TKR Why did I wait?

[MSgirl]

Starting my recovery thread a few hours early. I am to appear at the hospital at 8:30am tomorrow. I think I'm ready. Right now I'm overthinking everything. Must remember to pick up the bathroom rugs. Had first Hibiclens shower. Two more to go. Have taken my doses of Tylenol. Changed sheets and towels so I don't put any germs on my disinfected body! I wish it was tomorrow night.

 

[Kayaknlady]

I know that jittery feeling. You will be in good hands tomorrow. Trust and relax. Good luck. Good recovery.

 

[lennie]

We all had the jitters even on our second knee. Prayers. Thinking of you


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[Pumpkin]

MSgirl,
We all seem to have the jitters the night before, get some sleep, and be ready to go in the morning.

Here are the recovery guidelines for you to look over, the articles are short and will not take long to read.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:

rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

the BoneSmart view on exercise
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Activity progression for TKRs​

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs

Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds


We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

 

[sistersinhim]

Good luck! Be sure and let us know how you are doing!

 

[MSgirl]

All done and doing well. You gotta love that pain medicine! I walked down the hall doing heel toe automatically and probably had 90 degree bend when sitting on the bed. Just had dinner. Am elevated with ice machine on. Yes! I got another one this time so will have one for each nest!

It is freezing here but may go home tomorrow anyway. By then, I'll probably be hurting but will not stent on my meds. I cannot believe how much less afraid I am this time and how much easier it was to get around. Guess experience does help.

Much love to our other January Jackpots!

 

[MSgirl]

@Celle,
Could you please change my thread title to

Moving on down the road.

Thanks so much.

 

[SusieShoes]

So glad to see you come out of surgery with such a positive attitude. Knowing what is what really helps. Of course, you’ll have some “Oh yeah... that” moments. But you know the future is not that far off, it only feels that way.

 

[Celle]

I've changed your thread title, @MSgirl .

 

[SADD]

So glad to hear this MSgirl..... I have 13 more days and have already started the jitters!!! Saw an old friend today and told her about my BTKR... got that "look"!!!! HATE that "are you crazy" look. Just hope I have that positive attitude that you have right now. I know for me it's both or nothing., So glad things went well for you, please keep us posted!

 

[MSgirl]

@SADD, some people are just uninformed. You'll show her! That goes along with "you know you HAVE to do your exercises." After they have their knees done, I'll listen. You already have a great attitude!

 

[jboles]

Happy you are doing so well. Hope you’re able to get some rest tonight and are able to keep that pain under control.

 

[MSgirl]

Thanks, Jan. The new one now looks like the biggest country ham you have seen! i'm elevated, on ice and have one of those compression things on my legs so maybe some swelling will be gone tomorrow. Pain control is good right now. I'm not going to try to tough it out this time.

I hope you have a restful night.

 

[Jockette]

Best wishes to you!

 

[jaschembra]

Let the healing begin! No toughing out the pain of a TKR is my moto... bring on the pain meds. Sounds like you're doing well.

 

[MSgirl]

Day 2:
I got home about an hour ago. Much better than the first one when I stayed three nights. One was plenty. My pain is being managed better. Today, I walked the halls, did some ankle pumps and a few leg lifts. They put me on a CPM machine. I really like it. Last time, I would put my leg on it and go to sleep. My kind of exercising! My dr. changed his technique and no longer uses staples. He put in sub-cutaneous stitches. It will be interesting to compare scars.

There's no place like home.

 

[SusieShoes]

Oh, that will be interesting to see if there’s much difference in the scars. My OS used glue on the top layer and it worked wonderfully. No staples to take out!

So glad to read you’re doing well. Now you can nestle in at home and recover your way.

 

[jboles]

Glad you’re home and doing well. The nurse mentioned I might go home this afternoon, SNOW permitting, LOL My OS used glue on my left knee and this one too. I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with staples. I was worried about it pulling apart, but no problems at all.

 

[jaschembra]

Yeah! for being home. "There's no place like home" My OS used glue but at 4 & 5 months, my bottom stitch knot and top stitch knot decided to appear and come out lol! No issue, just stayed out of the pool during that time as they left a pin hole for a bit.

 

[amymj]

Good to hear, MSgirl! Keep us posted!