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TKR Swmrgirl Is Up For Air

@swmrgirl - Congratulations on getting to the "other side"! The best thing you can do right now is to rest, ice and elevate. Never forget that.. (I say that because some of "us" do.. :yes:) I would also say that taking magnesium will also help prevent constipation.. and has some other great health benefits. I started taking it originally because it helped me sleep better.. Might be worth checking out to see if it's something you think might be helpful for you.. :)

And just remember.. and remember again... Patience is a virtue.. You will need a bit of that, but the good news is, you have found Bonesmart.. and the best support you could possibly have! I'm speaking from experience.. Good luck to you!!!! :friends:
 
Hi @swmrgirl , I'm very happy you are home . Please... Rest as much as you can , that is what I did for the first two weeks, I mostly stayed On my bedroom relaxing and doing nothing but taking care of my self and I tell you it is the best medicine. Just basic simple excercises like the heel slides and the ones you can do in bed and you will see that you won't need that much pain medicine and it will pay off in the long run. I'm almost 4 weeks out and I feel great so far. I won't start outpatient PT until the 26 .. Today it was a great day, I walk 2blocks and this afternoon went to the supermarket with my daughter and I was amazed at the fact that I could walk with no pain , hanging on to the cart .. Of course. There is a great life waiting for us after TKR! Take care of your self and keep us updated, xo.

Lili
 
@Braunzie, my husband must have read your mind because he bought a bottle of magnesium this afternoon ;)
I'm a side sleeper and am having to get used to being on my back. It will be so nice when i can roll over to the right side again. It sounds like you're doing some adjusting at work. When I go back in January, I'll have a new boss. I really like her, so I'm sure it will be fine, but the timing is a little off for me.

@Lili, you're doing amazing things already. I remember how bad your poor knee was before surgery, must be a huge relief to you. I'm hooked up to my ice machine at this moment. Love it!

Cheers!
 
I'm a side sleeper, too. I can only manage short naps on my back. Within the next couple weeks you will figure out how to rest on your side through strategic placement of pillows. I hope you'll get some good rest tonight. Good Luck!​
 
I was following your pre-op thread, so happy to see you are home and doing well. I had my TKR on the 8th, so it's nice to read what someone else has to say about their recovery so close to mine. I wish you continued success with your recovery...!
 
swmrgirl said:
I'm a side sleeper and am having to get used to being on my back. It will be so nice when i can roll over to the right side again.
Click to expand...
ME TOO!!!! I was SOOOO happy when I was able to start sleeping on my side again.. but it didn't happen all at once. When I got "brave" to try.. (you can check my thread - better than my memory!!) probably about 8-9 weeks(?), I started with a pillow between my knees and then I'd only be comfortable for 45-min to an hour.. Then I would flip to the other side (carefully) and .. same thing.. But the GOOD NEWS is.. at 14ish weeks, I'm now sleeping without the pillow, and can change from side to side and even sleep on my stomach!!! :yes!: It is GLORIOUS!!!!! :happydance: I started doing that about 2 weeks ago, but for sure now, I can do it without thinking about it and with no pain.. (for the most part.. :)) I am really sleeping well now - as long as I don't dream about work!!!!! :rotfl: .. but really, not so funny.. :chinstroke:
 
Ha-ha! my booklet that was given to me by the surgeon states 'you may sleep in whatever position is comfortable' I know better after reading a lot of threads that side sleeping won't happen for quite awhile. Why do they make this surgery sound so easy in the pamphlet?
Thank goodness for this forum.
Must of been great to sleep on your side @swmrgirl! It's progress!
 
Glamg1979 said:
I know better after reading a lot of threads that side sleeping won't happen for quite awhile. Why do they make this surgery sound so easy in the pamphlet?
Click to expand...
I started sleeping on my side on Day2 after my TKRs.
In fact, they put me on my side in the hospital. I lay on my unoperated side, with a pillow between my knees and a pillow at my back. It was very comfortable.

When I got home my husband used to help me get settled on my side for the night. I would often turn onto my back during the night, but I always started off on my side.
 
