TKR Two New Knees!

[Want2hike]

Yeah, but I can't believe it. The neural pathways for pain are the same ones for arthritis pain and post-op pain.

Agree, but I'm thinking he may have been oversimplifying. I know that when my body has pain from multiple areas, I seem to only focus on one source (a bad headache pain overshadows arthritic knee pain) at any given time. Maybe he was trying to say something similar: the first surgery SEEMED less painful because the arthritis pain overshadowed the surgery pain, so surgery pain was basically ignored. On the second knee, there was less/no arthritis pain, so the surgery pain was the primary pain source/focus, making it seem worse by comparison.

 

[Red's Mom]

Well today marks 8 weeks for Machu and 4 weeks for Picchu. I feel like slowly I'm becoming me again. Machu is great 130-135 regularly and feeling almost normal. Picchu is past 90 but only a little and still stiff often. My walking is MUCH better though and starting to look more "normal". I walk inside without assistive devices and outside with a cane. It feels like I am getting ever so slightly more energy and stamina. I start outpatient PT tomorrow. I feel blessed that the journey has been without complications and that I am one of the few who has had minimal sleep disturbance. I look forwarded to the day that I forget I have two new knees and just get on with life!

 

[KarriB]

I hope OT PT goes well. You know the drill.

 

[mlp1960]

Sounds like things are going really well.


Laura
LTKR 21 November 2016

 

[Red's Mom]

"Minimal sleep disturbance". Tonight is one of those nights. I've been awake since 1:30 with knee pain. Even though I was very firm with the outpatient PT and I didn't think I was overdoing it my infant knee is really angry and the baby knee has cried out a couple of times. I feel like I've backslid. I am going to cancel the remaining three sessions and just live my life. I'm not sure if I've over did my 4 week activity progression too. I took an extra dose of Tramadol at 2:15am and put fresh ice in my machines. Found a left over taco in the fridge and ate that out of sheer frustration! In general things are going well. A girlfriend is coming over Wednesday to help me organize for our departure. I wish there were two of me so I could do the things in the house as I like too. My dust bunnies will be dust wolves soon! Maybe I'll just have a service come in and do a spring cleaning before we return? It is so hard not to be yourself. Not to be fully independent. Not to be active. This too shall pass. Correct??


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[Red's Mom]

Sounds like things are going really well.


Laura
LTKR 21 November 2016

Yes until outpatient PT the other day [emoji37]. How are you doing?


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[Red's Mom]

I hope OT PT goes well. You know the drill.

Even knowing the drill doesn't work sometimes :(


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[Spex10]

Just catching up on this thread. I was interested to hear that people seemed to have trouble concentrating on reading. I could read easily but just couldn't write any more. This is a problem as I'm an author with another book due out next year and with nagging from magazine fiction editor for more and more stories. People say 'well at least you can get back to your writing' but I just can't seem to. It would help if I could sit at my desk but I can't plant both feet down due to lack of bend. Of all the problems I thought I'd face this isn't one of them! Final proofs just back for me to review. Maybe I'll manage next week.

 

[mwetzel394]

"Minimal sleep disturbance". Tonight is one of those nights. I've been awake since 1:30 with knee pain. Even though I was very firm with the outpatient PT and I didn't think I was overdoing it my infant knee is really angry and the baby knee has cried out a couple of times. I feel like I've backslid. I am going to cancel the remaining three sessions and just live my life. I'm not sure if I've over did my 4 week activity progression too. I took an extra dose of Tramadol at 2:15am and put fresh ice in my machines. Found a left over taco in the fridge and ate that out of sheer frustration! In general things are going well. A girlfriend is coming over Wednesday to help me organize for our departure. I wish there were two of me so I could do the things in the house as I like too. My dust bunnies will be dust wolves soon! Maybe I'll just have a service come in and do a spring cleaning before we return? It is so hard not to be yourself. Not to be fully independent. Not to be active. This too shall pass. Correct??


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Yes me too, redsmom, PT was a bit too much, been up and down since 230 -3 am, icing all nite, I too will be asking my pt to tone it down, or i will stop it.
Have leg up on elevation block, one final ice, going to work for a few hours today, wife takes me to train station so not too bad.
When are you leaving for your trip and where?
Feel better , i plan to catch some zzs on train to Boston!



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[mbrown]

It was months before I could read and I loaded up my kindle before surgery. In rehab I tried every genre possible, so couldn't read. As a teacher and lifelong reader it was very hard for me. My family got me an Appletv so I could watch Netflix because all I could do was watch tv and nap in the middle of whatever was on.

