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Bilateral TKR Sleepless in St. Louis

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Welcome, Chris! Congrats on your new knees!
I am a nuclear medicine technologist who only had one TKA and I just returned to work a week ago today after a 12 week disability leave. I am back with a limitation of only 4 hours a day on my feet for 6 weeks.
A co-worker friend had BTKA 2 years ago and needed to be out for 14 weeks and then she returned for half days for 2 weeks.
I think that going back before the 12 weeks with a bilat. TKA is really pushing it and could likely backfire. I am so grateful for my 4 hour limit because I am slowly regaining my stamina and my knee gets achey at about 2 pm. Each day is a little better, but the walking does take its toll. If you can be off your feet during the day for some time, then I think maybe going back after the 12 weeks are up might be possible, but no sooner than that.
Good luck!
 
I started out in a wheelchair....went to a walker and cane. Used the cane more to warn others. I would have swatted anyone who came near me. (not really) But there was no way I could get from the parking lot to the pt office (they had me there 4 days a week)
I was on heavy narcotics for 5 months. I marvel at you all that get by with nothing more than Tylenol.

Something else to share. I was so excited when I encountered my first "good day" I knew that all would be wonderful from that day on. What a jerk I was...you will start to have good days and then you may have some tough ones. That was such a huge disappointment for me. I only wanted to move forward, get off meds and enjoy my new knees. So don't be shocked if you have the ups and downs during recovery. It does get better.
 
Hi Chris! About week 2 in my latest blog, I was feeling like "Superwoman!". :rotfl: Now with the pain of the muscle pull I would have to say I have been " grounded" temporarily! :wink: I still go through bad days, and I am so thankful for this forum. I love to put things in perspective though. We will walk again, and go on and lead productive lives! :cheers: It just takes time...... (and I for 1 occasionally push the limits) trying to tell the KNEE who's boss! :rotfl:
 
Well Sonja, you are certainly not alone in trying to tell the knee who's boss, and pushing the limits. It is such a hard thing to keep going slow and steady and be patient... Yes, we shall walk again and lead productive lives. Let us continue to persevere and give ourselves the time that we need... Patience my friends! :friends:
 
Hi guys,

In PT today I walked for 13 minutes at 1 mph on the treadmill....then spent the rest of the day w sore knees. I now know I can walk the distance needed to get from the parking lot to my department in the hospital...it is a 10 min walk....however....I also really "get it" that I'm not yet ready to go back to work.

I don't see surgeon till 7-10 so need for concern about returning to work isn't an issue till at least then.

My 52 nd BD is 7-13...I'm wishing for pain free knees....I haven't yet reached the point where the new knees feel better than the old.
The pain and discomfort are different but not better. I hate that tight band above the knee!

I wonder if Steve Austin (6 million $ man) had bad days....

Chris
 
I'm sure even the 6 million dollar man had a bad day or two! He was good to look at though! :rotfl:

You are making great progress in PT. Don't overdo it though. I can promise one thing, my PT knows me so well she watches my body language and facial expressions to know when I am trying to over do it! :wink:
 
Hi Chris - I had bilateral TKR 1 year + out. I went back to work at 2.5 months post TKR. My office was on the 2nd floor so I brought my cane along for support. It helped me to climb better. I brought along a handbag that I could sling from one shoulder across the body so that my hands are free to hold the handrail and another to hold the cane. As my office is pretty small, it was easier moving about without the cane. My knees still felt tight and stiff so I had to hold onto the table or chair for getting up. After doing this numerous times, it was really tiring. I brought lunch so I would not have to climb up and down the stairs to buy food. At the end of the first day of work, I went home feeling so exhausted and slept like a baby. After a period of time, it just got better and better.

Going back to work was exciting for me. I felt useful again and time passed so fast I just stopped counting the days in recovery. However, your plan of going back to work at 6 weeks sounds a bit too soon. But if you do not have any choice, you might want to consider starting a little slower, like working on alternate days or half day for the first two weeks. And then slowly get back to routine when you become stronger.

