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PKR tarajenni's PKR Recovery

Sorry to hear you are having a rough one. Out of curiosity, and maybe I’m off on this, but have you tried foam rolling? I had some IT band issues years ago and that gave me some level of relief. However, it may be difficult with a fresh PKR.

I would imagine work is what is giving you some of your issues. I worked in a long term health care facility for 8 years And my knees didn’t like all the walking on concrete floors. Is there any way your employer could accommodate less walking? I went to a 4-H event for my son last weekend at Penn State and found myself attempting to walk at my normal stride since everyone else around me was, it was almost peer pressure to me, I had my cane but doing that coupled with the 2 hour drive did me in, even with ice, elevation and TENS in the back seat. Took me about 2 days to get back to “normal”.

It also sounds like you are going to have a lot of rest coming up with your next surgery too.
 
My PT has done the foam rolling and it seems to help with some of the soreness but this night pain is different. It’s an ache that’s deep in the joint and I can’t put a finger on a certain spot.

As for work, I don’t see it changing. I ice and elevate at lunch and I’ve even wore my TENS while working too.

Hoping I’m close to the other side of this.
 
@tarajenni, please be sure to share outcome of your visit.

Regarding sleeplessness, it does get better! I seldom wake up in middle of the night anymore. When I do, getting back to sleep is easy. Just a few rough weeks.
 
Doc said all looks good. Said this night pain happens sometimes. Gave me a compression sleeve to sleep in and told me to take 2 Naproxen twice a day for 10 days. Gave me the ok to bring the bike back inside on the trainer and ease back into it. X-rays looked good. Surgery on the left knee is on the schedule.

Hoping this pain at night subsides soon. I really miss my sleep.
 
tarajenni said:
Doc said all looks good. Said this night pain happens sometimes.
Hoping this pain at night subsides soon. I really miss my sleep.
Click to expand...
Night pain is usually caused by two things: Under-medication and over-activity during the daytime.

You've gone back to work quite early and that's what is probably the cause. I understand that was necessary, but don't add to the stress on your new knee by also doing PT exercises. Let work be your PT.
 
@Celle I completely agree. I was so tired Monday, I cancelled my PT appointment and at my PT appointment last night, I told them it was my last one.

Good news is I slept really well last night. I’ve been hurting since I got up but I can much easier deal with pain during the day.
 
PKR number 2 all done and boy can I just say it has been sooo different. I’ve had very little pain. I am walking with no crutches or walker and no limp. I’m very lucid this time. I still barely remember any of my hospital stay from round one. I think a lot of that is because I’m on different drugs. First time they were giving me morphine IV and I had breakthrough pain. This time, they are giving me Percocet by mouth. No breakthrough pain and I’m not taking it every four hours because of the little pain. Now I do realize there’s a lot of anesthetic in the joint and that will be wearing off soon. But my flexion is just as good as my other knee already and I have very little swelling. If I hadn’t seen the post op X-rays, I would think he really didn’t do anything except the initial incision.

Hoping this recovery continues to be this good.
 
@tarajenni, glad to see that round two has gone well so far. Please keep us posted on your progress and don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or just to vent if needed.
 
Even though you're feeling a lot better than last time, be careful and not overdo!
 
@tarajenni
I'm going to give you another copy of the recovery reading, so you don't have to go looking for it further back in your thread:
Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now; they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

Please don't be overwhelmed by the list. The articles are not long and they and contain information that will answer many questions and help you make your recovery much easier on your knee and on you.

We are here to help in any way we can: answering questions and concerns; supporting and encouraging you from start to finish.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Well, as soon as I got home, I found that pain I was missing. It feels as it’s worse than last time now. Getting breakthrough pain on Percocet 5mg. Just hoping I’ll be able to sleep tonight.
 
Ice as much as you can to get rid of that pain. I iced the whole time I was down, whether sitting or laying down. As long as you have a thin cloth between the ice pad and you skin, you are OK. I iced all day and all night. This reduced the pain considerably.
 
Tara that first day in the hospital is great . Gives us a false sense of security till pain block wears off. Getting the right pain block formula is essential first Three weeks so hope Percocet works for you , but if not don’t be shy calling doc.
 
I definitely echo what Softtail said. Your OS is there for break through pain. The docs don't want us to have that awful pain as it interferes with your recovery. My doc has been great with finding the right pain meds. Sometimes a combo or "cocktail" is necessary .
 
Sleep and catch naps whenever you can. Sleep overnight can be a bit challenging at first.
 
I was on hydrocodone last time. Percocet this time. Starting to get breakthrough pain. Only sleeping an hour at a time. Percocet works well but doesn’t last long enough. I can’t wait for this stage to be over with.
 
Does Percocet bother you at all? I had almost immediate dizziness and other weird things in my head when I took it a few years ago.

When I had my partial I told them to give me something else, and they gave me Dilaudid. I never was impressed with the Dilaudid, I assumed it was doing something because it was supposed to, but I never felt worse as I got close to the next dose.
 
With Percocet I have seen and heard things that aren’t there. My husband thinks it is quite entertaining. I may ask for something different.
 
It can be a war those first 2 to 3 weeks, when you are fighting the pain and hoping to take less of pain pills to get off them. I use oxycodone for my RLS, so it was easy for me to just increase it slightly during first 3 weeks. My cocktail was 5 mg. of oxy every 4 hours and 1000mg. Tylenol every 8 hours . Also doc threw in 100 mg. Of gabapentin for first couple weeks , but not sure if that was for pain or not. Still made for miserable 2-3 weeks, but I was expecting it, so no surprise.
 
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