TKR Time to Veg Out!

[gami]

Hi Kathy...new day hope you slept okay...new experiences with the knee today...just relax...try and rest then rest some more...the body beautiful has had quite a trauma so your job is simply to take your meds and then rest some more. Thinking of you...

hugs Gami

 

[kimejen]

Hi Kathy, So glad it's over for you and all went well. Hope you had a good night. Take care. Jenny

 

[landoz]

Hi Everyone

Still feeling pretty good getting pain meds every 4 hours found the 2 tablets of endone the best. Just had a shower and put on a nightie and a touch of makeup so all good in the world. Need is aching a bit after so going to try and get pain meds a bit earlier as PT will also come this morning. Hopefully she will be kind to me.

Had a sleeping tablet about 10.30 managed to get about 3 hours straight and then just dosing in between. Read for a half hour at 2am and finally off to sleep when nurse came in at 3.30am to inject antibiotics into the knee and remove the catheter. Actually liked the catheter could drink lots of fluid without having to get out of bed. She also took my blood pressure and it had dropped to 96 so then she had to come in every hour to check it. Finally come over the 100 at 7am.

Managed to work out the bed and raised my knee that way during the night so all good there. I will let you all know about my PT session later!

 

[landoz]

I had two PT sessions today and both went well got to test run the crutches PT wants me using them more tomorrow and also maybe work a bit more on the ROM. Was getting between 80 and 90 so happy with that for day 2. I can also now get up and move around with the walker which feels great.i thoroughly recommend prunes to help with that end of business.

I have really enjoyed my day just relaxing after a busy few weeks pre op. my best advise so far is to stay on top of the pain meds and ask for them when they are due and don't be afraid to ask for something else in between if you have extra pain. I found after my shower and trying to bend my Knee I needed a little extra before I had my PT session and had no problem getting something.

All the best to everyone coming up with their ops tomorrow.

 

[robynhood]

Seems you are doing really well Kathy. Im sure its an advantage to have been on the forum before the op. unfortunately i didnt find it until after I had my op and didnt know what to expect. Glad youre coping with the physio and a 90ROM is excellent at your stage. Dont over do it and rest inbetween. Happy Healing x x

 

[landoz]

Thanks Robyn it has been a godsend. It has prepared me so much and if you have problems along the way you can find the answer to your problem here as someone else has gone through the same thing and has shared their experience. you will be right for your RTKR when you decide to go ahead with it with all the knowledge from your first replacement and this forum to guide you.

 

[jensen01]

good to hear you are doing well kathy enjoy the rest and relax you are doing well getting a good ROM at this stage my knee is so stiff and doesnt want to bend although i have done all the excercizes my ROM is only 60 i am starting the education PT session on thursday this week and i am sure they will work on it to get more before surgery my ROM was between 40 -50 which is very poor the surgeon told me that i wouldnt gain much back after surgery so we will see what happens i beleive it all takes time . marie .

 

[Baystater]

Kathy,
You sound wonderful! I'm so glad everything is going well and that you have the pain under control. It makes all the difference in the world. I remember on my third day in the hospital feeling quite the prima donna. I was comfortable, PT was happy with me and I just spent an afternoon flipping through a magazine (too much to actually read the magazine ) , listened to some music, ate a nice lunch...off a tray....in bed, closed my eyes and took a nap. I always say there really is something nice about being taken care of. Especially for we women who spend most of our lives taking care of others

Isn't that catheter a nice luxury ? And why the heck do they take it out in the middle of the night? I had a similar thing, think it was 5:00 am but I thought really? Now I'm going to have to haul myself out of this bed and shuffle to the potty when I have to "go"!

Keep up the good work, and the great posts!

Heidi

 

[gami]

Good to hear things are moving along smoothly and you are remembering all you've read and are able to put it into practice . Don't think to hard about the ROM and numbers, it's all about relaxing and resting right now, with just some gentle PT to keep everything moving around a bit...hey you are up and moving to the bathroom that's all exercise. Chat soon
hugs Gami

 

[kimejen]

Well done Kathy, you are doing so well in your recovery, so good to hear. Take care. Jenny

 

[maddoxsmama]

Yea Kathy!! We did it! Now we just have to buckle down and get through this recovery. Lots of hugs and good wishes coming your way!! Just told Barb (eastside85) that I was going to watch Dancing With The Stars and imagine all of us in there kicking up our new knees!!!

