TKR Schpooko's Recovery

[schpooko]

Hi, PT was here. He was a really nice guy he came mainly today to talk, see my incision and get to know one another. He was nice I told him I will not do anything that causes pain he had no problem with that. I also told him what happened with the drs office concerning pain meds. They said they will call some in but I should start weaning myself off them. I wanted to scream. Its Day 4 why not start the hour after surgery.

I first had morphine, (and please believe me I had to sign over my first born grandson to get them to give me that in the middle of the night)... then they finally found a pain concoction that worked. 2 Oxy for intense pain, 2 Tramadol for middle of the road pain and finally the IV Toradol to help with it all. I finally got to a good place.

Well, I left the hospital with ½ the amount of things I was taking and I was only to take stuff as needed for pain. So in reality play catch up is their motto. I am going to have a talk with the Dr if this continues. I have another bad knee to contend with and this is not the way to do things.

The PT guy will come again on Monday and teach me a few things and see if I need OT to help with the days adventures. He will come for 2 weeks, 3X a week and I liked him. So I will see how this goes.

Really, really tired now so taking it easy the rest of the day. Well, I keep you posted on my med situation as the saga continues.

Take care everyone

Sure Josephine ask away

 

[Josephine]

Here y'go then!

It would be very helpful if you would answer each one individually - numbered as I have done - in as much detail as you can then I'll come back as see where you are ....

1. what are your pain levels right now? (remember the 1-10 scale: 1 = no pain and 10 = the worst you can imagine. And don't forget to factor in other forms of pain such as soreness, burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching, swelling and stiffness).

2. what pain medications have you been prescribed, how much are you taking (in mg please) and how often?

3. how swollen is your leg compared to these?

4. what is your ROM - that's flexion (bend) and extension (straightness)

5. are you icing your knee at all? If so, how often and for how long?

6. are you elevating your leg. If so how often and for how long?

7. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc., and

8. are you doing any exercises at home? If so what and how often?
This is the most crucial question so please help me by using the format I have left as an example
(which means please make a list and not an essay!)

Exercises done at home
- how many sessions you do each day
- enter exercise by name then number of repetitions of each
etc., etc.

Anything done at PT
- how many times a week
- enter exercise by name then number of repetitions of each
etc., etc.

 

[KarriB]

I needed toradol to get me over the pain hump in the very beginning, but by day 3-4 oxycodone did just fine. So you may not need it all every day as things progress.

 

[schpooko]

Hi Josephine here are the answers...

1. As long as I take my meds my pain level is about a 3-4 which includes but is not limited to nerve pinches, burning, staple pinches etc. which I can tolerate,

2. I now got my pain meds worked out to oxy one 5mg. for severe pain and Tramadol one 50mg for moderate pain. The PT told me to overlap the pain meds if need be because this is not a lot of meds I am taking at all. I am taking ibuprofen starting today I have to get the meds this pm from Walmart so I am not sure what it is exactly.

3. My swelling is moderate at best. The PT guy said it will get worse before it gets better.

4. ROM was 70 upon leaving the hospital

5. Throughout the day I am icing at least ten times a day.

6. Yes I am elevating on and off throughout the day

7. I am not doing any activities at the moment. I am taking walks every hour or two and bathroom breaks...

8. I am just doing ankle flexing, quad pulses (I am not sure what they are called) and rolling around in bed just trying to get in a good position is sometimes exercise enough. PT will start with me on Monday to try to get out of the bed easier than it has been. I already told him that I will not do anything that causes pain so we are on the same page.

I hope this helps Thanks...

 

[schpooko]

HI, all... Post Op Day 5 and things are okay. Last night I awoke at around 3 and my left leg was screaming at me. I guess I was in a position that the left leg did not like. All I remember is cracking a few times and I called my hubby to come for a bathroom break. After I moved around it settled down and I went back to bed. I am sleeping ok as long as I take my meds and ice. I am sleeping on my side and have found myself a couple of times on my stomach ( I am a stomach sleeper )

So today is more of the same, ice, walk, nap and eat. Well, I hope all of you are doing okay and let's have some updates from the Fiesties club. I need to do some reading...

Take care

 

[MissViv18]

Hopefully they will get your pain meds under control. I attended my pre-op joint class this week and they advised us that we would only get pain meds for a week to week and a half. Hopefully, they will call in more if needed, which I think it will be.

