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TKR Timetolive's Nov 9th TKR Post -OP<<

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I haven't kneeled in years, I bet it has been about 10 years or so. Not anxious to try yet and don't know if I will!
 
Timetolive said:
@smarttoys:
I wonder how long we will be members of the infamous "Over Did It Club"??? !
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My theory is that all people that have knee replacement are chronic over did it people! This is how we got in trouble , not listening to the messages our bodies would send! Hard to not try do everything in one trip! But if we want to extend the life of these new knees, we have to plan better and accept that some stuff will just need to be done another time!
;)
 
Karri, she took a lot of measurements and we talked. The appointment was an hour. I have to buy the special wraps and go back next Thursay for her to wrap my leg from midcalf to mid thigh. I will know more then. The wraps are not like ace bandages in that they are not elastic - they don't have a lot of stretch. She said we want compression not constriction. All very interesting. I also have to buy a roll of wide masking tape!?!?! I guess to anchor and hold the wraps.
 
How long will they leave the wrap on for? Is it something you can do on your own at home if needed? It will be interesting to see how well it works for you. It may be something that can help other people with continuing swelling.
 
Marian, usually the wrap is removed at night. She will teach me how to do it since I will be removing it to shower. You are supposed to wrap before getting out of bed while the knee is the smallest. That should be interesting - I am a morning shower person. Guess I will try the night showering.

Karri, yes, we talked about the lymphatic massage. The PT said it works, but only if you have some compression on right afterwards or it just swells back up. That makes sense to me! I did ask her where the fluid goes and she said "for lack of a better explanation, you pee it out." Hahahaha! She did go into detail about how our bodies absorb it and it goes through the blood system filtered through the kidneys, etc.
 
I had my appointment with the physical therapist that specializes in lymphedema wrapping. Since I do not have swelling below the knee, she said she would be wrapping me like an athlete. (Yes! I finally can pretend I am an athlete! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:) Sorry - could not resist! Anyway, the first wrap went on overlapping about a third each time, starting midcalf and ending above the knee. You unroll, then pull, unroll, pull - except in the crease behind the knee. When that wrap is finished, you tape it off. The second wrap goes in the opposite direction overlapping by half each time, unrolling, then pulling, unrolling, pulling. The wrap is not an ace bandage. They are all cotton and do not stretch much. There is a piece of foam put under the wrap above the knee toward the inner thigh to keep the wraps from sliding and rolling down. The third wrap starts at the top (mid thigh) and goes in figure eights to help hold the whole thing on. It was very interesting and NOT easy to do. Keeping the wrinkles out was not easy with the lumps and bumps of swelling. After the therapist did my leg, she took it off and made me do it - then removed that and had my husband do it. Oh, and there was a pice of tape wrapped all the way around the top wrap. You use the wide masking tape to hold. The goal is to get the swelling out of the knee and get me in a stocking/pantyhose that will put enough pressure on the leg to keep the swelling down. The bandaging did slide down throughout the day and I had to rewrap it - as she said I should. It will have to be rewrapped as the swelling goes down during the day also. I can take it off at night.

These wraps are each 5 m. (Over 16 ft) long each! With three of the wraps on PLUS the foam piece, my fat knee and thigh are REALLLLY big! :scaredycat::yikes: There is no way I will be able to get my dress slacks or my jeans on over it. I can wear my "oh my gosh I hope I don't see anyone I know while I am wearing these" knit capris or shorts around the house, and a skirt to church.....but all the other times..... As Eeyore would say, "oh bother." Hopefully, the swelling will go down, my ROM and extension will get better and life will go on.

I also saw the urologist for a follow up from before surgery. Before surgery, I had been diagnosed with several kidney stones. They were small, so no worries for surgery. I explained the symptoms I had in December and he said emphatically, that I had passed a kidney stone when I had all that pain and vomiting. The diarrhea he agrees with the gastroenterologist - that the morphine and antibiotics had caused that. The diverticulitis was an after effect. I have no kidney stones now, so they had to have passed - that is a good thing.

So, life with Ralph continues to be interesting and filled with learning opportunities. My Darling and I have become closer through all of this and have a newfound appreciation for each other. I have learned patience (well, not much) and had reinforced the grace of God, the love of friends and family, and the kindness of strangers. I have also learned that you do not pull your pants down in a hurry to use the bathroom when your leg is wrapped or you have to do it all over! :bored: :heehee:

May your recovery be peaceful and blessed with the goodness of life and the promise of a painfree tomorrow.
 
Time to invest in some long skirts! I hope that the wrapping helps you out. It sounds like a very complicated wrap to put on.
 
Skorts? They usually have wider legs. How long until you start to see improvement? Does need to be done everyday? I had stretchy sleep pants that even went over my imbolizer and were gray so they didn't look like sleep pants. So sorry you have to do this, but hopefully it will help with your swelling.
 
Good morning! Thank you Marian and Karri. This morning when I got up, the knee was really comfortable. I took the wrap off before bed. I will wrap it again after my shower. I would say the swelling is definitely better. We will see how long it stays down. I am hopeful!
 
