Bilateral TKR Wheels Up!!!!

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Nothing like being home!! Released from rehab this morning. My pain is under control and I'm getting around well with my walker. I'm really grateful for the week in rehab to prepare me to (for the most part) take care of myself at home--even though I have terrific husband.
That is a great post!!! I felt very much the same, and I can understand how great you feel!!

Welcome Home!!!
 
Isn't it a great feeling---positive and uplifting---when you get into your home? It is one of the first of many little victories that are all part of your recovery!
 
Yes, it's a GREAT feeling. Particularly when I think of the pain I was in just a week ago! Tonight I put a few dishes in the dishwasher, picked up some paper that one of the dogs tore up, and made a quick trip to the pet store with my husband to pick up a pet gate. Boring and mundane...yes. But so glad to be home and starting to do things that will eventually get me back to a normal life!!
 
I'm glad you're home. I hope you have a quiet night and a speedy recovery.
 
I've been home from hospital/rehab for two days and here's a few observations:

1) All I want to do is sleep--3 naps per day (plus I'm sleeping well at night).

2) Still not much of an appetite.

3) I haven't done any of the exercises that rehab sent me home with. (I sure don't want to go backwards, but just can't seem to find the time/energy to do them.)

4) My ROM is good, but sitting in just a regular chair (where I can't prop my feet up) isn't fun at all.

5) I can shower by myself, but hubby stays nearby.

6) I have no bruising at all. None. I also have virtually no swelling.

7) Pain is well controlled.

8) Sometimes I think I have the attention span of a gnat!!


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Tonight I put a few dishes in the dishwasher, picked up some paper that one of the dogs tore up, and made a quick trip to the pet store with my husband to pick up a pet gate.
I'm glad you're feeling so good, but do watch you don't do too much. Right now, your job is to rest, ice and elevate (and take your pain meds on time). It's a bit too soon for going out on shopping trips, no matter how brief they are.
 
I could have written your last post! :thumb: I've been thinking about you, wondering how you're doing now. That gnat attention span is annoying. My choices in tv programs has changed, I can't follow some of my usual favorites. But no worries, there is plenty of dumb tv to keep me entertained.

Take care.
 
I am so happy you are doing well! I hope the day is a filled with gnat inspired observations....:heehee:
 
I'm glad you are recovering so well. The sleep is what your body needs now. There will be plenty of time once your 100% again.
 
Two weeks and three days post BTKR and certainly getting better everyday.

Working on my ROM exercises, but never to the point of pain.

Stamina still isn't very good. It doesn't take much at all to wipe me out and/or make me pay dearly later that day or the next.

Not using either a walker or a cane in the house, but will certainly use one if I go out.

Sleeping great and pain is under control but still using 25 mg Fentanol patches for another week and a 10 mg Oxycodone pill every 4 to 6 hours.


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WestTexasGal, your schedule, heavy on the naps with the attention span of a gnat, sounds entirely normal. Gentle movement as you get up to use the bathroom and eat a light meal (or snack) should be enough for now. Keep up the good work.
 
I spent a week at a rehab hospital and had 3 hours of PT each day. I came home from rehab last Friday and had my first out-patient PT on Wed. I didn't have it yesterday due to the holiday, but will start with 3x per week on Monday.


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On Wednesday I'll be three weeks out from my BTKR and all continues to go well. I feel a bit guilty about complaining, but I know that my fellow BSrs will understand.

I guess today it really hit me that recovery will be a LONG process. I know everyone says that, but maybe I just didn't process it until today.

I'm trying to figure out what's wrong, and here's what I came up with:

--My sweet sis, who has been staying with me has to go home soon. Thank goodness my awesome husband is a great nurse as well.

--I work out of my home generally, but I can't even begin to think when I'll be able to actually do any work as my brain is still mush. I can't even concentrate long enough to pay bills online.

--I'm spending a lot of time each day on my exercises--never to the point of pain, though. My OS wants me in outpatient PT 3x per week. I've been once and frankly I am dreading going back. I know to not let them hurt me, but I'm not sure how well that's going to work. At one point I told the PT that and she said she'd give me a pass since it was my first time.

