TKR Winner winner, chicken dinner! Bionic Liz's new RTKA

[Cratchit]

I'll trade a little normalcy for some later swelling

I think this is the key to balancing the good and not so good days and for making peace with whatever stage The Knee is at. It reaches out to a world beyond the confines of recovery and as such reassures us (hopefully!) that it is all still going on out there and, as the pictures prove, still beautiful. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

 

[Spex10]

Oh yes. Normalcy is nice. Things that I once saw as boring or a chore now make me feel great if I can do them.
Tragically I have to be up and dressed early some days now as places to go and people to see crowd in. I have enjoyed my slow starts in the morning being waited on. Ah well...there's always my other knee ...

 

[BARBRI]

Have been to the Games in St George on 2 prior occasions and stayed at Lava Falls. Do not recall going to Snow Canyon though. Thanks for the tip. I not only plan on playing there in October,but I also plan to play when our league playing season starts this May.
To give my knee a rest from recent excessive exercise and resulting pain I have done nothing other than normal day to day activities for the past 3 days. I feel a bit better and plan to do a little pedaling and stretching today prior to getting back to physio and water work tomorrow. Feel that slow progress is being achieved,but still cannot walk very far.

 

[L.I.T]

I've been MIA here for a bit.... As it's turning out to be a whirlwind of a week with work and various appts. Today I am off to the courthouse to deal with a lawsuit our HOA is involved in. I am one of the 'lucky' board members (at least until March 1st b/c I finally resigned after 2.5 years !). Should be fun to set off the metal detector the first time, and run my ice pack through the x ray machine Tomorrow I have my first follow up with OS, as I am now 8 weeks as of today.

I do have a question for my fellow overachievers.....The past week, my dratted 'achiness' has returned. Fine, I can handle it, as it's mostly only in the evening. What's driving me nuts is that I can sleep about 3 hrs initially, and then am waking up every 30-45 minutes b/c I need to 'move' my leg b/c of the knee pain. Unfortunately, the pain meds are not particularly helpful - even when combined with extra Tylenol.

I'm not necessarily wondering if this is 'normal', b/c I've pretty much resigned myself to 'this is what is'. But has anyone else encountered this issue, and did you find an acceptable solution?

PS - during the daylight hours, I don't seem to have this pain or issue.

Thanks you guys, and hope to see you tomorrow or Friday! Now off to male a 'knee scene' at the courthouse!

 

[RMasano]

The dreaded nighttime!!! I can totally relate!!!! Haven't found any solutions except I do take a Tylenol PM before bed. I've taken to online shopping to pass those dreaded sleepless hours. Even ordered a XXL copper pan with induction burner on an infomercial.

 

[BARBRI]

I experience exactly the same thing including the sleep patterns. Unfortunately I have not found a solution either. I have watched soooo much late night CNN and MSNBC TV that I think I could call myself on American politics and the Trump follies.

 

[BARBRI]

That is I have watched sooo much late night CNN and MSNBC TV that I think I could call myself an expert on American politics and the Trump follies.

 

[KarriB]

Sometimes you can go through your daily activities without pain, but at night the knee begins to complain. Have you upped your actvities lately? Your whirlwind week may explain the night time pain. I know your OS said all is well, but you're still healing inside and the knee is still the boss, especially at 8 weeks post op.

 

[BARBRI]

I have been more like 16 weeks post op and about 8 weeks MUA and still experience the same night time pain and stiffness.

 

[Spex10]

How are you doing during the day. I mean do you experience pain and stiffness as you go about general activities?

 

[BARBRI]

Correction,my MUA was only 4 weeks ago and not 8. I have some stiffness and pain during the day particularly if I have been on my feet for quite awhile. I am not really limited in general activities.

 

[Spex10]

I sort of expect some pain and stiffness during the day. Mostly if I remain sitting or in the same position for any length of time. Its OK though and perfectly manageable without painkillers. I'm OK at night but I don't tend to overdo things during the day.
Are you really expecting to be free of pain and stiffness altogether or is it very bad? I suppose I'm asking if its a question of degree of pain. Are you taking any medication?

 

[L.I.T]

Let me see if I can do this right....

@KarriB @Spex10, with the exception of last Thursday and Friday, my schedule has been very 'inactive' - mostly focusing on icing and elevation with exception of dinner and a movie (where I iced and elevated) on Saturday which was mostly sedentary. Work (3 hrs Mon and 3 hrs Tues) is sedentary here, and I hook myself up to the ice machine and put my leg up on the desk (mimicking elevation as much as possible). Ice and elevation in bed at all other hours. My hubby thinks I'm being lazy

During the daytime hours it does not hurt. Only during the night. No, I don't expect to be without pain, and as I said before, have just chalked it up to 'part of the healing process' - Not complaining, but I simply was wondering if anyone had found something that helped

For clarification, I actually have NOT seen the OS - that is tomorrow. My PT was the one who anticipated my OS would be happy with my progress. That being said, I doubt there is a firm answer for why... Just thought I'd ask since my pain meds don't work well for it, and it tends to wake me up every 30 minutes even if I take benadryl for sleep.