Good luck ... Elsie
broken link removed: https://www.totalkneereplacement-elsie.blogspot.com
 
Hi everyone,

Another mostly sleepless night last night. Not as much nausea as hot and uncomfortable. The temp yesterday was 104 and the house just wasn't able to stay cool enough for me to rest. I did discover that the melted ice pack water poured lightly on a tee shirt sleep shirt helps keep me cool enough to quietly play scrabble on my I pad while my husband sleeps. We have several more days of this heat expected. The area is dry dry dry many of our local towns are canceling their Independance Day fireworks plans due to fire risk. I know we won't be using any fire crackers or roman candles here.

Elsie, I hope that I can return and regain stamina fairly fast. My husband and I have a tag team system for taking care of our family. I start work at 0630, he gets breakfast for his 85 yo mother ( she has dementia and lives w/ us) and our 10 yo son. My husband gets our son to school, does some house stuff and makes himself and his mom lunch. My husband starts work at 1430 . We have a caregiver come in to watch grandma from 1-5. I pick up our son from school, make dinner help w/ homework and get everyone in bed by 2130.

Schools out right now, our son is in day camp till 4Pm. We are lucky that some brings him home to me from camp. I nap when grandma's sitter is here. After 5 PM I have been able to manage supper and supervising PM routines but I feel so much better when my husband is not working and covers the evening too.

School starts mid August, our kiddo has learning challenges that require I be very present during homework time or homework wouldn't get done.

By mid August I will need to be able to be awake and, productive for 15 hours give or take 30 minutes. Our house of cards depends on me being able to hold up my side of the deal. This is why I'm so frustrated by my recovery, i have a limited amount of time till I absolutely need to be able to manage my A game. I have to concede that 6 weeks was too much to hope for but I have to keep trying to get moving ASAP. I feel like I'm burning through time that I don't have.

I wanted this surgery to make me more able to be my best for everyone who needs me! Right now I feel very inadequate but I have no choice but to keep on trying. We plan on having me practice driving today. If all goes well then I can at least begin to pick up my son from camp.

Please wish me luck that the foot and knee are responsive and ready for safe driving.

Thanks,

Chris
 
Good morning, Chris! I'm sorry that you are still having trouble sleeping. Maybe you need some help with that? Ask your PCP. Maybe a few nights of something like low dose lorazepam will allow you to relax and get your sleeping back on track. I'm a type A personality, too, and have had bouts of insomnia in the past. 2 -3 days of some help usually helps. I understand your sleeping troubles aren't as simple as insomnia, but it is worth asking for help. Take care and wishing you your best sleep ever tonight.
 
ChrisO said:
I wanted this surgery to make me more able to be my best for everyone who needs me! Right now I feel very inadequate but I have no choice but to keep on trying. We plan on having me practice driving today. If all goes well then I can at least begin to pick up my son from camp.

Please wish me luck that the foot and knee are responsive and ready for safe driving.

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

Please do not feel in the least way inadequate---you are healing and recovering from major---big-time---surgery. All of us BTKR folks have gone through a recovery where we have come to realize that it may be a while before we hold up our part of the bargain, so to speak. That is perfectly normal and you are just dealing with the intense surgical trauma.

After you are recovered, there will certainly be times (there have been many for me!) that you have an epiphany and realize that it was actually a great thing that you had done, as you can enjoy life, your childrens' activities, and your lifestyle so very much more and more intensely.
 
ChrisO said:
I wanted this surgery to make me more able to be my best for everyone who needs me! Right now I feel very inadequate but I have no choice but to keep on trying. We plan on having me practice driving today. If all goes well then I can at least begin to pick up my son from camp.

Please wish me luck that the foot and knee are responsive and ready for safe driving.

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

Please do not feel in the least way inadequate---you are healing and recovering from major---big-time---surgery. All of us BTKR folks have gone through a recovery where we have come to realize that it may be a while before we hold up our part of the bargain, so to speak. That is perfectly normal and you are just dealing with the intense surgical trauma.

After you are recovered, there will certainly be times (there have been many for me!) that you have an epiphany and realize that it was actually a great thing that you had done, as you can enjoy life, your childrens' activities, and your lifestyle so very much more and more intensely.
 
