Become an Insider

Will new knees be good enough?

Status
Not open for further replies.
BigGene said:
We discussed my prior problem with severe total body itching imediately after surgery, the possible causing agent and what to do differently next time. .
Click to expand...

My problem with prior surgeries, a hysterectomy and a Nissen Fundiplication, was the morphine drip. I did not realize the morphine was responsible the first time till I mentioned it to my surgeon during my check up. The itching was unbearable:cry4:. When I had my second surgery I mentioned the itching and they gave me benadryl while I had the morphine drip and my pain was managed and no itching:yes 4:
 
Benedryl gave me no relief, they did give me a perscriptioon med that helped.
 
I have this problem too at times with codiene type drugs. There were a few days this time in the hospital where I could not stop the itching. Finally I gave up on the hydrocodiene. Tramadol is now what I use when the pain is in a bad way. I know what you mean about the itching being beyond benedryl. Benedryl helps me if I get out in the grasses we have here but that is all.
 
Many years ago I had a bout with very severe itching on my arms and neck and various places. I would scratch them thru the skin to the flesh with no relief. A doc thought it might be some type of allergy and prescribed a med called Atarax. It worked fantastic. I carried it everywhen in case the itching returned. It did a few times and the Atarax always worked to eliminate it immediate and completely. Since the itching only occured on occasion and unexpectedly, the doc said it was just easier to give me the meds than try to find out what might be causing the itching. Something to keep in mind or maybe inquire about with your doc, if the meds your using don't work.
 
Atarax is the med they gave me that finally eased the problem in the hospital. I used it at home for a couple weeks as well.
 
It's hard to believe that in a little over 8 weeks I begin the process again with my left knee but I see no point in delay . It seems like I just started to feel "normal" again and it starts all over again.

I know, I know I want a future without arthritis pain and I see no point in delay. My left knee has been behaving lately but today as I was coming down the stairs without support from the handrail, the left knee started talking to me. I enjoy going up and down stairs without use of the handrail for the first time in many years.

I try to look foward to the time after LTKR recovery turns the corner but it remains a challenge to realize that I need to go through the pain, sleeplessness, mental fog of meds and boredom of the early days and weeks of recovery.

I look back and think I should have pushed to do both at once. Oh well, that's not an option anymore.

I turn 64 in two weeks, hard to believe. I wonder where it all went, I've got things I want to do and I need two good pain free knees but I expect that I will be 65 before I will be pain free and able to move on.

Alright enough of this. Just needed to vent. It's too @#*^! hot to do anything else.
 
At least you'll have a good strong leg to support the one in recovery!
 
BigGene said:
...I've got things I want to do and I need two good pain free knees but I expect that I will be 65 before I will be pain free and able to move on...
Click to expand...

Gene, if there's anyone that can push through the recovery process, it's you! Just think of it as training for a century--you take days of low mileage to build up to the big whopper ride. When you have days that you doubt your recovery process, think back to what you've accomplished on your bike tour. There is so much you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.
 
Sunflower,
While I don't believe it is useful to wish you life away, but I would sure like to have a time machine that would drop me in 6 or 8 months from now when I am recovered, rehabbed, back to living.
 
Aw Gene, I almost expect to read about you doing the Paris-Brest-Paris randonneur in the very near future. Your stick- to- itiveness made a positive impact on your recovery. And although we can't control everything, I think our mental outlook makes a big difference in the recovery, albeit a difficult recovery. I look forward to reading about your new knee and especially the fitness goals you have for it. :thumb:

Ride on, BigGene!
 
Gene you did so well with your first knee. You have the determination to get on with life. I am sure you will sail through the next one as well!
 
Wow, it's been a month since I last posted. Had my ups and downs. Things are good with the knee but at 4 months I want it perfect. Still get stray pains, above and below the knee. Some stiffness after a hard workout at the gym, leg press and other quad machines or after a workout on the treadmill or elliptic.

I know 4 months is still eary in recovery and I can go up and down stairs without holding on and get out of chairs or off the john without pushing off. Things I haven't done in a loooong time.

Still with LTKR only a month away I get nervous about the slower pace of progress . Those first 12 weeks were a blaze of nearly daily, noticable improvement. Now at 80 -90% I want it all.

Oh well, next week I start the round of primary care doc, surgeon, cardiologist and dentist for all the clearances for my LTKR on 9/20.

School starts tomorrow so my busy time as central office high school scheduler slows down and I begin to focus on the coming surgery and recovery.

Maybe I'll start a new thread with the new knee. This thread is getting long.
 
Oh, I was almost 6 months before I could go downstairs normally and still had problems with that 'vice on the knee' feeling when I was out shopping! Don't be down - it means nothing overall. You wait until it's 12 months gone and then see how things are!
 
BigGene said:
I turn 64 in two weeks, hard to believe. I wonder where it all went, I've got things I want to do and I need two good pain free knees but I expect that I will be 65 before I will be pain free and able to move on.
Click to expand...

Look at it this way Gene, if you only live to 70 that will be five years of having two good knees. If you live to 90 it will be 25 years. Either way it is more years with two good knees than you would have had without the surgeries.
 
Josephne,
How do I get to be a "Senior' member. Looks like the break point is 250.
I need my senior discount card.
Thanks
 
Hi Gene, you are right you need your title reset. Unfortunately I don't have access to that function but I will tag Jamie and see if she can help. @Jamie:
 
I have to do those upgrades manually, Gene. I normally do them early in the month.
You can see the list here of when I've done them in the past.. New User Titles
 
I am now less than three weeks away from my RTKR and almost 5 months since my LTKR. I've had a swift and easy recovery but suddenly I have a little problem that maybe someone else has some experience with.

My IT band has given me minor aches and tightness at times during my recovery. In the past few week I've had a "clunk" on the right side of my knee just below the kneecap I could feel it very distinctly when I put my hand on my knee.

Yesterday I was showing it to rhe surgeon and his PA and discovered that I can see a bulge when my knee is extended. Upon flexion the bulge disapears as a snap or clunk occurs. It's like a rubber band slips off an edge.

The surgeon did not have a strong opinion about cause or solution. We decided to observe and follow the situation.

Tonight, I thought maybe some massage of the area might help. I discovered as I was doing that, that if I pressed with my finger just below the bump where the tendon seems to attach to the tibia the bump doesn't snap upon flexion, even repeated flexion. As soon as I release the pressure the snap returns.

It's like I'm holding something in place.

Any thoughts from the smarties would be helpful.
 
Hi Gene,

Not sure what's going on with your new knee but I will tag Jo so she can give you the expert opinion. @Josephine:

Good luck with #2!
 
Can you get a picture of this bulge? Or with your finger on the place where it appears?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 1,155 (members: 4, guests: 1,151)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom