Become an Insider

TKR Second time lucky for LTKR

Let us know what your nurse says about your bleeding. That would scare me.
 
It appears that something inside may be leaking slightly but because of the dressing it was aggravating it rather than helping.

Now with a different dressing and the bleeding seems to have stopped. Instruction is to avoid the exercise for a couple of days to give it a chance to heal.

Glad it was identified when it was and dealt with.

Move along please, nothing to see here

I was going to post a leg pic (calm down ladies) as the bruising on the back is quite spectacular but can work out how.....
 
My leg bled - a lot - for about 10 days after surgery. Maybe because Im on aspirin (after a heart attack) I must have gone through 3 so called 7 day dressings lol. But it stopped eventually and has healed up just fine. Sounds like you’re doing amazingly well re pain and exercise :)
 
Well, made it to day 10!

Really pleased with my progress so far. I can walk up and down stairs sequentially (when I forget not to) but my default is still one step at a time with both feet.

Due to have the staples out in three days which I am looking forward to. I am still leaking a little despite trying to stay elevated and iced. I think it may improve post staples as I think the movement of the staples in my skin may be aggravating it.

The swelling reduced really quickly to a level but the last bit is taking its time, again I think this may may be due to the staples.

Still no pain meds since day 3, mainly as there is no pain at all. It is occasionally uncomfortable but thats about it, a shift of position and I am fine.

Bruising has almost gone from the back of my leg although my ankle has now bruised.

I am planning to go back to work on Monday. Short walk to the train, off the train to the underground which is probably about 400m walk plus 30 down steps. Short tube trip with 35 steps to get above ground then 300m walk.

I am more than capable of doing this but will be using my crutches on the public stage which will not only

Think thats it. Loving the new knee. I can already walk better than pre op and have gone from constant pain to pain free. I think I am ahead of where I expected to be but am holding myself back a little, I don't want to over extend and put myself back.
 
Yes, please don't overextend yourself. It's a tempting thing to do when one is doing really well. It's tempting to think, "I'm over this" or "I'm ready for more" when the knee is just saying, "This is good. Let's just keep things this way for a while."

Not all your swelling is due to the staples. The skin is really a minor player in your recovery (though it will feel marvelous when those staples are out and your knee can bend a bit more freely). Most of the swelling in your knee, which is still very much healing inside, is in the knee capsule. There's not a lot of extra space in there, so you may not see all of the swelling, but it is there and it is what will cause you pain if the knee gets angry and the swelling increases. So do listen to what your knee is telling you.

You really are doing wonderfully! And you truly are ahead of the curve for day 10. :) Most people still have pain at this point. Just hoping you can keep it that way. And going up and down stairs the way you are now is absolutely the norm. One foot at a time generally comes later than day 10, so no need to rush things. You'll do it quite automatically once your knee heals a bit more.:yes!:
 
Thanks @SusieShoes

My problem is that if I don't think about it I do steps sequentially. I may put a sign up :loll:

Just been for a walk with the dog and went a mile quite comfortably with no crutches or stick, I considered going further but didn't want to overextend anything right now.

You are right about the inside of the knee, there was some heavy duty butchery and joinery going on so suspect the swelling will be there a while.

Im starting to wonder if I should have been concerned at the lack of pain. I haven't had any since 36 hours post op. Is it possible something is damaged?
 
I doubt anything (important) is damaged. I mean, nothing beyond the surgical trauma. You're probably just be one of the lucky few for whom this pain isn't on your body's radar. Among other things, you appear to not be a "sweller," meaning you don't swell as much after surgery as most other people do. Neither am I and it does make a big difference! Count your blessings. :yahoo:

As long as you listen to your knee should it ever yelp at you and swell/cause pain, and stop whatever is causing that response, you might as well keep doing what you're doing. :) :-) (:
 
Day 11 - still bleeding......

My dressings are still saturated twice a day and need to be changed, not sure I should be bleeding this much. I know a little blood goes a long way but I will be transparent if it carries on.

The issue seems to be that the staples are very close together except for a small area just below the knee cap where the spaces between the staples is about 5mm, three 5mm gaps in total.

This point doesn't seem to be closing at all and a little concerned as the staples are coming out in 2 days.

Its this a usual area to leave a larger gap (movement/flexibility etc) or was my OS just in a rush to get to the golf course?

Also this is a lot of blood, more than i would expect from a small would so could there be pressure behind it with an internal bleed?

Curious as to what others have experienced
 
I don't know anything about the staples. They put me back together with Super Glue. Hope you get it straightened out soon.
I just knew you were going to do brilliantly when you were finally able to have your surgery.
 
I had heard they used superglue here too but ended up stapled

Was talking to one of my customers who also had a TKR and his doctor advised him to go carb free for the 2 weeks leading up to surgery and again after and he did really well. I did the same and came out of it well.

Apparently carb free reduces swelling and inflammation or something, I'm no medic though
 
Very interesting about the carb free.
 
I thought so too. He could really cite a source and as I say I'm not a doctor or nutritionist so couldn't say why it may make a difference or even if that is why.

Seems coincidence that both of us were up and about very quickly but thats hardly a medical trial :)

I would imagine that if this were an amazing part of recovery surgeons would be pushing it

Probably sold me snake oil lol
 
ChrissiG said:
My leg bled - a lot - for about 10 days after surgery. Maybe because Im on aspirin (after a heart attack) I must have gone through 3 so called 7 day dressings lol. But it stopped eventually and has healed up just fine. Sounds like you’re doing amazingly well re pain and exercise :)
Click to expand...

For some reason it seemed to stop bleeding last night. Like you I was going through dressings at a ridiculous rate, 2-3 saturated per day.

Going to be very sedentary in anticipation of the staples out tomorrow and hope I will be bleed free once they are out.
 
Nick-UK said:
I would imagine that if this were an amazing part of recovery surgeons would be pushing it
Click to expand...
My son in law is a doctor and he said there was very little said about nutrition in the medical school he went to. I was very surprised, you would think that would be important to at least have some training n it. :doh:

So what did you eat when you went carb free? I’m considering at least going low carb. I don’t eat a lot, but a lot of what I do eat does consist of carbs. I did South Beach 9 years ago for about 5 months. I lost weight but found it too restrictive for the long haul.
 
To be honest I think we all know the bad things are bread, potatoes, pasta and rice so mainly just avoid those.

(And cake and sweets obviously).

Things I ate were:
Meat and fish
Above ground veg
Eggs
Fruit

There are a whole range of menus you can make from this:
Salads with meat or fish
Omelettes
Kebabs
Breakfasts (Bacon, eggs, tomato)
Meat and veg (you can season and flavour the meats tandoori or spicy etc)
Soups

Loads of info on the web. Doesn't have to be bland or boring or the same things again and again.

I didn't find it a struggle at all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 2,476 (members: 4, guests: 2,472)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom