Guest guest Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Hi , my surgery was because my leg was all bent and my muscles all messed up and I could barely walk anymore.....I was bone on bone for a long long time. After surgery the doctor said it was just rubbed shiny in there it had been bone on bone for so long. For me as I stated before, I had a slow recovery. I am older than you and age makes some difference but they still considered me at 66 " young " for the surgery, in the sense that I would recover well. Because of my leg condition the doctor had to do some kind of cut that is not the usual. That helped to slow my healing process and also messed with my PT, and it took me a long time to get to where I felt a bit in control of my life again. I was in the hospital for two weeks......I was sent from the original hospital after a few days to what they call a " swing bed " , where one can go to recover in a smaller hospital. I got my PT there and then upon being released went to PT from home. I was told to get food fixed ahead of time, I thought I would be just fine and recover enough to walk in a week..........HA!!!!! it was not to be. Oh I could walk but I was in a lot of pain. I also had a reaction to the pain meds. So I was in kind of a mess. Setting up yourself at home to be able to do things is good.....if you can. Recovery is something that no matter who you ask and who answers you......the answers will always be.... " it depends " . Each person is different. The thing to do is everything they tell you to do as far as exercises and PT. Don't be afraid of walking on that knee. You can't hurt it. I found that I could walk pretty good early on, but due to the mess my leg was in prior, I had horrible muscle spasms that would not let me sleep for days or nights for about 4 days, and I became totally exhausted. MOST knee patients don't have this, but I sure did. Again, my leg was already a mess and the muscles were screaming at me. That all helped slow my recovery and make mush out of all my strong resolutions to be a quick recoverer! You will probably have much less troubles than me, but maybe more than someone else that is here. I am glad I had the surgery. I can now walk. My knee is not as good as I want it to be. I still have some problems with it......and I am going to be seeing my OS (Operating surgeon) again, in a few weeks and I will talk to him about it. I have had x-rays to make sure it is ok but I am having trouble. I think I am probably outside of someone that gets infection, one of the tougher knee cases. I still would have had it done.... as I can walk and do things that before I just could not do anymore. Mine just seems not to want to bend like I want it to and hurts me yet and I don't know if it should or not. You can't go by ME though, because I have that extra cut and each of us is different. So.... even kind of a worse case scenario which I think I am one of, it is a good choice. It won't be a picnic, but you will be happy when it is over and you can stand straight again and walk better. So do those exercises they give you. Follow doctor's orders. Follow PT orders. Those are the things to do. Keep a positive attitude. You will be ok and get though it ok. Get things set up at home. Have dinners in the freezer. You won't feel like standing and cooking right away. I did not do this and I was very sorry I did not listen. If you get perms, get a good perm before surgery, so you don't have to mess with your hair a lot. It is easier to just comb and go than to fuss and stand. I could not stand a long time in the beginning. Others have no problems with it. What not to do? Push too hard. Listen well to the PT instructions. Don't over do. I did that too. I over did it, caused my knee to swell and ended up in a lot of pain. Do what is told to do. Take your pain meds as told to. Don't quit them before you should. As for the surgery pain, well maybe I am a bad person to ask. I started with muscle spasms right after surgery. I had them in my ankle and shin bone it seemed as the muscles screamed at being stretched. That was agony for ME. Most people I have talked to never experience that. I had hot packs on my shin and ankle!!! The knee pain for ME, was nothing that I could not handle. They put you on a pump for pain after they take out the direct pain line. They kept a line in me for awhile and there was virtually no pain after surgery. Later when they take out the numbing medicine line, you have control of a pain machine.....or at least that is how it was done in my case. They move you then off the pain pump to oral meds. They work to keep you as pain free as possible and if it had not been for my muscle spasms that I have trouble with anyway even before surgery almost daily, it would not have been bad. Maybe someone else can give you a better description of the pain and pain control. I know I wish I had had that before surgery. I was really really afraid of the surgery too. I had no choice really, as you really don't either. You either give in to the reality that you can't do things and never will be able to, or you can have the surgery and be able to do them again. That is the choice. I visualized myself walking again. I just knew that I was going to be able to walk better again. I hope this helps a little. I think my knee was probably a whole lot worse than yours is because there is no way that I would have been able to stand even a hour prior to surgery. So my story is probably a lot lot worse than most.......Hugs......dash Upcoming TKR Hi all, I am new to the group. My name is and I am a 51 year old who is finally scheduled for a total knee replacement Oct 11. I was told I would need one within 10 years back in 1999, and they were pretty close. My knee has developed a contracture, intense pain all the way down my shin, and I have been bone to bone for over 10 years. I am on my feet all day, and it has gotten almost impossible for me to work,. They have kindly placed me on desk duty. I am really interested in hearing how recovery is, what helps and what not to do. Also, would like to know how painful recovery is. I have had some pretty intense pain after regular knee scopes with alot of swelling, so I am really afraid of this surgery. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2010 Report Share Posted September 19, 2010 Thank you Dash! I am a nurse in an outpt surgery center. I cannot stand much at all anymore, so i make all the pre-op and post op phone calls. Thank you for all your suggestions. I started freezing half of what i make for dinner today. Somebody told me not to take any pain medication right now, so that it will work better post op. My left knee and right hip are killing me. I am counting the days until my surgery., Thanks for all your help ________________________________ From: dash <dash4@...