 

[landoz]

Thanks ladies I actually got some good blocks of sleep last night even laid on my side with a pillow for a few hours but my knee is a bit stiffer and I think swollen today not sure if it's all the extra walking I'm doing or PT or laying on my side. Probably a combination of all. Having X-rays done today to see how it's going. Can't wait until we can kick up our new shines knees!

Take care ladies

 

[Baystater]

Keep up the good work girl!

 

[landoz]

Well your day can start out so good and turn horrible so quickly. Just had my first melt down. LOL Got taken down to x-rays straight after a PT session next pain meds were due lunch was due and I spent two hours down there sitting around in a wheel chair most of the time. The CT machine broke down so had to wait a while as they tried to fix it luckily I was laying down for that bit. Then I had to sit in an empty corridor for about 45 minutes for someone from the ward to come pick me up. That was it down came the water works! Not one bit of sympathy from any of the nurses on the ward or the two students that came and finally picked me up. The little things that upset you just the pain meds mixing with your head I guess. All better now but another PT session soon

 

[kimejen]

Oh no Kathy. I can't imagine why they would think you could possibly sit around for that length of time in a wheelchair. Very poor, no wonder you were upset. I think a complaint is warranted there, that really is not good enough!!! When I had my x-ray done it was quite fun. Had a really chatty orderly who came in, wheeled me in my bed, down the corridor, through the doors (side of hospital), across a little service road, then parked me (wheels locked) while he went and got the person who was now finished with x-ray, took him back into hospital and parked him, then came back and wheeled me into x-ray. Did not have to move a muscle, just held the x-ray board where the radiographer wanted them, presto, then wheeled back. Got to spend a bit of time in the beautiful fresh air while I was parked - it was great. Wish your experience had been more like that. Hope the rest of the day is more pleasant. Take care. Jenny

 

[gami]

Tears are okay Kathy especially when things don't go the right way...hey, just remember tears are okay just whenever you need to let them go, you've been through a lot in the last day or so. And our new knees well they like to swell ...just part of the process..nothing to worry about some get bigger than others, some to it when we stand up, some do it when we exercise, some just do it for the heck of it.

My doc tells me my knee might take another 6month before the swelling is totally gone...but it's nowhere like the size it was immediately post op, I actually have some shape there now so I reckon it's on the improve.

Glad you got some sleep, hope tonight is just as good because tomorrow is another day of discovery, another small step down the recovery path.

hugs Gami

 

[robynhood]

Kathy i got so mad reading your post. No wonder you got upset. After a major op on your knee they leave you sitting around for that long in a wheelchair. I would have been crying as well. I had an incident when they came to take me for x ray. I had just had my dressing changed for the first time and was overdue painkillers. But no off to x ray i had to go. I couldnt get my leg comfortable so they wedged a pillow underneath it.... Which fell off halfway down the corridor and my leg fell with an almighty bump onto the floor. I almost passed out so they took me back to my room and i was on oxygen for half an hour. Then later they took me to x ray on my bed. So much better. We are still recovering from the effects of a major op so it was very very negligent of them to leave you like that for so long. Sending you lots of hugs to compensate, hope youre feeling better. Take Care x

 

[landoz]

thanks everyone for your kind thoughts . I'm all good again tonight I just couldn't help crying just felt all alone sitting in the corridor and rather than be annoyed and yell at some one I just sat there and wept felt silly but couldn't stop myself had some good chats with friends tonight on the phone so it has cheered me up. I'm sure it won't be the last time.

Knee is a bit stiff and sore tonight I guess all the extra independence now isn't helping it. Icing and evalating and taking my drugs!

 

[Baystater]

And here I was chirping yesterday about how nice it is to be taken care of (and it is but the flip side is there is nothing worse than being neglected when we are vulnerable And just days after major surgery, lacking mobility and dependent on prescription meds we are pretty darn vulnerable!

Hope the water works were therapeutic at least - nothing like a good melt down! I had one in the hospital too (I got the name of the nurses assistant who snapped at me and complained about her in the survey from the hospital I received once home....that felt wicked good!)

Glad chatting with friends made you feel better - hang in there!

Heidi

 

[jensen01]

ar bless you kathy it does us good to have a good cry i was the same feeling alone and hopeless its a bit of the post op blues and will soon pass on you are doing well luv take care , marie .