Week 3 Post Op

[Cathie]

Hi All!!
I am excited to have discovered this forum. I was searching for information on recovery from a total knee replacement. I had mine on 10-12, stayed in the hospital 3 days and came home. My hubby is very helpful on the material end, but not on the emotional end..I am quite frustrated though because I am an active middle aged woman who normally does not sit much and that is all I have done these past 3 weeks, other than my exercises of course. I feel that I should be further along than I actually am. The in-home PT said I was doing good, but I cannot get this knee to the 90 degrees. I had the Minimally Invasive full knee replacement and I have maybe a 4-5 inch incision. Thank God for small miracles......my Mom had knee surgery 2 yrs ago and her scar is about 8-10".
I realize that everyone is different and heals at different rates. But is there any thing that would tell me where I am at in my recovery? The doctor originally told me, because this is my right knee that I could not drive for a month. Well, I am quickly approaching that month mark and was supposed to go back to work next Monday. Somehow I don't think either is going to happen. I am kinda down in the dumps. Does anyone else feel like this? Am I just rushing things, or do I have high expectations that are unreasonable?

I appreciate any opinions from those who know!!! Thank You!

 

[Josephine]

Erm - 3½ weeks? That is like no time at all! Despite the small size of the incisions and the brief hospital stay, this is still major surgery you've had done! I would say, yes you are rushing things! I would suggest that you doctor said that you shouldn't drive for at least a month, not that you could drive in a month. The same with being off work. Do not do either until you feel ready. Sometimes, yes, it does take some people longer to get going again but as long as you are doing your exercises, then all is well.

It's also natural to get the post-op blues. Time when you feel life's a bit of an anti-climax. You spent all that time getting hyped up ready for the surgery, planning, creating expectations and day dreaming how it would be when you had had it done and could get on with your life. Yes? And now you are in that boring, depressing "holding pattern", a kind of plateau where nothing seems to be progressing.

But it is.

Deep inside your knee, the tissues are healing, getting used to the presence of this foreign body. The bone is healing. The ligaments are adjusting to the realignment of the knee structure. They need time to do all that. Just rest, do your exercises and relax. And be prepared for that day in a few months time when you get up one morning and realize that the knee op wasn't the first thing you thought of when you woke!! Then you'll know it was all worth it.

 

[Cathie]

Thank You Josephine,

Sometimes we just need reassurance from someone who knows....I really appreciate your words. Thank you for sharing..