Become an Insider

Revision TKR Totally recovered at last!

I'm at lunch at work. Both knees are not happy with me right now. They both feel swollen and the inside of them feel lIke they are hot. I don't feel that when I touch that. My pain level is 5-6 and I just took some tylenol. I'm just so stiff and uncomfortable and I'm supposed to work until 9 tonight. That's 8+hours more!!! This is too much. I don't know what to do because I need the job to support myself. I've hit another down in the roller-coaster!
 
I think if I were in your shoes, I would tell my supervisor the truth. Your knee doesn't sound like it is eady to do 12-hour shifts. Even recovered knees or normal knees would have trouble with that, particularly at our age. Maybe you could do 4- or 6-hour shifts for a couple more weeks? Hopefully, your supervisor will understand. He/she should as you are all in the medical profession.

I am so sorry you are going through this, but I really think at 4 months all of us would be if we were in your shoes. I consider myself as doing exceptionally well, and I know 12 hours on my feet would be tough. It's actually tough just to sit at my desk for 8 hours a day. It's one thing to go for a walk or bike ride and an entirely different thing to run around, getting up and down, pivoting, all under the pressure demands of work.

Good luck. Remember that you and your knee come first.
 
Oh dear I hate to hear you are struggling.
You are in my thoughts. Let us know how you are doing tonight.
 
I'm home and inhaled a salad for dinner. I left for work at 8 am and got back home at 10pm. I have to be back at work at 8 am. I work until 4 tomorrow and I'm off on Wednesday. At least tomorrow morning I have some computer work to do so I'm not on my feet all day. I received an email from my OS about my ultrasound and it consisted of one word. 'Normal'. He didn't really tell me what to do from this point on and he didn't send me the message until 4pm. Needless to say the email I sent back to him contained more than one word!!

Since this is a new job and they held on to it for me since June I really can't tell my supervisor my schedule. I have to work the hours my trainer does. I do only have to work 32 hours a week she's a workaholic so it could be worse! I'm so wide awake now I have no idea when I'll be able to fall asleep!
 
Back in my salad days I worked in a hospital emergency room. I worked from 7a-3p on Fridays, and from 7a-11p Saturdays and Sundays. At the time I thought it was pretty sweet to have four days off. But Saturday night I would still have so much adrenaline going it was hard to fall asleep knowing I had to be back at work at 7a. You have my ardent admiration to do this while recovering. After a couple of weeks you will be in the swing. Just be super kind to yourself right now. And take your time doing the computer work.
 
@Slainte When I'm doing the computer training I can get up and get a drink or use the ladies room so I don't stiffen up. If I have to do a 12 again I'm bringing my ice pack and putting it in our freezer for lunchtime!
 
I only had about 5 hours total of sleep last night. I got up three times during that period. I dragged myself to work at 8 am. I was so tired I couldn't concentrate on anything. By 10 o'clock I was on my feet. I was so out of it. I forgot everything I learned yesterday for the first hour. Fortunately it came back to me after 2attempts to set up a dialysis machine on my own! I left work at 430. I ordered food from Olive Garden which was on my way home. They brought it right out to my car for me. After getting my dogs out for a while I had some dinner. I'm off tomorrow so I can recharge a bit. The email I sent my OS yesterday went unanswered. I'm beginning to not like him very much. I only used him because I was seeing another doctor in the practice who I like very much. The surgeon is the only one that does knee and hip replacements in the local hospital. If I don't hear anything I'll call the surgeon's nurse for some of my questions.
 
Sounds like a rough day, I am so sorry. Thank goodness you are off today. Hope nothing but rest is on your agenda for the day.
Olive Garden sounds good....hmmmm...think I am going to have to send the hubby out for Italian tonight!!
Sleep well :sleeep:​
 
I'm glad you're taking tomorrow off -- FWIW, I've always had much better luck communicating with my OS' Physician's Assistant and Nurse than the OS He or she is often in the Operating Room for long, long hours may not see your messages until much later. There's a stereotype about surgeons, I don't know how true it is, that they went into surgery because they'd rather deal with bodies than people. Perhaps you could try calling his staff tomorrow. Hope you get the answers you're looking for.
 
I ate my dinner last night and immediately fell asleep. One of my daughters called me at 830 pm and I talked to her for a couple of minutes and then fell asleep again until 11 pm when I woke up. I didn't fall asleep agin until 3 am but I slept until 11 am today!! That's been the most sleep I've had since my surgery. I guess I was so tired it caught up to me. I'm going to go get some new sneakers for work. I'm going to try a running store as I see others have mentioned that. I still haven't gotten answers back from the OS but I called and left a message for his nurse and hopefully she'll get back to me today. I work tomorrow 8 to 4 which isn't too bad and then Friday only 10 to 4 at another location with my trainer. Some of the same people I've already worked with work there also and it's just up the road from where I am right now.
 
I just came back from my 50+ mile round trip to my nearest running store (I really do miss the city sometimes). It was well worth the trip. I wore a pair of my old sneakers. I explained how my leg as bent out to the side before the surgery. She told me my other leg is also!! She did a careful examination of my old sneakers and showed me that the sneakers I had were a poor choice even when they were new. She brought out some sneakers for me to try on that would keep my foot hitting evenly to the ground. I wanted two pairs of sneakers because I wanted one pair for work and one for everyday (being a tomboy even at my age I have very few pairs of shoes!). I was instructed in proper stride too. I'm really glad I went.

As far as the OS office goes I am really getting annoyed. I didn't get my questions answered even by his nurse. I'm tempted to go over there after work tomorrow to talk to someone about it. Maybe I should talk to the original doctor in the group I used to go to because he is one of the original founding members. Thinking back about my whole experience I'm not very happy from pain medications (or lack there of), nausea, the beginnings of an ulcer from aspirin I was taking( the coated ones) to nasty phone calls from his nurse to me and my home therapist. I feel stupid because I'm a nurse myself and didn't stand up for myself!
 
I swear by new shoes, well I've been in sneakers for the last year. replacoing them once I got steady on The Knee made a big difference in my ability to walk correctly.
 
good luck, be good to yourself
 
I'm done with work. The new sneakers seem to actually be working. I'm glad I got them. I'm not sure what to do about the areas behind my knee and on the sides of my calves that still hurt. Does anyone know if massage would work? Could PT help in some way?
 
I would ice, elevate, and medicate now. As for the underlying cause, perhaps you could ask your PT. My issues can be helped through PT and deep tissue massage, but my OS and PT diagnosed my issues.
 
@Wantobebiking I got no answers from OS other than my knee structure is good and no DVTs ( both confirmed with testing ). I stopped PT 4 weeks ago but recently when I asked his nurse about PT all I got back was a question whether I wanted to go back. I'm totally frustrated.
 
@newlybionic
Yes, massage could help, but don't go trying to do more exercise.

I think the underlying cause for all your discomfort is that you are asking your knee to work exacting hours, when it just isn't ready for it yet. Economic necessity is a pain, isn't it? :console2:

I know it seems an eternity, but it is only 4 months since your surgery and recovery does take a full year. That's just 4 months out of 12, which equates to only one third of the full recovery time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 755 (members: 0, guests: 755)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom