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TKR ROUND 2: MotownGirl made it to the other side

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I never saw the RX. They faxed over, but Cigna did call to tell me it was approved.
The real Marley grew up in the neighborhood where I used to live. I took Seamus to the same obedience school as Marley. We didn't get kicked out, but he was a bit disruptive...
 
@MotownGirl66 .... is your knee really swollen? It looks like it is in the photos.
 
MotownGirl66 said:
Any ideas? When I rub it, the skin around it moves except for dead center of the mark. It seems glued down to something.
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Yep, you're dead right there, Mtgirl. If you note, you have about three of those all neatly aligned along the side of the incision. They are internal sutures. Whatever eager beaver sowed you up, took a little bit too much of a 'bite' in the stitch at that point and this is the result. But you're only 5 weeks out and dissolvable sutures can take 2 months and more to really break down, depending upon the thickness of the suture material. I suggest you gently massage it with your finger occasionally, just moving the adjacent skin around, to encourage the suture to give up! When it goes, it will probably do so with a bit of a pop but it will be nothing to worry about.

Would you mind if I used your photos in this thread for the benefit of others? It's such a perfect example of the problem.
 
@Jamie @kaw205 @Josephine. I think I am still swollen. I'm still ice it every day, several times a day, and at PT as well. Thank you explaining what that is, Josephine. An internal suture never occurred to me; definitely glad it will dissolve. Yes, you can use the picture. Glad to help others. When the internal suture began making its appearance, it started off as a bruise that was bruising from the inside out. It was/is painful to touch but was much much worse weeks ago. Then, this weird, hard, scaly stuff appeared. I may have a picture of that. I'll look.
When you mention a pop, I had a large pop last week that was as loud as the sound of someone breaking bubble wrap. That was at the very top of my stitch line, where the quad tendon meets up. Hurt really bad! Will it be a pop like that?
 
Oh, he is a hoot. I have a great pic of him as a pup holding a knife in his mouth. Armed and dangerous at 4 months!
 
MotownGirl66 said:
I had a large pop last week that was as loud as the sound of someone breaking bubble wrap. That was at the very top of my stitch line, where the quad tendon meets up. Hurt really bad! Will it be a pop like that?
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Well that would be somewhat more extreme than I would expect, but yet it could well be. It's usually it's less intense though.
 
Made a big mistake last night. After I took my 4pm pain meds, I set my clock on my timer to go off in 6 hours but neglected to turn the timer on. I woke myself up at midnight just moaning and whimpering in pain. The pain was deep, deep, ache and a mild burning. I quickly realized my mistake and took the meds but it took a while for them to kick in. My husband refilled my ice machine and between that and elevating my knee, I was able to settle down enough to wait for the meds to work. It's amazing that just being 2 hours overdue could be so disruptive.
At PT yesterday, we worked on strengthening my quadricep muscle which, as expected, as grown quite weak. Extension is good as is my flexion.

Robyn
 
Hi Robyn,
How are you doing? Haven't heard from you in a few days. Hope all is well.
Take care,
Karen
 
Yes, it seemed like it took me an entire day to recover when I let the pain in by being overtime with meds. It really is incredible how long it can take to get back on top of it. glad to hear your recovery is going well though.
 
Post Op Week 6:
The last few days has brought about a decrease in swelling. I can tell because yesterday I ice my knee and the ice wrap actually made an indentation in the swelling...that was new. Previously my knee has been rock hard. Today I woke up to pain in the calf of my surgical leg. That may be from walking yesterday at a mall or from PT on Friday, but that seems like it would have appeared on Saturday or Sunday. My ROM today at PT was 122 with little effort on my part. Probably could have pushed it further but why? The worst part of PT is the extension. I am almost flat the table...but not quite.
I have to concentrate on walking. It is natural for me to walk with a limp - guess I suffered a little too long before undergoing "the knife". LOL! But I have to concentrate to walk normal. My other knee is giving me fits, though. Sure wish it would calm the heck down. For the first time in my life, I am having to evaluate seating situations. I am finding that low seats cause me to put extra pressure on my non-surgical leg in order to raise up from the seat.

Robyn
 
Hi Conformis twin. Glad to hear that you are losing some of that swelling. Despite all these twinges and pains, I am so glad that I opted for this knee. At two weeks, I am at 90 degrees and 2 degrees. I hope to be where you are at week 6. What kind of calf pain? I get a pull in my calf often if I walk too much, but you aren't referring to sharp pain, are you?
 
I have been evaluating seating situations for the past few years. I always look for the highest seat and if it has arms...score!!!
 
@LeeMarie @kaw205 LeeMarie, I had no idea you, too, had the ConforMIS system. Woohoo! That makes 4 that I know, including Kaw205's co-worker who is not on this site. My calf pain feels like an overworked muscle. When I first get up, it feels "short", but then I walk and it seems to stretch itself out and goes away. But then I sit again, for a little while, go to get up, and there it is again. I need my other knee done but I am not ready to go through all the pain again so quickly. Even in the hospital, the nurses never did get my pain below a 6 or 7 and once I got home, it wasn't much better there. None of the pain meds have completely taken away my pain EVER. What were you given in the hospital and what do you take at home? I am currently taking 2 Tylenols with a Nucynta or Norco every 6 hours.

Robyn
 
Robyn...if you're taking two 500mg Tylenol with that Norco, you're taking too much acetaminophen at once. If you take the Norco every 6 hours, be sure to only take the regular strength Tylenol (325mg) with it. You want to take no more than 1000mg of acetaminophen in a 4 hour period and a total of no more than 4000mg in 24 hours. More than that and you risk problems with your liver and kidneys.
 
As early as you are you probably won't get pain down to zero but the pain meds should make it more background pain/stiffness/discomfort than intense pain. It doesn't sound unusual to have some muscle discomfort--it sounds encouraging that it loosens up when you walk.
 
Jamie, THANK YOU so much for that information. I have stopped taking the Tylenol. I appreciate your stepping up and catching my error.

Jamie said:
Robyn...if you're taking two 500mg Tylenol with that Norco, you're taking too much acetaminophen at once. If you take the Norco every 6 hours, be sure to only take the regular strength Tylenol (325mg) with it. You want to take no more than 1000mg of acetaminophen in a 4 hour period and a total of no more than 4000mg in 24 hours. More than that and you risk problems with your liver and kidneys.[/QUOTE
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