Sherrie's Late Night Pain Rant

SherrieT

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My scheduled btkr is Feb 1st. But I would like to know is , how of those of you who are post op handled your pre-op phase.
I'm already almost living in my recliner, with worse knee toes over nose, and iced. I have been tying, but not succeeding at icing all the time.
Tomorrow means back at work. Thank goodness I work remote so I can try to elevate and ice at desk.
Taking Tylenol up to 4000 per day (nothing else with it).
Just trying to find ways to make it until surgery date.
 
@SherrieT I've moved your thread to the Pre-op area as that is a better place for people who have not yet had surgery. Plenty of folks who are recovering still read the threads here and I'm sure they'll be along to answer your questions soon.
 
But my questions were for post op people. On how they handled pre op pain.. Please move back
 
The Recovery forum is for people to write about their experiences with recovery. Pre-op pain is a topic for the pre-op forum. The post-op people know that and they will look for your questions here.

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I had really no pain but rather periods of instability and buckling of my knee. There was one time last August I needed to use a cane for a week after being over active on using stairs one day. Last summer, I could be achy and quit mowing the lawn and I iced and elevated. The surgeon did say my knee was trashed so I don't know why I had no debilitating bone on bone pain.
 
ok. so hopefully any post op people will see this this and let me know how they handled it.
I'm already almost living in my recliner, with worse knee toes over nose, and iced. I have been tying, but not able at icing all the time.
Tomorrow means back at work. Thank goodness I work remote so I can try to elevate and ice at desk.
Taking Tylenol up to 4000 per day (nothing else with it).
Just trying to find ways to make it until surgery date of 1 Feb 2018
 
I'm not sure of where you sent me as the post from @Arttie suddenly showed up in post. How is this helping me?
 
I've tried to post this before but it kept getting move around. I just need to know. I tried to post on post op page but it got moved back to pre op page and nothing happened.

My scheduled btkr is Feb 1st. But I would like to know is , how of those of you who are post op handled your pre-op phase.
I'm already almost living in my recliner, with worse knee toes over nose, and iced. I have been tying, but not succeeding at icing all the time.
Tomorrow means back at work. Thank goodness I work remote so I can try to elevate and ice at desk.
Taking Tylenol up to 4000 per day (nothing else with it).
Just trying to find ways to make it until surgery date.
 
I've tried to post this before but it kept getting move around. I just need to know. I tried to post on post op page but it got moved back to pre op page and nothing happened.

@SherrieT -
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original thread.

I realise that you're in pain, but please be a little patient. Please don't keep starting new threads.

Give people a chance to answer you. Believe me, post-op people do come back here.

Your thread is where it's meant to be - in the Knee Replacement Pre-Op Area. That is how BoneSmart works.

Arttie did reply to your question - he said he didn't have a lot of pre-op pain.

I have had three knee replacements and I can tell you that there is really nothing that takes away that awful bone-on-bone pain. It's a constant and that is why knee replacements are done.

You are doing the right things in trying to rest and ice your knee. Unfortunately, there are no medications that take away the pain, although some may damp it down a bit.

Many people find that they have to reduce their activity a lot. Before my first knee replacement, I had become almost completely housebound. I used a stick, but it was still really hard to get around.
The knee replacement gave me back the life I wanted.

Some people find they have to use a stick or crutches or a knee brace.
 
Celle is right. The pain of arthritis many times cannot be touched by medications. Icing can help, but not always. You'll need to just stay off your feet as much as you can until surgery. You might ask for some stronger pain medication, but it is likely that your surgeon may want you off of it a week or two before your surgery. I wish I had more to offer you, but you're just not going to find a lot of relief from that pain.
 
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Hi, SherrieT, are you asking how we dealt with the pain while we were waiting for our surgeries, or are you asking what we did to prepare for our surgeries to make sure our homes (and we) were ready for after the surgery?

In your case, if you're asking about pain management for the one month prior to surgery, I used off-load braces when I had to be on my feet for extended times. They sort of worked, but they aren't worth it for one month. In my case, the VA issued them to me because they had no intention of performing a TKR (thankfully my primary doc referred me to a physical therapist who could not believe I walked in under my own power after checking my x-rays before seeing me for the first time -- the best he could do for me was prescribe the braces). Thankfully, my civilian doctor saw the medical need, and my insurance paid for both my TKRs.

I took two Tylenol each morning and evening, for probably a decade before my surgeries, and it helped a little. I did get some steroid shots prior to vacations so I would be able to enjoy them. They worked, but you won't want to take them within six weeks (the time varies by) before your TKRs, so that won't be of much use to you.

When the knees were really bad, I used a cane (I had a fold up cane when we traveled), but crutches were better. I used them usually for up to a week at a time until whatever was flaring in my knees calmed down. They may be the most helpful thing for you for the next month. You'll be able to use them as part of your recovery, too.

Consider your resting, icing, and elevation practice for your recovery. It will do you much more good then than it feels like it's doing now.
 
Hi, I took Diclofenac and Tylenol, but my Surgeon stopped my Diclofenac about a week pre op. Tylenol wasn't enough to stop the pain pre op for my first knee. It was bone on bone medially and the day before my surgery I couldn't walk five minutes without being in agony. I used my niece's baby's pram as a walking frame to get around the shops. I also had an unloader brace and that did help - sometimes!

All you can do pre op if meds or ice don't help is to do a little as possible and suck it up until surgery date. As soon as you come around after surgery you'll realise that you're rid of that awful pain - yes you'll have surgical pain, but its different. You know you're know going into recovery mode and everything will come up smelling of roses given time and patience.
 
Before my tkr, my doctor told me I could use a specific pain cream. I asked 3 pharmacists, but the first two had no clue. The third told me it was prescription only, but my doctor did not prescribe it. (Go figure!) Pharmacist told me nothing would help bone on bone pain. That's probably when I knew I had to take the tkr option. In my case, I just had to be patient as I scheduled it for the end of the school year. I pretty much lived on excedrin!
 
In my case knowing I was going to have my TKR and waiting to have it done was the most annoying part of this journey. My surgeon was booked out months.

On self reflection, I may be an odd duck. I have had 8 orthopedic surgeries and only 2 caused me pre-surgery pains that caused distressful pains. After surgeries I have needed very little medication for pain and usually have unused pills. My perception of pain may not be that of many with osteoarthritis.
 
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Post op people come here all the time hoping to help support and reassure those who are going to have this surgery. :flwrysmile: I suspect many of us have been busy with the holidays.

My knees were horribly painful before surgery. My surgeon told me I should have been in a wheelchair, so I do know that pain very well. The only thing that helped the pain was narcotics, when I got them for dental work. I never took narcotics for knee pain because I didn't want to risk becoming dependent. Aleve helped a little, but my surgeon had me stop Aleve two months before surgery. The only medication he gave me permission to take was Tylenol. So you're in the same boat, it sounds like.

Nothing does much to help that bone on bone pain. You're already doing the one thing that helped me, keeping my legs up and icing the knees. I would ice before grocery trips, or any outing at all. It helped a little. Icing and not walking were the only relief I had. I looked forward so much to the surgery!

Your situation, and mine, are why we so often advise people who ask about having the surgery to do it, even if their pain is not yet intolerable. If they do develop this kind of pain, there's nothing to be done but suffer until they get the surgery.
 
Thank you all so much for being patient with me. I’m so sorry I was being difficult last night. The pain was the worse it’s ever been. Kind of funny, looking back at it, after posting I had a really cleansing cry and then slept all night!

Again, thank you for uderstanding
 
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