Support Bandage

[nickynockynoonoo]

Hi, I'm really glad to have found this forum.

My hubby had a TKR 3 weeks ago. When he had the staples out, the nurse called the doc as it was very swollen from the previous day's PT. The doc said there was lots of bruising still to come out and the support bandage should be kept on. He's still wearing the compression socks.

Today he rebelled and kept the bandage off all day, saying it is hot and restricts his movement. I persuaded him to wear it tonight in bed.

My main concern is DVT with the fact that the bruising still hasn't come out.

Why is it always a Friday night when you could do with talking to a doc?

I'd be grateful for your advice.

Oh, hubby is 55 and quite fit.

 

[Josephine]

Ooooh! I love the name - nickynockynoonoo!! What a hoot!

As for hubby - well I can sympathise with him. That stuff does make you hot and sweaty. Well, 3 weeks, huh? could say the bulk of the danger is (almost) past and diminishing by the day. Is he still on his daily anti-thrombosis jabs?

To reassure you, 'bruising to come out' is nothing to do with DVT. Actually it's a bit of a misnomer for swelling and pain. Without the compression stockings he's going to be in for more of that so tell him he has a choice - feeling hot and restricted or being in agony with swelling.

However, lots of ice packs and elevation should help a lot. If you haven't got gel packs, your bags of frozen peas should do nicely. Just don't eat them afterwards!!

Tomorrow I suggest you zip down to your nearest Superdrug or Poundshop and get an armful of the gel packs as they are invaluable for keeping the swelling down. I read one member here invested in one of those tiny fridges to keep by her bed so they would always be on hand without her having to get out of bed in the night! Now THAT's what I call forward planning!

And ain't it true how it's always Fridays!! Hope I've been able to help a bit. I only popped in as a last thought as I am now off to bed!!

 

[nickynockynoonoo]

Josephine, Thank you for your prompt reply.

Daily anti-thrombosis jabs? We don't even remember him having any in the hospital, although I'm sure he would have had one straight after the surgery. He takes 75mg asprin daily so maybe that is considered enough?

Ha ha, Chris (hubby) says "Point taken, I'll keep the bandage on and thank you very much for the advice."

Chris has been using frozen peas to ice his knee. The bag is flexible and refreezes quite well in the 2 hours in between.

A fridge by the bed. What a good idea.

I had such a frustrating morning waiting to get onto the PC. We had an IT guy come to take stupid Vista off and install Windows XP on Chris laptop. I'm not quite sure why he had my desktop running but that stuff goes over my head anyway, LOL.

I have another Q, which I'll put on a new thread