So glad to hear you're swelling is down. Hope it remains that way. Sounds like that wrapping procedure is alot of work, but if it helps it will be worth it. Great that you passed those kidney stones without any major problems. My husband has felt with those, no fun ! Longer skirts in the summertime look so pretty, hope you find some nice ones.

I also feel like my husband and I have gotten closer through this whole ordeal. Nice to find out how supportive they are when you are unable to do much for yourself, isn't it?
 
I have had NO luck keeping the bandages up today. Rewrapped twice already. Does anyone have any ideas? I really have a large thigh, so it is like trying to get the bandages to stay on a cone shape. The therapist said it is hard for anyone - not just heavy thighs. I called her today and we talked. She gave me some suggestions and also said if it is too aggravating, to just wrap at night to get the swelling out. I really want this to work.

Karri, I have maxi dresses and long skirts. I am used to covering up my legs! Hahaha!
 
My thoughts exactly. I have a couple of very lightweight skirts I used on my cruise a couple of years ago.
 
The only thing I did when I used to wrap my knee was to use a thigh sleeve and it helped hold the top of the bandage.
 
That's why I walked very little while weTing the imbolizer, it would slide down my leg. It didn't matter if I wore it under pants or over, if I walked much at all it just slid to my ankles. Get ready for bed early, wrap that sucker up to get as much as you can out of it.
 
So good that the "wraps" are working!! My legs are large too and I can't keep ace bandages, sleeves or TED hose up either, they are always falling down.
I too go out in maxi dresses because pants irritate the scar. Those dresses are so comfortable and forgiving!
Such a long ordeal you have been through and it is a blessing to have a supportive hubby!! Absolutely wonderful that you are finally approaching a full recovery.
So happy for you and Ralph.
My knees 'Thelma and Louise' are doing very well. Starting aqua therapy on Monday and beginning to get a glimpse of the future and it is looking bright.
Went to Hobby Lobby with my daughter yesterday and it was so much fun and pain free. I am frequently praising God and thanking Him as I go through my day and have those moments of awareness that the awful pain is gone. :wowspring:
 
Ralph is celebrating his 6 month anniversary today! It is hard to believe that six months have passed and then on the other hand, it has been a long six months.

The edema specialist/PT referred me to a medical supply place and an ex nurse that owns the place for an extra eye and her experienced input. Kathy (owner) brought in two braces and we tried them, but she did not like how they looked. She took some measurements and told me to wait (in the fitting room) and she would be back. Kathy came back with a compression stocking and I thought, "oh no, this will never work and I will not wear it". She told me to let her put it on and see how it feels. It is a mid thigh stocking that comes about 6 inches above the knee. AFter she put it on, she told me to walk around the store for a bit and see if it slides or how it feels. I walked, I climbed stairs, I sat --it stayed put AND WAS NOT SQUEEZING THE LIFE OUT of my thigh. It was actually very comfortable. I wore it the rest of the day, my knee did not swell, I could bend it, and the stocking did not come down. I LOVE IT! This just shows what getting fitted by an expert who knows her product can mean. All of us who suffered through TED hose that are standard issue could have had such a different experience. I am not sure why those of us that have continued swelling are not availed of the option of a support garment THAT FITS.

I can finally say that I don't think about Ralph at times now that the swelling is controlled. I still have some weakness in my quad that I can notice when going up stairs. My extension is not 0, but I am working on that. As far as ROM, I don't know numbers since I don't go to PT. It seems to be improving, although not at the same bend as my natural knee. I can do most everything I want - but haven't kneeled yet. That is on the list to try. It is great to not have the bone on bone pain that I had previous to surgery. I still get tired quicker than I used to, but I chalk that up to the inactivity of the past 6 months and recovery - also the diverticulitis.

The diverticulitis is debilitating at times. I ended Mother's Day with excruciating pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and chills. Today, I am nauseous and have a more tolerable pain. All my reading and conversations with the gastroenterologist point to the morphine as a culprit in this. When I look back over this journey, every complication (with the exception of the PT injury) has been caused by a drug. There are those of us that are extremely sensitive to medications and go unnoticed by the medical industry. We are not convinced that the terrible swelling and bruising reaction from the Xarelto is not causing my continued swelling now. I am confident it will keep getting better.

All in all, it has been a long road with some fairly deep potholes. Not exactly the yellow brick road, but a road paved with intentional and thoughtful steps forward. Am I glad I had it done? Yes, with the caveat that I would do some things differently if I ever had to do it again. To all that are contemplating surgery, read all you can, know your body, and don't be afraid to speak up for yourself. To those on the other side, I wish you all a continued good recovery with brighter days ahead. Ralph is now a part of me and doesn't seem so foreign. I think we will do just fine. Much love and luck to all.
 
:yay::yes!: Great to hear how you are doing. I hope that I get to that point with my knee. I'm sorry to hear that the diverticulitis is continuing to cause you problems. Hopefully it too will get better as time goes by. You certainly have hit more potholes along than way than most of us and yet you remained strong and forged ahead. I'm so very happy for you. The compression stocking might be something I should like into when I go back to work to keep he swelling under control.

I would also like to thank you for all the positive thoughts and prayers that you given me through my time with my problems and fears. I will always remember your kindness.
 
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