Still counting down the days until the 16th and it can't come soon enough. I am in considerable pain now before surgery and can't do much of anything. So much for getting the house ready but my dear husband is a big help and almost all of the work is on him. Bless his heart. But … I took care of him through two cancer surgeries and one hernia surgery so it's payback baby!! LOL

Keep posting and hoping for a speedy recovery!

 

[Softtail]

Schpooko, you will experience many different trial n error sleeping positions as you progress. I am not a back sleeper, and I toss n turn , so those wake me sharp pains syndrome was pretty much a crappy part of my first 3 weeks. A lot of time spent sleeping wedged in to couch.

I am a side/stomach sleeper too, but found it was into start of 4 th week where I could get back to bed and get comfortable. My go to position at the moment is laying mostly on my stomach ,with front of knee facing bed. Couldn’t do this early on, but is working pretty good now, and swelling is under decent control so not so concerened about keeping knee elevated while sleeping. Also first 3 weeks I was pretty careful sleeping on couch so I could keep leg elevated to get swelling down. Of course this pretty much involved getting best sleep I could, sleeping on back, which I hated.

Point is get the sleep any way you can early on, cause it will get easier as weeks go by.

 

[Jockette]

I was always a side sleeper, too. I learned I could sleep on my back with my leg elevated on my foam wedge. My foam wedge has a trough cut into it for my leg, and that kept me still all night. It would have been hard to move out of it in my sleep. As a result, no tossing and turning, and a much less painful night.

 

[schpooko]

@MissViv18 I hope they don't do what my doctor wanted to do. Ten days of meds is not enough to get back your mobility, go to rehab and keep pain in control. My doctor did listen after I called yesterday and I know they put in another two scripts and gave me more. If I would have taken this medication as directed I would have had only three days of meds for this replacement. I told them in the hospital that I cannot just go home with 18 pills; they said call the doctor. I called them and they said to wean myself off. I said you just cut the bones, etc. and you give me 5mg of oxy for this.

I am telling you they should feel how it feels, ugh. But they came around and saw it my way to when my husband brings this home later we have a different outlook. My PT said that Tramadol is so weak I can overlap with the oxy so he was going to call the doctor and talk to them if they did not give me more medication.

You know what is funny is that you have so much other stuff to worry about you don't need anything else on your plate.

Well I hope you have a smooth recovery and you don't have to worry about this at all. Best wishes coming your way.

@Softtail Thanks for the info. I was just letting off bone on bone left knee steam But I know this sleeping business with be trial and error and I really cannot complain because I am getting better sleep now than before surgery. Healing vibes coming your way...

@Jockette I am glad you found something that worked for you. As it is going to be trial and error here too. Thanks for the info...

 

[Josephine]

A few details you missed!

1. As long as I take my meds my pain level is about a 3-4

Last night I awoke at around 3 and my left leg was screaming at me.

Did you add this pain to your pain score?

4. ROM was 70 upon leaving the hospital

That's your flexion. ROM is flexion AND extension - so that was/is your extension?

5. Throughout the day I am icing at least ten times a day.

YOu haven't said for how long you were icing!

6. Yes I am elevating on and off throughout the day

Again, you haven't said for how long you are elevating!

 

[schpooko]

Hi, everyone Day 6 Post-Op. Well, my right leg looks like I am wearing a gray stocking over it. It is lightly black and blue all over. Its weird. Last night I went on bonesmart a couple of times when I could not sleep. For some reason, I slept in shifts last night. Two hours here, three hours there.

Every time I woke up I had to pee. I going to call the OS's office tomorrow to let them know of my peeing situation and find out if they want me to go for a test to see if I have an UTI. I do drink a lot during the day though. But I should make them aware of the situation.

I am so glad that it's Day 6 post surgery as oppose to last week at this time when I could not have imagined what I was getting myself into. So far this short ride has had its ups and downs. but I would rather be here now than back there.... I hate not knowing. As as much as other people can tell you about their experience, it's best to go through it and see and feel for yourself. I am glad I did this surgery now. I am in pain but its like night and day compared to the other pain that I knew would only get worse not better.

Well, I will be checking in on all of my fellow October Fiesties this week who are embarking on their own journey.

Take care Schpooko

 

[Josephine]

Schpooko, are you not going to answer those questions for me?

