TKR When will the swelling end?

[Celle]

The swelling can go on for quite a long while. It goes away gradually, but you will find that it returns if you do too much for your knee.

It was about 6 months before my knee stopped swelling every time I did a bit too much for it.

 

[smcsmc727]

I'm coming up on 8 weeks from TKR and I finally get it now, the swelling and pain is going to be with me for a LONG LONG time. That's fine. The upside is that my normal crappy sleep is going to seem "deluxe" when I finally get to the point where I'm no longer struggling to find a comfortable position in bed at night. Yes, others have said it, "Nights are the worse." I think I'm averaging about 2-3 hours and that's in installments.

On the plus side, I was able to back off my hydrocodone to 1/2 pill, but still need them every 4 hours. It seems he alarm goes off at night always right after I finally drift into a deep sleep.

Yesterday I re-joined my shuffleboard club and played 3 full games. I was stiff, my knee all puffed up, but the nice thing about shuffleboard is you can play if you can stand up. We play from both ends of the court so after each round I was able to sit while the other people played from the other end of the court.

I had a friend in the club pick me up and drive me there and back and that's really the only way I was able to enjoy the 3 hours of shuffleboard. By the time we finished I was exhausted but it was a happy exhaustion. When I got home I elevated and iced and napped a little.

 

[crstysue]

Ok, @smcsmc727, love the levity, and even the truth telling about this whole knee replacement thing. Also get the sleep issues. I can tell you that it gets better, but I still sleep in blocks of time rather than a whole night. Just when I got to where I can sleep in bed with my husband again, I had another TKR and am back to sleeping in the LR recliner and waking myself up every three hours to take meds...or to go to the bathroom, which seems very frequent. I wonder if the ice machine running throughout the night gives me that extra sense of "having to go". Well, I guess I'll endure it for the benefit of pain control.

Way to go getting back to the fun things of life, like shuffleboard. Right now my "fun things in life" consist of getting up out of my chair, walking to the freezer, pulling out a decorated frozen sugar cookie made by the neighbor, watching it thaw, and then popping that baby into my mouth. Then I try to go back to sleep and dream about getting active again so I can burn off these extra pounds I just put on pleasuring myself with a sugar cookie. Here's to another day watching the ceiling fan go round and round!

 

[Kathi 777]

It's not that long! I am doing well... hardly any swelling at 11 weeks! Depends on you... the icing helps... also moving... get walking... it's kept me happy, no swelling.. and basically pain free!


Sent from my iPad

 

[skigirl]

Of course it is frustrating to have a blimp in the road. I did find a lymphatic massage specialist when I was at your stage and equally frustrated. My PT recommended her. She was very nice and quite informative, showed me how to "open up my lymph channels" for instance. Frankly, I thought it was all a bit hokey---but the massage was great and my insurance did pay for it. She gave me this silly looking wrap to wear at night. I felt like an idiot strapping it on my leg, but I decided that I would try anything. I was totally flummoxed the next day---the swelling had gone down visibly. I simply could not believe it. I wore the wrap at night for about 3 weeks and by the 12 week, the swelling was completely gone from my leg.

 

[smcsmc727]

Thanks for all of the great feedback as well as sharing your situations. We're all more or less in the same boat. That being said I do have a friend who had his surgery one week before me and he says he is no longer swelling and off pain pills. I know everyone is different, so I try not to compare myself with him, yet i find myself wanting to put out a contract on him. How dare he not suffer as much as I am?

Here's the weird part. A week or so ago I had one magical night where all of the stars aligned perfectly, which is to say enough of the swelling went down that I was able to sleep 4-5 hours, instead of 2-3. When I got out of bed in the morning I didn't have the usual first few step pain in my knee and Achilles tendon that I have had following surgery. The Achilles tendon thing is from an injury I suffered in my 30's and I find now just in the morning it's tight and sore until I walk around a bit.

Anywho, I thought, "Hey I've turned the corner on this and things are just going to get better and better." But my knee responded and said to me, "Not so fast shorty, this was just a tease." Yup - it immediately filled up again like a water balloon and the pain returned. This is how it's been since then.

I accept it. Now I figure it will be weeks, maybe months before I experience that kind of relief again. As my wife often says, "Welcome to the world of lowered expectations."

Incidentally, I have experimented with giving my knee a couple of days rest, absolutely no exercises, and varying the amount of exercise. Didn't make a bit of difference. That's why I just decided since I feel fairly stable walking around now without a cane or walker, that I would slowly start doing normal chores inside and outside the house. Yesterday I mowed the front lawn. I have a self-propelled mower so it was basically just walking, right?

