TKR The Journey Continues

[VonnieN]

I've been making lots of trips to the bathroom, too. I also feel the tightness from swelling limiting the bend. I keep having to remind myself of the mantra here about letting it rest and not worrying. Have you noticed that your old pains are gone? Number 2 will come up quickly, won't it?) But you'll be an expert on all this first few weeks stuff and that will help you out a lot. Continue resting

when yiu refer to no. 2 are you referring to toilet as well. i was not allowed to leave hospital intil i did :-p two reasons i was told one was the annestetic it relaxes the bowls andvtake awhile to fire up and thennnon top iif that you have endone. so yes you will need to drink plenty and get some that softens stools. I woke with stiff leg hopw to drain some more today.but it is only day five.

 

[Celle]

The narcotic pain relief medications slow down your gut and cause constipation. This article suggest some ways to overcome that:
Constipation and stool softeners

Some of us (like me) had to take something to prevent constipation (an aperient) for as long as I was taking narcotics.

 

[Mutti3]

Hydrating is very good for you it keeps all the body parts working! As well as eating nutritional meals. Recovery is full time job, with a lot of “ moving parts”.

 

[Jockette]

I did not have a bowel movement for over a week after surgery. Surprisingly I was not uncomfortable. I’m glad they didn’t keep me in the hospital that whole time. I was taking stool softeners and miralax and I didn’t worry, I knew I’d go eventually. It took several months before everything was back to normal.

 

[VonnieN]

i have read with great interest how some people are progressing. considering the walking
yesterday and getting into the car my leg was fine last night. my husband had to take the quilt cover off as it was making the bedding heavy and found that unconfortable. a small doft pillow between myknees and ice pack. he gave me tramadol at 1.00 and then nothing untilni woke up in the morning at 6.00. pain has not been an issue to dsste. swelling is but that was expected. i am only using one crutch. have done some stretching excerises and can bend the knee comfortable to about 80 ROM. Toilet issues are good as well. tracking well.

 

[VonnieN]

update continue to pace myself and use ice and elevation. Have been doing my exercises. sleeping has not been a problem I use two pillows between my legs. I firstvwake up at 4.00 and take pain relief even though I don't have discomfort. I am trying to find a replacemwnt for the tramadol. It makes me jittery and unwell. I might pop past and speak to the GO. I am now walking with walking stick for reassurance. I am happy with the progress to date. hope others are tracking well

 

[nuttybrunette]

update continue to pace myself and use ice and elevation. Have been doing my exercises. sleeping has not been a problem I use two pillows between my legs. I firstvwake up at 4.00 and take pain relief even though I don't have discomfort. I am trying to find a replacemwnt for the tramadol. It makes me jittery and unwell. I might pop past and speak to the GO. I am now walking with walking stick for reassurance. I am happy with the progress to date. hope others are tracking well

You are doing fabulous. Already on to a cane is amazing. This is all good news as now you know you do great and will be ready for the second knee. You’ll be dancing before you know it.

 

[HoneyB]

I'm so happy for you that your are sleeping! That's great! I slept very, very little for the first 7 weeks. My second TKR is June 4, and the "no sleep" is the part I'm dreading right now. Best wishes to you!

 

[SusieShoes]

Sounds like you're doing wonderfully! Yay on the sleep... that's such a problem for so many. Tramadol makes some people jumpy, so I hope you find something else that will work as well for you.

 

[nuttybrunette]

@HoneyB if you don’t mind me asking, what pain med were/are you on? Reason I ask is that with my first TKR I was on Norco and I didn’t sleep either. But this time, I’m on Percocet and I’m sleeping great. Just wondering if there’s a correlation.....

 

[kneeper]

Sounds like you're doing really well!

 

[VonnieN]

currently I am on Panadol osteo x2 every 8 hours. 1x 200gm celebrex and tramadol x1 every 4.5 hours. I ice every hour for 20 minutes front and back and do gentle exercises of squeezing a cushion between my legs to work the inside leg. I also squeeze my quads ankles pumps every hour. I am not working on ROM that will come after the swelling goes down. I get up every 30 minutes to walk around. I can walk without a stick but use one to rise from a chair or when I am tired.