Tim,

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm trying to claim my life back. Today I browsed through an Ashley furniture store and bought a raspberry tea at Books a Million. I walked on my own without the comfort or protection of a walker or cane. Lonesome George the DEAD Gallapagose Turtle could have beat me in a foot race but I'm claiming the outing a success.

I'm still shy about food but I'm loving iced tea.

If I can sleep tonight then things will really begin to be looking up.

Chris
 
What a nice birthday present to give yourself; new body parts! :heehee:

I tell people that for my next several operations I am starting on various parts of my face and in five years they won't recognize me. :heehee: No limp, new fresh eyes, and a loss of a chin.

Take the driving slow and carefully, no long drives or heavy traffic, and you'll do fine.
 
Hope you are able to sleep tonight. You and I would make good shopping buddies, I'm loving getting back though, even if it is at a snails pace.
 
Oh how I love book stores! I would have had a blast and we could have been turtles together! :wink:

My hubby isn't much on bookstores. Now, if you went to a hardware store I wouldn't be able to drag him out! LOL. Why is it that men buy all those fancy tools, watch DIY, and then tell you what they are "planning" to do? :rotfl:

I hope all the shopping will lead to a relaxing slumber! :sleep:
 
Chris, looks like you have a lot on your plate. Even your decision to do BTKR was to enable you to take better care of your family. There is so much of expectation from you and naturally, you expected to have a speedy recovery. When that did not happen, you felt disappointed and frustrated. You need to take a step back to evaluate what you should do for yourself first in order to get better. Its like what they taught us in the plane when there is an emergency. We need to put on our oxygen mask first before we attend to others.

What you are experiencing in early recovery is normal. I am sure nobody has told you this. My doctor certainly did not tell me anything and I had to learn everything the hard way. I can see that members here have the chance to learn about things even before surgery and I did not know about this wonderful forum until now. It could have helped me to prepare more before my surgery. The fact that you are doing so much already at this point is amazing. I have great admiration for your efforts. Most people including me were fortunate to have a lot of downtime to recuperate. But not doing anything much at home made me miserable and the time was ticking away oh so slowly. Because of this my body couldn't get tired so I have sleep problems too. The discomfort and pain from the wounds including my lower back ache also contributed to my sleeping problem. On top of that, I cannot resort to sleeping medications because of my history with sleeping pills addiction. So it was a struggle for me to sleep. But the moment I became more active, my body tires more easily and sleep became easier. In your case, you already have so much going for you. I think you need to slow down a little and think of yourself. Try to squeeze some time to do some meditation, relaxing exercise or body massage. Go for a walk and enjoy the simple things in life such as appreciating the nature around us or catch up with friends over coffee. These can be very therapeutic and it can help you to unwind and sleep better and have a more positive mindset.
I am glad that you are going to try to drive. On day 20 after my surgery, I decided to drive and it was quite easy particularly with an auto car. Although I had to struggle to get in and out of the car and felt sore and stiff afterwards but it was worth it. The feeling of liberation and freedom was inexplicable. I became more mobile and started to drive to shopping malls, parks, markets, DVD shops, banks etc. I might not be doing much at shopping malls or parks but I just enjoyed sitting on the bench munching something, reading magazines or just observing people. So good luck with your
driving!
 
Woke up w/ sensation of someone driving a #10 nail into the middle of my L knee. Poor husband was then awakened by my request for more ice. Time to see if I can beat the iPad at scrabble again. C
 
Darn thing HURTS ! I'm spite of my better judgement I took a Oxycodone along w/ 3 Aspirin, Tylenol and Caffeine (Excedrine Migraine) tabs. The bed is slowly spinning counter clock wise....file this under "bad idea".....C
 
Oh Chris!

I am so sorry to hear about the pain! I do hope you got some rest today! Recovery has good days and bad days, and before you realize it, the good days will be a lot more frequent. You are a little over a month out of a major operation on both knees! It wears the mind, body, and patience down. Don't worry we will be here to lend you an ear anytime! We have been here before! I am on third knee surgery on right knee and it is a little ornery still. :rotfl: I will not let it get the best of me though! I have way too much living to do to let that happen! :)
God always has a plan, and I am ready for the next step! I will keep you in my prayers! :angel:
 
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