--When I went to my OS to get my staples out last week (13 days after surgery), the PA gave me a VERY hard time because my ROM wasn't very good (I had definitely gone backwards from when I was released from rehab a few days earlier.) He told me that the PTs would have to hurt me otherwise I was looking at an MUA. I told him that wasn't an option. I'm guessing he probably uses that as a scare tactic for everyone.

You know...writing this has been therapeutic. I think the malaise I'm in goes back to the MUA threat from the PA combined with my concerns about the PT saying that she was giving me a one day pass.

Thanks for listening!!!!!




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I think the beauty of this forum is the ability to share concerns in a nonjudgmental arena with people that "get it". You sometimes feel badly complaining or asking your loved ones over and over for something, but here, everyone understands when you just get weary, scared, confused, or just want to complan about the Poop Fairy. I wish you a beautiful day.
 
@WestTexasGal
I'm sorry to hear that your PT and the surgeon's PA both said things that have you worried.
Your new knees aren't even 3 weeks old yet and already they're hassling you about ROM. That's so wrong!

Of course you lost a bit of ROM when you came home - probably the result of being a bit more active. Don't worry. It will come back. This recovery is never a linear progression. You'll find you take two steps forward and one step back all the time. And there will be times when you plateau and seem to make no progress at all for a while.

However, I do want to talk to you about the amount of exercising you're doing, and being encouraged to do.
You don't have to do lots of exercise in order to rehab your knee. Just concentrate on doing lots of rest, elevate, and ice because it's the swelling that's stopping your knees from bending. The ROM is there inside already, just waiting to appear, as long as you don't do anything to stop it.

Can I suggest you stop spending a lot of time exercising each day and cut it right back? Your knees are wounded, not lazy, and they need time and plenty of rest in order to heal. Just walk around the house a bit and do a few
Heel slides and how to do them . That's really all you need to do at this early stage.

Also, in spite of what your surgeon says, PT three times a week is too much. Twice is plenty - and don't do any other exercise on those days. You see, you can't make your knees heal or bend faster by exercising, but you can slow down their recovery by doing too much.

I've had three knee replacements now. I had minimal PT for the first two and none at all for the last one. My knees recovered just fine. i can straighten them fully and I have a bend of over 125 degrees in both knees. I can do anything I want to with them. My surgeon has a policy whereby he forbids any PT for a month after surgery, because he says that is healing time. All his patients do well.

I'd like you to read these two articles:
Life in the slow lane
TKR: work “smarter” and not “harder”

Now, just in case your PT or the PA threaten you with MUA, remember that you don't need to rush to get ROM, because it can continue to improve for a year, or even longer, after a TKR. There's no such thing as a window of opportunity, within which you have to gain ROM, or all is lost.
It's never too late to get more ROM!
It's worth the wait for ROM
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR

Finally, remember that these are your knees and only you can say what will happen to them. If you ask a PT to stop doing something, she/he has to stop. You don't have to allow them to hurt you or do anything that doesn't feel right. PTs work for you, not the other way round. You don't have to please them. They have to please you.
So, set your limits from the start. tell them "I will not allow you to hurt me or to do anything that forces my knee."

Best wishes!
 
Celle....Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I've really taken it to heart.

Monday evening on the way home from PT, my left knee began to scream. By the time my husband got me home I was in tears. (I had been thinking that PT hadn't been as rough as the prior session, but I guess it was.)

I decided that this was ridiculous and so I didn't do any home exercises on Tuesday. It was a good thing, because by mid-day yesterday my entire left leg was swollen--literally from my ankle to my hip. I called and cancelled this afternoon's PT session and told them it was due to excessive swelling. (I literally had NO swelling at all until I started outpatient PT and all of the in home exercises.)

I've scheduled a massage for tomorrow and I may go for my scheduled PT session on Friday. I also may try to ride my stationary recumbent bike just a bit, but other than that it's only going to be ice, elevation, and rest.


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