Wow, @swimmergirl side sleeping already! Good for you! It was around week 3-4 for me, then I went in for the other surgery and had an imbolizer on. After a week in hospital/rehab I came home and managed to lay on my R RTKR side with my left leg placed over the imbolizer. That would last for about 3 hours, but they were 3 glorious hours!
 
@Braunzie, amazing that you're sleeping on your stomach! I feel like I'm a very long way off from that, but sleeping on my side is good enough. I can get about 2 hours of solid sleep on my side! I'm sure people have said this before, having TKR is like having a new baby. It will be nice when she starts sleeping longer. But I'll take whatever I can get now.

My booklet said nothing about sleeping position @Glamg1979, in fact one of my night nurses helped me get comfortable on my side with pillows all around me like you @Celle. It's harder for me at home, my right quad is very weak today, but my husband is happy to help.

Three hours in a row sounds incredible @KarriB! I'll bet having to sleep with the immobilizer was challenging.
 
That's good news @Celle! I will try that. Hubby was an orderly and ortho tech back in the day so he will be an expert positioning me and I own about a thousand pillows!
 
I use a great knee pillow I found online, makes side sleeping so easy for me, plus I strap it to my leg abd it keeps it in place
[Bonesmart.org] Swmrgirl Is Up For Air



Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
I think I'll write a few lines while I'm awake enough to manage it. I was quite nervous on Monday, the day before surgery, but when I got to the hospital on Tuesday morning, I felt very calm. The nurse in pre-op asked me If I wanted something to calm me down, but I said no because I felt fine. From the time I walked in the door, the hospital staff did everything they could to make me feel comfortable. I had a spinal, and it wasn't painful, just felt like a pinch, and my legs were numb. Had a two hour nap that seemed like ten minutes, and off to post-op. I was moved into a private room which was teeny tiny, but I was happy not to have to share a bathroom.

Most of my nurses were male. I haven't been in the hospital for many years, but it seems as though things have shifted in the field of nursing. My PT was fairly gentle, and neither of them tried to force me to do more than what I was comfortable with. But believe me, I was prepared to make them back off if I needed to.

So far my TKR is not nearly as difficult as I expected it to be. I have some bruising on the knee and upper thigh, but very little swelling (ice and elevation). My quad has decided not to cooperate since surgery, but the hospital PT said that its my body's way of protecting the knee and my strength would return.

My knee is quite stiff today, but I have only done a little walking around the house and to the bathroom. I have no sharp pains at all just soreness, I think because I'm taking the pain meds regularly. I'm able to go 6 hours rather than 4 for the meds, I'm finding that 10mg Oxycodone is plenty strong. I have a slight headache today maybe from the oxy? Not sure.

Keeping a positive attitude and remember that this a journey. I expect my life will be much improved over the next year.
 
The house dr at my rehab wrote a script for an obscene amount of 15mg oxycodone. I think it was 150! The pharmacist gave my sister a hard time and wouldn't fill the whole script. We joked that I could've sold them on the street and bought a new car! The 15mg seemed like too much for me. So I talked to my OS and he said instead of a new script I should just cut the oxycodone in half. After a week that's what I did. The 15 mg was definitely too much, but half was just right. Then after my 2nd surgery my OS gave me a script for 5mg, which was just fine.
 
@swmrgirl
Thx for the "blow by blow" posting. I am so glad to hear your recovery is going well and no surprises after waking up...except for maybe the multiple males?
I have to admit, that flirting with my male caretakers has been very beneficial to my health! But since a few of them were young enough to be a child, i was a bit picky about with whom to flirt!
:giggle:
carol
 
@swmrgirl You lucked out with the male nurses...lol! Sadly all mine were female but they were all very nice.

I am enjoying your blow by blow recovery thread, you are very entertaining and relatable. T.
 
@KarriB i don't understand why some people, like us are over- medicated and some are obviously under medicated. I guess every body is different and every Doc has their own philosophy.

I've had a wicked headache yesterday and this morning. Could it be from the Oxy? Anyone else had this experience?

@nomoreski, I loved all my nurses. Not much energy to flirt with the guys, though. Maybe next time :yes:
 
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