 

[hegel]

Schpooko, I hear what you're saying about pain meds and I agree that it's very early in your recovery and meds are necessary. So what I'm going to write isn't meant to be argumentative, but just to add perspective. Because of the epidemic of opioid abuse in the country I think that hospitals are reigning in their prescriptions of them. And in fact at a pre-op class I attended the presenters mentioned that Kaiser had recently created a cocktail of pain meds that reduced the amount of opioids used.

Obviously you're not abusing your medications! But sometimes directives come down and it takes awhile for their implementation to become reasonable and effective. This may or may not be part of what's occurring with you. And honestly it's clear that some doctors have been far too free wheeling in their opioid prescribing habits and things had to change. No that this has anything to do with your case!

 

[schpooko]

Sorry, I been napping on and off today...

I did not add that pain incident to my pain score because it had never happened before. It did not happen before surgery and it did not happen last night. Only that one time. That incident my pain was at a seven to eight.

The PT only did my flex and that was 70. I can lay my leg completely flat and your hand cannot get underneath so I would say 0 but they did not tell me that number

I have been icing at least 8 times in a 24 hour period. I try to go to bed with a pack on and my husband puts a new one on during the nighttime but I don't feel him doing this.

I very little swelling. My doctor said to keep the knee straight and do the exercises on the packet he gave me. I don't know what to do about this one.

I hope this answers all the questions. Sorry again I have been a little bit out of it today.

Thanks, Josephine

 

[schpooko]

Hi, I am posting this thread separately because I am not sure everyone will see it if I put it in my recovery thread and I need opinions please. Every piece of paper I have from the hospital, doctors and discharge says to roll a towel and put it under your ankles with your leg straight. Well, first it hurt like crazy in the hospital so I kept kicking the towel out with the other leg (they put under both so it hurt both but more unbearable under the OP leg). They also said that the pull I feel when the towel is there is a "Good Pull", whatever that means. What did you have to do when you came home? Did you use the towel? What is the Bone Smart Way, Josephine? Opinions needed. I have done this at all because of the reasons listed above but if I should I will. I do not have a great amount of swelling. Thanks for answering

 

[Celle]

Hi, I am posting this thread separately because I am not sure everyone will see it if I put it in my recovery thread and I need opinions please.

Hi @schpooko
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread.
I understand why you started a new thread, but that's not the way we do things. What you need to do if you want to draw attention to a question is either ask for your thread title to be modified (I've done that) or tag a member of staff.

At the bottom of the post-op reading everyone is given, there is a request for you all to have only one thread for recovery.

For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:

• That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

So please continue to post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here.
Don't worry that we won't see your question because, between us, the staff read all 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.

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.

 

[Celle]

Every piece of paper I have from the hospital, doctors and discharge says to roll a towel and put it under your ankles with your leg straight. Well, first it hurt like crazy in the hospital so I kept kicking the towel out with the other leg (they put under both so it hurt both but more unbearable under the OP leg). They also said that the pull I feel when the towel is there is a "Good Pull", whatever that means. What did you have to do when you came home? Did you use the towel? What is the Bone Smart Way, Josephine?

NOw to answer your question:

The BoneSmart way is to understand that you do not have to have that towel under your ankle if it hurts. It simply is not necessary to keep your leg straight all the time and especially it's not necessary if doing so hurts.
Remember? "If it hurts, don't do it."

For some reason some hospitals, surgeons and PTs obsess about keeping your leg straight, to achieve full extension. What they seem to overlook is that the large muscles and tendons take time to lengthen and causing pain in an attempt to speed up that process is unnecessary and unhelpful.

 

[Softtail]

The towel under ankle move, from what I have read, is what PT tech uses to help your extension increase. It can be very painful early on and doing this, just gravity alone on the knee will hurt. My in-home tech, told me to try this several times a day for 30 seconds each, just letting gravity pull the knee straight but if it hurt stop and it did, so I stopped.

If it hurts, definitely do not use this type of thing for any length of time, especially early on.

 

[InkedMarie]

I hate the towel under my ankle for extension; most painful thing of my recovery which is why I don’t do it anymore!

 

[Nigella2]

@schpooko You already said in a earlier post that you could put your leg extended on a flat surface.It took months before I could do that.My calf was swollen at the back and the muscles and tendons were so tight.As other members advised time and walking did the job.