@RMasano, I'm glad I don't have normal TV or I'm sure I would have a household of "but wait! There's more!" products Heck, I used to watch the sham-wow commercials simply because he was such a trip! Lol

@BARBRI if I figure something out, I will definitely let you know!

Court went well - set off the metal detector (my neighbor who had a metal rod in his femur didn't ), and had to pull up my pants on both legs so the security guard to confirm that I wasn't hiding any weapons (showing a little leg, hey, hey) I guess I wasn't scary enough for the wand or the pat down!

Court went well, although took 3 hrs instead of 2. And although I couldn't elevate, I wore my ice pack like a champ! :cool:

Back to icing and elevating!

 

[Mireille]

@L.I.T Hi Liz, I'm glad things went well at the courthouse. I don't have an answer for you but I hope your OS can help you. Do you sleep with your leg elevated? I've been doing that all this time and it helps with knee pain in the evening, although I'm really tired of elevating since my hip and back can't take it anymore. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't

I hope you're able to get a good night's sleep tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Let us know how your OS visit goes.

Take care!

 

[Jamie]

If you're not icing the front and back of your knee at night while sleeping, I suggest doing that. My gel packs lasted half the night and I would replace them when I got up to use the bathroom in the early morning hours. I had pretty bad "restless legs" like you and the ice was the only thing that worked for months.

 

[RMasano]

"Restless Legs" is so irritating. It doesn't hurt, but it is such an awful feeling. I had it before surgery, but now it is worse!!! I heard tonic water helps. I drink a little at about 5. It seems to help most nights.

 

[KarriB]

I was going to suggest icing at night as Jamie did. What type of pain meds are you taking now or just taking before bed? Can you take another dose when you wake up in the night? I secretly (or not so secretly now) cannot wait to set off some alarms!

 

[L.I.T]

I definitely still elevate at night - although in the wee hours of the morning, if I am trying to squeeze in the extra 15 min of sleep, I sometimes will turn on my side. It works for about 15 min, then I have to reposition. But I'll tell ya - the ice machine and the elevation pillow sure were worth the $150 and $50 spent on them lol!

I do ice front and back... BUT have not specifically been icing the back right before bed. SOOOOOOOOO, I've strapped on (ugh, too many inappropriate joke possibilities!) the ice cuff to the posterior knee and icing at this very moment. (oh, I can't leave ice on while I sleep b/c I get raynauds and lose circulation in my toes.... It actually happened in the courtroom today, but I didn't DARE tear off my velcro while the judge was listening to arguments lol!) But I do ice when I wake up - will make a point to ice both front and back at those times, too.

My pain meds at night consist of 2-3 Tylenol and between .5 to 2 hydrocodone 7.5mg pills. I also am taking 1-2 benadryl to help me sleep. The pain pills do help some... But sometimes just not enough. But taking another dose when I wake up is a good idea if I've only had .5 or 1 pill initially.

I'll ask OS about it tomorrow (but I am pretty sure the answer is 'wait and see'). One area that hurts is where I had my bone marrow edema (anterior medial)... So I wonder if that area is trying to' heal thyself!'... The other part that hurts is on the anterior lateral - but more deep than superficial. It's where my skin is still numb, so it's more of a pressure type pain and sometimes especially when I lift my leg up while lying down.

Thank you guys for giving me some ideas. It may just need time. I was having similar bone-ish pain a few (couple?) weeks ago and it went away for a while... So maybe with a little luck, this, too, will just vanish.

Ironically, my neighbor (who has the rod in his femur) had a mountain biking accident 5 weeks ago and caused trauma induced arthritis (?) in his hip - so we were quite the pair limping our way into the courtroom. Sadly, it wasn't just for sympathy!

Now where's that dang handicapped sticker??? :cool:

 

[Spex10]

Oh dear. Sounds like you're being very brave. Actually it must be hard to sleep in the first place with all that hardware in situ. What happens if you just try without it all? Also how long have you been taking those drugs?

 

[L.I.T]

@Spex10 I'm being a bit dense - but by "hardware", do you mean my elevation pillow?

And the tylenol/pain pill/benadryl combo - only have taken them for 3 nights - I was off all pain medicine (opiates and tylenol) for about a week and a half... Only started taking the hydrocodone again with this night pain - but again, only 1/2 pill to 1 pill at bedtime. And 2 hydrocodone one night when I did not take the benadryl.