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TKR TKR 25/07/17 10am

I have a picture of my first day home from hospital the day after surgery, leg in the CPM, happy as a clam, giving the thumbs up like I was getting ready to go to the gym or do a triathlon . . . every time I think of it, it makes me laugh as I was clearly heavily medicated with no idea what was to come over the next two weeks.
 
Next Monday will be my 2 week anniversary and I'll say week 2 was much harder than week 1. From what I've read on here week 3 should start to get easier. Hang in there and don't get discouraged when you have a bad day.
 
Well today is day 3. Sat at home with glass of wine doing a half marathon tomorrow but going by what people say tomorrow the pain will slap me round the head. Doing my exercises and keeping my knee mobile.
 
Sat at home with a glass of wine feeling great corrie on so will speak later
 
Day 4 started at 0100. Feel fine but can't find a position in bed to sleep. Leg swollen quite bad but overall pain under control. Resting and doing exercises seem to dominate. Expecting the pain to kick in today as it is day 4. Will update you all this afternoon.
 
Hang in there. It will get better. The early days of recovery can be challenging with respect to sleeping, pain etc....ice , elevate, rest....then ice elevate more!! It'll payoff soon.
 
First week was the most difficult, I just couldn't get comfy in bed either... Then my PT gave me a trick to roll over on "the other side" using a pillow between my legs and that worked tremendously!
I seemed to get better (what'd I know?!) by week 3 and went back to work at week 4, this week. I recommend not going back too soon as the swelling and stiffness are unbearable! One feels fine at home resting and then it all hits ya, wonder woman I am not!
My knee feels great, no pain there! It's the rest of the leg & around my ankle...
I wish you the best, hope you find that sweet spot in bed so you can rest! Take your pain meds and ice and best to ya!
 
You really don't need to be doing exercises now if you're up and about. Your activities of daily living, (ADL), will be enough for your knee. Doing exercises just causes swelling, causing stiffness and increased pain. Just take it easy and read the articles left for you. Doing it the BS way will give you a much quicker and less painful recovery. All of us on here have had replacements and know by experience what works best for the recovery of a tkr.
 
Day 4 over and by far the worst day. Hoping day 5 will be better. On the positive side managed to sleep till 0320 and the swelling went down alot due to the rest I took. Need to stop being a wimp and understand it is going to hurt some days.
 
That's a good amount of sleep at one setting. Hang in there . . . each day is a step closer to . . . well, I'm not sure as I'm not there yet :scratch:. I think you are in the "dark" days of recovery, soon to head into the "dog" days of recovery, followed by . . . nirvana??? :shrug: We can only hope!!! Hope you get some sleep tonight. :alarm:
 
Hi...welcome to the recovery side.
Wine? Really?
I only dared to have wine once I was no longer taking the anti-inflammatory medicine. And then only a tiny glass, 4 sips or so.
Yes, me thinks the second week involved a lot more pain but mostly because the doc prescribed half of what I was getting at the clinic the first 6 days. Week 3 the lows/blues hit with a vengeance.
"What have I done?" ricocheted endlessly.
Once my visiting PT came and showed me a few gentle moves and said I was doing ok I felt better and of course the kind bonesmartie comments from others going through same...or ahead of me by a few weeks or months.
Wishing you a good and steady recovery.
 
Once you get through the first two weeks, the pain should start to come down. Just make sure you take your meds according to your prescription to keep a good level in your system at all times. As your pain decreases, you'll start to forget to take you pills on schedule. It does get better!
 
The only pain killers that I have is paracetamol every 4-6 hours. Anti inflammatory twice a day and blood thinners every 24 hours. Leg aching 80% of the day. Is this normal or do people have better pain control?
 
It may be early to only be on paracetamol. @Jamie or our nurse @Josephine may be able to help with medication advice. I took oxycodone for almost the first 4 weeks.
 
i took Oxycocet (combined oxycodone and tylenol), and Celebrex (anti-inflammatory) for the first 3 weeks. many patients take it for longer if they need it. i only stopped due to the nausea and constipation the Oxycocet caused. you are only 5 days post op ~ i think you need something stronger, especially since you are having so much pain. even with the narcotic i still had some pain and 14 weeks later have pain and stiffness after sitting too long, driving, up and down stairs and exercising. it is relieved when i elevate and ice. sorry you're having pain for 80% of the day.
 
First few weeks rest ice elevate I wish I had followed better, stopped pushing at week 3 and made a lot of progress. The mantras are the most helpful. Now at 6 months doing well. Its a process.


Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum
 
I did not have much issue managing pain, yet I was still on 5 mg Oxycodone 3-4 times a day for the first two weeks and then at night for about another week (along with Tylenol and Aleve). You might need a stronger med to get you through these first weeks.
 
Planning some tennis for tomorrow? Must keep busy after that marathon, lol!
 
It's much too early in your recovery for just Paracetamol. This is demonstrated by the fact that your leg is aching 80% of the time! That means your pain is not being properly managed. Contact your GP and ask for something stronger such as Tramadol. Actually the combination of Tramadol and Paracetamol can work quite well. There are stronger medications available as well if the Tramadol doesn't get things in line.

Are you icing your knee? You should be keeping ice on it most of the day and night. Just be sure you keep a kitchen towel between the ice source and your leg so you don't injure the skin. Ice is a great pain reliever and it will help with swelling as well.
 
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