What I have found is that going into my 8th week I don't have the stamina I had before my surgery, so instead of doing 3-4 chores one after another, I only do one, then maybe take a nap before doing another. Sometimes I just stop after the one chore.

 

[Kathi 777]

That is quite true.... stamina is lowered post surgery ! But you will start feeling better and better and the more I move the better I sleep at 3 months post. Hoping you find your happy spot! Sleep is a must for me to function. Swelling is normal for some and I get minor pouch above both incisions but nothing huge. I must be blessed!


Sent from my iPad

 

[jaschembra]

...and we all heal at a different pace. I still have a lot of swelling; however it goes down at night and when I ice/elevate. However, as soon as I'm walking, sitting, etc. it comes back. Regarding cutting the grass - again, we all heal at our own pace, but if you're still dealing with a lot of swelling, that was probably a bit too much. I even have to vacuum my main floor in a couple of pieces because doing it all at one time puts a lot of stress on my knee and I'm at 12 weeks.

Have you reached the point of putting a pillow between your legs (lengthwise) to help you sleep on your side? That's how I have been able to be very comfortable at night. My blessing is sleep. Hopefully yours will be coming soon. It definitely gets better as the weeks progress and so does the stamina.

 

[KarriB]

If you are adding activity be sure to balance it with elevation. By balance, I mean more elevation than activity. If you mow the lawn for an hour, elevate for two.

 

[newlybionic]

Make sure you are elevating correctly and for four a more times a day for at least an hour. I went to bed with ice wraps on my knee.

 

[skigirl]

My doc told me at 8 weeks that I should have one hour down with knee up for every two hours I was up and about.

 

[DebM]

I found myself in the same boat as you at 9/10 weeks. I felt not much difference from activity or resting. I don't have a lot of obvious swelling but I feel tightness in my knees which I know is internal swelling. I roughly follow a similar mantra to @skigirl docc two hours down one hour up and it works for me too.

 

[smcsmc727]

Again, great feedback on the exercise issue, and thanks for the compliments on what humor I've injected in some of my posts.

Here's the 8 week update - Since my last post I was able to get off the hydrocodone, which in turn enabled me to stop taking nightly doses of Milk of Magnesia. For one day I used Tylenol Extra Strength, starting with two 500 mg tablets every 6 hours. After a day of that I stopped taking them because I wanted to see where I was at with the pain. On that front I'm in good shape. On a 10 point scale I'd say my pain now is 1-2 without pain meds, and that disappears with a little icing. My knee seems a little more sensitive to touch now that I'm off pain meds, and that contributes to not sleeping well because in bed I toss and turn a lot - I'm a spinner, I'm a grinner, I'm a lover, I'm a sinner.

I am somewhere in the middle in terms of what the prevailing advice here has been, namely, take it easy, give your body a chance to heal, and what my doctor has directed me to do. My natural inclination is to push myself. But, I've tried to pull back. I only go to the gym a couple times a week and when I do, I only do one exercise and not to any extreme. I may bike a little, or walk a little and that's it. Some days a household chore will take the place of formal exercise.

Pluses and Minuses - 2 months of little sleep wears on you. I've always slept poorly, but once I retired I supplemented it with afternoon naps. Now, I can't seem to nap much. Every few days sheer exhaustion from lack of sleep takes over and I konk out - sadly it's mostly while watching TV in the evening with my wife. Her current mantra is, "Stu, are you sleeping?" Sometimes I am wide away with my eyes open but if I've been quiet for any length of time, she does that sleep check.

On the plus side is my weight loss. This morning I was awake at 1:40 AM and felt I needed to put an ice pack on my knee for a while. I got up and went into the kitchen and while I was there I moseyed into the living room, where I have temporarily put our scale (no room in our small bathrooms).

I got on it and to my delight saw that I was down to 169.4 lbs. That's the first time in several decades that I've been in the 160's. Before the surgery I had been up to 198 lbs. My wife is trying to lose weight as well, but without the benefit of a diminished appetite (thank you Hydrocodone), it's harder for her. She's funny. She thinks once I lose the gut, that hundreds of women will suddenly find me attractive and start chasing me.

Okay, reality check: I'm short, I started out 5'5", but there has been "shrinkage." I'm also bald. I've tried to reassure her that a) no one but her thinks I'm this fantastic looking guy, and b) I'm too old to break in anyone else, and c) I love her and have no desire to look for wife #4 (yep I did the marriage trifecta - the last one took - we've been together over 18 years).

