I am 12 weeks and 3 days post op. This is where I`m up to.
Mobility:
- Can walk around the house unaided but my gait is not pretty and by afternoon I sometimes use one crutch to help my balance
- ROM is roughly 120/0
- I can walk a good mile outside with the dog (probably can without, too!) but still take one crutch for reasons of balance, also because of pain and swelling
- I can almost walk upstairs without the crutch but cling to the handrail and kind of haul myself up. This is improving. Can`t even contemplate coming downstairs normally yet
- I have issues with the tight band feeling around the knee but also extending above the knee.
- I have tweaky kinds of pains or intermittent shooting pains through my knee.
- there is pain just off centre right below my knee cap which disallows for walking from sitting or weight bearing for the first few steps. This is improving slowly.
- my calf feels like it`s going to snap at times, especially when rising from sitting position or getting up from bed.
- I changed my car to an automatic transmission pre op so I am able to get out and about, at least locally or within an hour`s drive. The bumps and breaking tends to unsettle the knee so I just take it easy
Analgesia:
I had been down to 1 - 2 x day of either Ibuprofen 400mg in the morning and Co-codamol 8/500 with Paracetemol 500mg at night. This worked well until shortly before Christmas when I started having pains in the shin and calf and through the knee, plus the swelling increased. I increased my medication to Ibuprofen 800mg in the morning; Co-codamol 8/500 with Paracetemol 500mg 6hrs after first dose of the day, Paracetemol 1g at teatime, Ibuprofen 800mg at night. I continued with this until yesterday. Today I have only taken Paracetemol 1g when I got up. So far, so good but I haven`t done much so far today. Will continue this 6hrly today and see how I get on.
Wound:
My wound is fully healed but oh good grief, it`s sensitive, especially at night. Everytime the bedsheet touches it it feels like I`ve been nettled really badly or someone is sticking very sharp pins in it. The top of the wound is a little hypertrophic and red; the bottom looks quite good. I massage this once a day with E45 but am beginning to wonder if this is contributing to the sensitivity
Sleep:
I am used to having broken sleep, sometimes wakening 2 - 3 times a night, on occasions I`ll be awake for 2 - 3 hrs. This doesn`t seem very different to how I was pre-op. I am a side-sleeper and was nearly euphoric when I discovered I could slide operated leg over non-operated leg at about 3 weeks post op and lie on my side to sleep, albeit for short periods at first. I used a small bean bag type thing to support my knee. Now I can lie on my side quite easily but it does drag on my operated knee when I turn over - and of course it inflames the wretched wound!
This TKR business is a way bigger deal than I could ever have imagined - and I`ve had a relatively uncomplicated journey thus far. I still cannot say I am at the stage where I`m glad I`ve had it done and don`t even want to think about the absent cartilage/ buckling and pain of the other knee which will also need replacing at some point. However, as someone elsewhere on this forum said, I chose to have this procedure in order to make my life bigger again so I am pressing on and looking forward to the time when I am truly able to reap the benefits.
And now, as my knee is yelping and unhappy, I`m off for the drugs, ice and easy chair!
United Kingdom
