the last week for breakthru. I am doing a few leg slides where I just move it to the point of discomfort and tightness but not to the point of pain. Also bending it just a little when I sit up, again just to the point of tightness. Walking isn't too bad, feels really stable. Still using the walker and using cane just to get from bathroom door to the toilet. :ice:Icing and elevating regularly, in fact I iced all night long. Elevating seems to make it ache more, not sure why on that. If anyone has any idea about why that would be please let me know. I still have the dratted cough, so called my primary today and will see her again tomorrow. Hoping it hasn't gone into bronchitis :eeeuw: but there is wheezing now and taking a deep breath does make me cough, so it would not surprise me. But still no fever and only coughed secretions twice total. Will let you all know what she says tomorrow. Called in for pain med refill today, which will be ready after lunch. That's it for now, just being patient and will have my daughter take the turkey and move it down to fridge to start the thawing process. Hope all have a good day!!
 
@mystikfairy61 Glad to hear that you are keeping on top of your cough. Just having the coughing has to be tiring in itself, let alone the energy drain from the surgery. Let us know how it goes!

Have you tried elevating at different elevations to see if that helps the pain that the elevation causes. Maybe not so high or maybe higher. Are you keeping the pillows under your whole leg?

I haven't had my surgery yet... tomorrow :yay:... but when I elevate now, if I don't have pillows under my entire leg in an upslope and nothing under my heel, it causes my knee to hurt worse. (I have it under my ankle, but not under the heel) Just a thought.
 
Went to my primary today due to the cough. She started out by saying you have COPD, I promptly said I don't think so. My son and brother in law have been around me with bronchitis a couple of weeks ago and I have the exact same symptoms. She then agreed I have viral bronchitis and proceeded to put me not only on an inhaler but also predisone starting at 50 mg a day and taking for 10 days tapering off, plus Advair, an inhaled steroid that she wanted me to take for a month. I have read up on those two and am not gonna take them, afraid to. I am going to use the inhaler and let it run its course since it is viral anyway and would not respond to antibiotics. My son said his lasted about 4 weeks and I am in week 2 so just gonna watch it and see how it does. I haven't had any fever at all so that is good. Just tired of coughing. Aside from that I had a really good night last night. Went to bed at 1am with my 2 bedtime Percocets, which I am going to try to come down to one every 4 hours tomorrow. The reason why I am backing down on them is I slept thru my 5am pain meds, got up and 7am and took one, still sleepy so laid back down and slept til 12:15pm therefore sleeping thru my 9am pain med as well and took one when I got up. PT came within 30 mins and did my intake and gave me my exercises to start with and we will officially start Monday after Thanksgiving. And then of course off to my primary appt at 4pm. So I have had a busy day, just hoping that the coughing and things related to it take leave soon. Hope everyone had a good day, and @eldon hope you are doing good and welcome to the other side!!
 
So sorry about the cough, @mystikfairy61 !! Please take it easy. You sound really upbeat and other than the cough it sounds like your recovery is going pretty darn well. You give a lot of us hope. Will check in again and see how you're doing. Hope you get some rest. I know a cough like that can make it hard to sleep.
 
There is a bad cold going around right now- my son and daughter both had it. I have avoided it so far (knock on wood!). Hopefully you will kick it to the curb soon.
 