> Joint Replacement Sent: Sun, September 19, 2010 12:04:19 PM Subject: // Upcoming TKR  Hi , my surgery was because my leg was all bent and my muscles all messed up and I could barely walk anymore.....I was bone on bone for a long long time. After surgery the doctor said it was just rubbed shiny in there it had been bone on bone for so long. For me as I stated before, I had a slow recovery. I am older than you and age makes some difference but they still considered me at 66 " young " for the surgery, in the sense that I would recover well. Because of my leg condition the doctor had to do some kind of cut that is not the usual. That helped to slow my healing process and also messed with my PT, and it took me a long time to get to where I felt a bit in control of my life again. I was in the hospital for two weeks......I was sent from the original hospital after a few days to what they call a " swing bed " , where one can go to recover in a smaller hospital. I got my PT there and then upon being released went to PT from home. I was told to get food fixed ahead of time, I thought I would be just fine and recover enough to walk in a week..........HA!!!!! it was not to be. Oh I could walk but I was in a lot of pain. I also had a reaction to the pain meds. So I was in kind of a mess. Setting up yourself at home to be able to do things is good.....if you can. Recovery is something that no matter who you ask and who answers you......the answers will always be.... " it depends " . Each person is different. The thing to do is everything they tell you to do as far as exercises and PT. Don't be afraid of walking on that knee. You can't hurt it. I found that I could walk pretty good early on, but due to the mess my leg was in prior, I had horrible muscle spasms that would not let me sleep for days or nights for about 4 days, and I became totally exhausted. MOST knee patients don't have this, but I sure did. Again, my leg was already a mess and the muscles were screaming at me. That all helped slow my recovery and make mush out of all my strong resolutions to be a quick recoverer! You will probably have much less troubles than me, but maybe more than someone else that is here. I am glad I had the surgery. I can now walk. My knee is not as good as I want it to be. I still have some problems with it......and I am going to be seeing my OS (Operating surgeon) again, in a few weeks and I will talk to him about it. I have had x-rays to make sure it is ok but I am having trouble. I think I am probably outside of someone that gets infection, one of the tougher knee cases. I still would have had it done.... as I can walk and do things that before I just could not do anymore. Mine just seems not to want to bend like I want it to and hurts me yet and I don't know if it should or not. You can't go by ME though, because I have that extra cut and each of us is different. So.... even kind of a worse case scenario which I think I am one of, it is a good choice. It won't be a picnic, but you will be happy when it is over and you can stand straight again and walk better. So do those exercises they give you. Follow doctor's orders. Follow PT orders. Those are the things to do. Keep a positive attitude. You will be ok and get though it ok. Get things set up at home. Have dinners in the freezer. You won't feel like standing and cooking right away. I did not do this and I was very sorry I did not listen. If you get perms, get a good perm before surgery, so you don't have to mess with your hair a lot. It is easier to just comb and go than to fuss and stand. I could not stand a long time in the beginning. Others have no problems with it. What not to do? Push too hard. Listen well to the PT instructions. Don't over do. I did that too. I over did it, caused my knee to swell and ended up in a lot of pain. Do what is told to do. Take your pain meds as told to. Don't quit them before you should. As for the surgery pain, well maybe I am a bad person to ask. I started with muscle spasms right after surgery. I had them in my ankle and shin bone it seemed as the muscles screamed at being stretched. That was agony for ME. Most people I have talked to never experience that. I had hot packs on my shin and ankle!!! The knee pain for ME, was nothing that I could not handle. They put you on a pump for pain after they take out the direct pain line. They kept a line in me for awhile and there was virtually no pain after surgery. Later when they take out the numbing medicine line, you have control of a pain machine.....or at least that is how it was done in my case. They move you then off the pain pump to oral meds. They work to keep you as pain free as possible and if it had not been for my muscle spasms that I have trouble with anyway even before surgery almost daily, it would not have been bad. Maybe someone else can give you a better description of the pain and pain control. I know I wish I had had that before surgery. I was really really afraid of the surgery too. I had no choice really, as you really don't either. You either give in to the reality that you can't do things and never will be able to, or you can have the surgery and be able to do them again. That is the choice. I visualized myself walking again. I just knew that I was going to be able to walk better again. I hope this helps a little. I think my knee was probably a whole lot worse than yours is because there is no way that I would have been able to stand even a hour prior to surgery. So my story is probably a lot lot worse than most.......Hugs......dash Upcoming TKR Hi all, I am new to the group. My name is and I am a 51 year old who is finally scheduled for a total knee replacement Oct 11. I was told I would need one within 10 years back in 1999, and they were pretty close. My knee has developed a contracture, intense pain all the way down my shin, and I have been bone to bone for over 10 years. I am on my feet all day, and it has gotten almost impossible for me to work,. They have kindly placed me on desk duty. I am really interested in hearing how recovery is, what helps and what not to do. Also, would like to know how painful recovery is. I have had some pretty intense pain after regular knee scopes with alot of swelling, so I am really afraid of this surgery. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2010 Report Share Posted September 20, 2010 My surgeon told me too, that I should not take any pain medication pre surgery, but wait until later, so that it works better. I wish you well. dash Re: // Upcoming TKR Thank you Dash! I am a nurse in an outpt surgery center. I cannot stand much at all anymore, so i make all the pre-op and post op phone calls. Thank you for all your suggestions. I started freezing half of what i make for dinner today. Somebody told me not to take any pain medication right now, so that it will work better post op. My left knee and right hip are killing me. I am counting the days until my surgery., Thanks for all your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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