That's about right for the first week out.
2. hydrocodone/acetaminophen 10/325mg 1 every 6 hours
Tramadol 50mg 1 every 6 hours as needed
Methocarbam 500mg 1x4 times a day as needed
I have taken the hydrocodone faithfully every 6 hours. Overlapped the Tramadol with it 3 times for better pain control. Took the muscle relaxant 3 times yesterday, once today.
I think you should be careful of using a muscle relaxant as a adjunct to pain medication.
I'm not quite sure how you mix the hydrocodone and Tramadol but it appears to work for you.
3. Not quite huge but worse than moderate.
Again, pretty standard for the first week.
4. Guessing based on PT yesterday extension around 0-2, flexion was between 80-90 yesterday but I would be surprised if it was more than 45-ish today.
All normal for the first week out. Don't get panicked about it. It might even get worse before it starts getting better!
5. and 6. Constantly when I’m not up and around.
Good but here's a good schedule to stick to: Ice and elevate for at least 40-60mins and more than 4 times a day.
7. Activity level is low. I make 3 loops of the house every 90 minutes or so. I make my own coffee - that kind of chore. So mostly gentle walking.
You're probably doing a bit too much. You could do those little walks even less, say just for bathroom and kitchen trips. No need to make a passion for it!
Exercises all done once a day
hamstring stretch with strap, 3 times, hold 30 seconds, one set -
do not use straps, weights or anything similar. Leave that until at least 6 months time
sitting heel slides with strap, 20 times, hold 5 seconds, one set -
again, no straps and rather follow this method (this was in your "Knee Recovery: Guidelines" in post #4 of this thread)
quad sets, 15 times, hold 10 seconds, one set -
much too much. I suggest you stop doing these
straight leg raise, 10 times, hold 1 second, 2 sets -
SLRs: once you can do them, you don't need to do them any more!
hip abduction, 10 times, hold 1 second, 2 sets -
hip abductions are unnecessary for knees!
exercise ball floor bridge, 10 times, hold 2 seconds, 2 sets - I did not do this one -
I'm glad because bridges are not necessary for knees!
While sitting I do ankle stretches and quad stretches -
these are only necessary for when you are almost immobile in the first 2-3 days after surgery. Since you are clearly more active, there is no need to do them now.
First PT was yesterday. She taught me the above and had me run through my sets so I would know what to do at home. Felt good to move but sore later. Will be doing 3 sessions a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) but not sure what it will consist of yet -
I suggest you quit your PT sessions completely. This kind of exercising is totally unnecessary for knees and often causes far more problems than it resolves.
More pt this morning. Leg remains quite swollen so I went from a flexion of 78 down to 70, but extension is 0. Not sure why I am having so much pain and swelling but my instructions for the afternoon are elevate and ice.
This proves 100% what I said before. Exercises will cause your leg to swell (more) and will therefore cause your ROM to lessen tremendously. I've seen it happen here far too many times.
You see, it's not the exercising that gets you your ROM, it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle and time to heal. One thing that seems to be missing from all the PT's protocols is that all your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen so it can show itself. In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Exercise as in strength training is counter-productive and in the early weeks does more harm than good. Normal activity is the key to success.
If you are concerned about refusing to do therapy, you need to read this
Saying no to therapy - am I allowed to?
BTW, I recommend you read my recovery thread to see how little exercising I did for either knee!
Knee recoveries UK style Parts I & II (Josephine)