Day 10 for me, hoping all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! My 23 yr old daughter did her first Thanksgiving dinner and I will have to say did an excellent job. Had a nice day with my hubby, his twin brother, my daughter and her boyfriend, with a friend stopping by for about 2 hours yesterday afternoon. I officially start in home PT on Monday. Feel like I am chomping at the bit just a little, but at the same time afraid since I don't know the PT and what her expectations are. I am able to do a little walking without my walker but just a few steps at a time, like around the kitchen for example. I am still doing ankle pumps but I am also lifting heels and toes. Heels I can do no problem but when I do my toes, my quad muscle on the inside and outside above my knee is really tight. I am guessing this is normal with everything they did to the knee. Also doing some leg lifts, heel slides and quad sets(?) where I push down with my knee on a rolled towel.
My pain has stayed controlled since I got home from the hospital. I have gone down from 2 Percocet 5/325 every 4 hours to 1 1/2 Lortab 5/325 every 4 hours. This week if my pain continues to stay controlled I am going to try to go to 1 Lortab every 6 hours by the first of the week. I still have Tramadol for break thru pain but only used it twice during my first few days home and haven't needed it since. I have an appointment with my pain management doctor on Monday morning at 10:30 and my OS that afternoon at 1pm, and will be getting my staples out. Not sure what my pain levels will be like once I actually start PT but will see how it goes. I am not sure how PT is going to be able to get done Monday with the 2 appointments. May have to call and let them know I have the appointments.
I think the most aggravating thing I have right now is that sometimes I wake up with a strong desire to want to bend my knee, but of course that is not happening much yet. But I know it will in time. Well, that's about it for now, I think this one was a bit on the long side. Thanks to everyone for being here for me, it makes a world of difference knowing I am not alone in my recovery. Hope everyone has a restful and pain controlled day!!
 
I found that once I got really serious with the icing and elevating, my swelling decreased substantially which gave me more ROM. Of course, the swelling returns, and I had to keep doing it. In fact, I am 12 weeks today and I still have to ice occasionally but elevate FREQUENTLY. They recommend taking a painkiller about 45 minutes before your PT session starts.
 
Hi @mystikfairy61. Sounds like you are doing well.

I would call home PT and ask them to come Tuesday. You will likely be tired and maybe swollen from those 2 Monday appointments. My experience with home care is that they are very flexible if you give them notice. I think most are open on weekends.

If you feel a real need to bend the knee, you could try assisting your heel slide by grabbing your thigh and pull gently forward. For me, that raises my heel off the bed but gives a nice, gentle gravity induced bend. Then go right back to lying flat in bed or elevating your leg. The key point is you do not want to tuck a pillow under that knee!

Seems like you are doing great. Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving.


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@LaxMom I am using the belt to my robe to lift and bend it, so I guess that is somewhat the same. Thanksgiving was good but my calf muscle was sore yesterday from being up a little too much Thursday. My son and brother got together for Thanksgiving because I am sick and now the mess starts. Got a call from my brother complaining about my 23 yr old daughter's boyfriend and got so aggravated that I unfriended and blocked them all on facebook because my son was already aggravated about it and I guarantee he started it all. Really don't need it with me being sick and recovering from major surgery. Hope everyone has a good day!!
 
@mystikfairy61 yes, the belt is good. I use an ace bandage since there are so many of them left over from my surgical wrappings.

That is too bad about the family drama! So sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will pass.
 
@mystikfairy61 Hi Donna! You are really making great progress.
I am amazed you went to WalMart on day 4? Wow!
Your incision looks so straight and neat. It is healing up nicely.

I remember that I got bronchitis about week 12 when I was going back to work, and it
wouldn't go away so I had to get the prednisone and also took Cifix (?) antibiotic and
cough syrup with codeine in it. All that worked!
I hope it does for you , too.

I have eaten an absolute ton of food this last week with Thanksgiving and family here.
Ugh on the weight gain.

I still have a bit of groin pain in the op hip. Doing a bit of PT for the lower back to see if it will alleviate
the groin pain.

All the best!
xo My friend
 
@MajorHeidi I went to the ER last night and they gave me 10 days of Levaquin(antibiotic) plus the cough med with codeine and an inhaler and gave me a breathing treatment while I was there because of the wheezing. I am feeling a bit better today. Wheezing has lessened, hoping the cough doesn't hang around too long. Hope the PT helps your pain and that you are back at 100% soon!! Love and hugs my friend!!
 
Hi, and happy belated Turkey Day, @mystikfairy61 ... I'm so sorry to hear you had to make a visit to the ER and hope you are feeling a little better by now. Other than that it sounds like your recovery from the TKR has been good. I do hope you get a decent PT. Please let us know how that's going. Very sorry about the family drama. I think most of us can relate to that, unfortunately. But you're right, that's the last thing one needs when trying to recuperate from this rather tedious surgery!! Take care.
 
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