I need to reduce the tramadol before the next surgery otherwise it won't help me as much.

 

[HoneyB]

@nuttybrunette - For the first two weeks, I was on Percocet 5mg four times per day. At week 3, my doctor switched me to Tramadol 50mg every eight hours so I could drive myself to physical therapy. The Percocet made me drowsy a few minutes after I took it, but never resulted in me actually falling asleep for more than 10 - 15 minutes. Tramadol didn't make me drowsy. I couldn't take Tylenol PM or any similar over-the-counter sleep medications because the active ingredient in those, which is the same as the active ingredient in Benadryl, makes me faint dead out on the floor. It was a rough 7 weeks of no sleep.

 

[VonnieN]

Hi everyone into week two. I feel reading from many of the posts I am very lucky. I can walk without a stick doing my exercises but only a few times per day and stayed couch bound the first week doing a maximum of 1500 steps. Spending most of my time on the ice machine. Sleeping on the whole has been good except for last night where I could not get comfortable.
The report provide by the doctor has indicated that they have changed to angle of the leg by 5degrees but I am be wrong. I do feel the pressure around the sciatic area this may improve after the second one when the legs are aligned.

I will be walking more this week and increasing daily duties that don't incur to much strain. I see my GP tomorrow to discuss the pain relief to see if I can get off tramadol slowly as the dr in the hospital who came to manage me said it would be good not to be using the drug before my next surgery otherwise it may not have the same effect.

I see my surgeon on the 21st he was quite adamant about the leg extension and I think I have improved that. Have not commenced formal PT I will wait until. have seen the surgeon.

But as I am going back on the 29th for the second operation I need to have this leg happy.

All in all it has gone extremely well.

 

[VonnieN]

went to doctor today to discuss managing pain relief. he mentioned there is nothing available that takes away all pain but use Panadol most of the time but use tramadol before you are going to exercise. as much as walking is ok there are somethings that concern me. I have hyper mobility in my hip joints and now that my leg has been straightened by 5 degrees I feel uncomfortable groin pain on trying to lift my leg. I feel pressure behind the knee and over the front and if I keep leg at 90 degrees for too long then i can feel it down through my shin bone and sometimes toes then tingle. I am putting it down to excess swelling. the PT I see on Monday specialises in knee recovery patients.

 

[Celle]

but use tramadol before you are going to exercise.

Please don't do that . PT shouldn't hurt, so you shouldn't need to take anything to mask the pain.

In any case, pain during PT is a warning sign that you are doing too much for your new knee. If you mask that pain, you may do damage to your knee.

All those other aches and pains will gradually go away, as your body adjusts to your new knee. If doing an exercise hurts, then don't do it. You shouldn't do anything that takes you beyond discomfort into pain.
Remember, we told you this:

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.​

 

[VonnieN]

noted...... I wondered myself. I will ask lots of questions before she touches my leg. I have never been a big person on taking pain relief to mask pain.

 

[kneeper]

It is true that you will not be without pain or discomfort, but if you take the panadol or whatever you're taking, on a regular schedule you should be able to keep it manageable. The only connection of the tylenol or other pain meds to exercising/PT that I did was to try not to do PT right at the time the pain med was wearing off.

 

[VonnieN]

Yes at the moment I am taking Panadol for regular pain. Will use tramadol at night for sleeping. and for any additional pain. was invited to a low key function last night and stayed for a few hours but after that I was exhausted. I could keep my leg up and put it down as well. Have a swivel seat that helps me get in and out of the car. any trips will be short.

 

[sistersinhim]

Oh yeah, the energy drain is a real thing and takes more than just a few weeks to get over it! That swivel seat sounds like a great help! I wish I had had one. Did it come on the car or something you could set in the seat?