Why is this? I'm only on day 4 but was also planning to read and I've read one chapter! I was even watching bowl games last night and my wife said "you need to be watching Netflix because this isn't going to pass the time well enough for you."

Btw @RedsMom, you're posts are very encouraging.

 

[mbrown]

Well, I've never heard that one before! I hope he was joking.

It is possible, though, that your second knee needed more work during the surgery, which would have meant more handling of the tissues and possibly a slightly longer operation. And sometimes, there just is no obvious reason.

It's not unusual for one knee to have a very different recovery from the other, even though they both belong to you. That's why we advise people not to compare knees.

I think this makes sense. I had TKR on left and Arthroscopic Meniscectomy on the right on he sane day, which I know is nothing compared to two TKR, but it is two surgeries on the same day. The first couple of days, as there was some pain in the non TKR knee, the pain was much less on the TKR knee. The last 2 days, as practically all of the pain has subsided on the scopes knee, the pain has increased significantly on the TKR knee.

 

[mwetzel394]

Why is this? I'm only on day 4 but was also planning to read and I've read one chapter! I was even watching bowl games last night and my wife said "you need to be watching Netflix because this isn't going to pass the time well enough for you."

Btw @RedsMom, you're posts are very encouraging.

I did not read much either, was trying to finish a serious Michener
Book and it was difficult, I did a lot of perusing of both Netflix and Amazon, prime!



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[jaschembra]

@Red's Mom Sorry that you had a difficult night last night. You've been doing really well and will take care of moving that knee whether you have PT or not. Did you have the same person as last time? Hoping you get plenty of nap time today.

 

[KarriB]

@Red's Mom everyone experiences ups and downs during this recovery. Take it easy a few days and I'm sure you'll be ok. When is your trip?

@mbrown I believe it's the combination of anesthesia and meds that made it hard to concentrate, throw the energy drain in there and it's a perfect storm. Even after my infection surgery when I wasn't taking pain meds I couldn't read and I tried several different genres. My mind always wandered, but there are people who have had no problem reading. ACDCJen has read through both her TKRs, I am amazed and jealous by this feat.

 

[mlp1960]

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that you've had a bad night, although finding a taco at 2am is a stroke of luck.

Thanks for asking about how I'm doing.

I posted my progress over in my recovery thread. Don't want to hijack yours.

Hang in there-you've got this.


Laura
LTKR 21 November 2016

 

[Celle]

It's very common to have "brain fog" after this surgery. I know that it was at least a month before i could concentrate long enough to read a book. Until then, it was just magazines and mindless TV.

Like KarriB, I think it's a combination of surgery trauma and drugs.

 

[RMasano]

Redsmom, You've been doing so good!!! You've been through a lot in such a short amount of time. Just small setback. Time for you to look forward to some relaxation!!!

 

[Red's Mom]

I went out for a massage and breakfast with a lifelong friend today. Forcing myself to stay awake until at least 8:30 then hopefully will have a better night. Since getting home I've just been in bed, legs up under ice! Someone a couple of days ago suggested a heated fleece blanket to ward off the cold from the ice. THANK YOU! I dug out my Moms blankie and it has been a perfect solution!

 

[KarriB]

Yep, a heated throw/blanket is almost a necessity when rehabbing through the winter. What will you do about ice in Hawaii? Will the airlines let you bring gel packs on the plane?

 

[Red's Mom]

The airlines will not allow gel packs in excess of 3oz which we know is useless. I will be traveling with my compression cuffs in their box for use on the plane and will take 650mg ECA BID the day before, day of and day following my flight. We fly in three legs. Chicago-Portland, Portland-San Jose and lastly San Jose-Kona. I scheduled it like that so there would be no segment greater than 4 hours. Since we are gone for so long And I hope to increase my activity while in Hawaii, I am packing up the Polar cubes and bringing them with! I will have zip lock bags and elastic wraps with me and I hope I can get a Resturant on the other side of security to fill them with ice. If not the Tramadol will be in my purse I've been trying to keep my legs down a bit more every day. I don't think my baby knee will mind the sitting for 4 hours but the infant, well she will be crying and I'll have to cope any way I can. Do you have any other suggestions to make the travel day safe and comfortable. I'm dreading it but the sunshine and beautiful weather for 5 weeks is worth 12 hours of drama!