The negatives right now: 1) Lack of sleep - "nights are the worse - I hate them" b) stiffness and pain - everything brings on swelling 3) It just seems like I'm stalling out at the same stage. I keep waiting for some change. One magical night two weeks ago my knee went down a little and I slept an hour or two more. But then the beautiful carriage turned back into a pumpkin and my knee blimped up again and with it crappy sleep returned. (I have nick-named my knee, The Hindenburg.) c) Probably due to lack of sleep, the emotional wear and tear as a result of this prolonged "torture" has left me semi-vulnerable emotionally. I find I am oversharing on Facebook, and have become the TMI king. Also, silly things like sentimental movies, bring me to near tears quicker than ever before. You stay away from me with that Titanic DVD! Back! Back!

I have a great doctor who listens to what I share with him. I am seeing him on Monday and I kept a log of all of my activity since the surgery, as well as a list of questions to ask him. ("Do you think these pants make me look fat?") In the meantime, stayed tuned.

 

[smcsmc727]

I can't remember if I posted this already, but it's a parody I wrote a week or two after my surgery of the song "City of Stars" from the movie La La Land.

Leg Full of Scars (City of Stars - La La Land Parody)

Legs full of scars,
Are you hurting just for me?
Legs full of scars,
There’s so much that I can’t see

Who knows?
I felt it from the first painful step
I shared with you.

That now our dreams
Will finally come true.

Legs full of scars
Just one thing everybody wants
Walk into a bar
And across a crowded restaurant

It’s relief
Yes all we’re looking for is relief
From the pain in our knees

A step
A hop
A touch
A dance

Look in somebody’s eyes
To light up the skies
To open the world
And keep from reeling

A voice that says
Pain’s not near
And you’ll be all right.

I don’t care if I know
Just where I’ll go
Cause all I need’s
This pain free feeling

Leave my walker behind
Don’t think I want it to stay

Legs full of scars
Are you hurting just for me?

Legs full of scars
Soon to be pain free.

 

[crstysue]

What a talented bunch of Bone Smarties we have...comedians, song writers, etc. I get my fresh batch of motivation and giggles just by checking in to these threads. Knowing people are going through just what you are going through at the same moment....just helps me keep on Keepin' on!

 

[Kathi 777]

You will be turning the corner soon Stu! I am a tosser and turner in bed and my complaint to the ortho was for goodness sake why did he turn me into sponge Kathi square knees? They just don't toss and turn in the bed like they used to! I still find myself lacking sleep and though I lucked out not being a person who swells much, I still feel like I could sleep 12 hours at a stretch some nights but if lucky get 5 hours piece meal. Ahh life goes on an got to keep moving.


Sent from my iPad using broken link removed: https://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=75543

 

[Rainbow27]

Loved reading your humorous story of your recovery! And yes I never took anything stronger than a tylonol in my lifetime and first 4 weeks I took oxycodene and now at 7 weeks after TKR I now take Tramacet 3 to 4 times 1 pill a day for pain. Good Luck and hoping we are all dancing soon!

 

[smcsmc727]

Captain's Log: Star date 4/15/17

Saw "Bones" this week. Knee still swelling at the drop of a hat. Too many hats being dropped.

Asked Doc "Can't you wave one of your little devices over my knee and fix this darn thing."

"Damn it Jim, I'm just an old country doctor, not a miracle worker!"

Why does he keep calling me Jim? My name is Stu.

So yes, I did see my doctor this week. He says I'm doing fine, despite the "Sharpei" look the swelling creates with my knee.

Now that I'm off pain meds any new physical activity brings on a new pain. I guess the hydrocodon and Tylenol masked it before.

I'm still elevating - yesterday I floated 6 inches above my bed. Or was I just having an out of body experience brought on by a severe case of cabin fever?

On The Plus Side: I've started to sleep a tiny bit better. Like golf I suppose post TKR sleep is a game of inches. The other night I set a new personal best of 3 solid hours. Naps are starting to come back in fashion too.

Last but not least I'm down to 166 pounds. Now where are all those women my wife said were going to beat a path to my door once I was no longer "El Tubbo?"

More next week.

 

[Kayte]

To all those women who will be chasing you down, just keep repeating, "resistance is futile."



I've read your complete thread and glad to note you are improving. (And your knee is getting better too.)

 

[smcsmc727]

Thank you Kayte. It's such a sloooow process.