Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
well. I can relate to alot of this...and I did BOTH knees at the same time.
ok. stop wondering Why I would do that...I dont even know anymore..
its been much tougher than I thought.tho I was luc
My biggest question is......well, is the firsr few weeks the most mporant as far as getting my range of motion back? if so Imay be hosed. Ive done pretty well, but I swell alot and if i work on motion one day, I pay a huge price the following day.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
I feel the first weeks of PT are the most important but you will continue to see improvement for the first 12-18 months. I think as long as your therapist and your OS think you are on track you will be fine. Just work hard.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
The main thing is that's all they're going to work on at first is getting range of motion, and straightening and until you get those down....they won't go to the next step. So you kind of set the pace of your PT recovery.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
I am a 46 yr. old female who just went through a Total Knee Replacement about 3 weeks ago. I really do feel that I am too young to have to undergo such a procedure, but the pain that I was feeling in my knee was overwhelming. I decided to do the procedure once I met with the Orthopedic Surgeon who reviewed both my x-rays and my mri's and finally let me know that no amount of exercise and physical therapy would ever relieve my pain due to Degernerative Joint Disease/Arthritis. Wow, I never even suspected that I might have Artheritis. So, I am feeling better already. Still lots of Physical Therapy to endure, but in the end, I feel it was the right thing to do at the right time.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
These post have helped me alot in knowing what is going to happen after I have TKR. I am 45 and used to be a very active person and a paramedic for more than 20 years. Now I am retired and hurt with every step I make and sometime when I am not even moving. I am going to have TKR on my left knee, which I injured in track when I was 16. I had torn ligaments and torn cartalige surgry, but I think it only made my knee worse. I hate having to take so many meds just to move eveyday. I take Tramadol, which I call my "tinman Meds". If you have knee pain you know what I mean. I have know for many years that I was going to have to have TKR, but just never slowed down to do it. But when it finely got to the point that I needed the TKR, the Docs would not do it cuz I was to young. I have tried everything but voodoo. But it got to the point where I could not work anymore before the doc would do it, that has made me mad, but better late than waiting til I am 50 or 60 years old to do it. I have never looked forward to a surgry before like this one. The one thing you have all side that in time, your knee felt like it was yours. I can't wait for that!!!
I will ask more for info as time goes and hope you guys can help me with this. I have watched the TKR on the internet and has relieved alot about to me.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
You may have to look elsewhere. There are surgeon who will do the surgery. Keep looking. You may have to go to another area. I am in the Chicago area and many your age have had it done. Check out the Joint Bone Center at University of Chicago
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jafra40
You may have to look elsewhere. There are surgeon who will do the surgery. Keep looking. You may have to go to another area. I am in the Chicago area and many your age have had it done. Check out the Joint Bone Center at University of Chicago
Thanks for you reply, I have found a Doc who will do it. It took awhile, but next month it will happen. They are changing there stands now one TKR on the younger.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
My experience is a little different than most, so I thought I'd comment. I just turned 66, and had the TKR about 6 weeks ago. It went really well. I had an insert that fed to the knee and gave it a constant dose of pain medication after the surgery. They kept coming to ask what my pain level was, and most of the time I could reply that it was zero. They got me up the first day just a few hours after the surgery to have me stand, but I couldn't put weight on that leg as I was still quite numb from the waist down.
I came straight home the Friday after a Tuesday surgery, and didn't use a potty chair or anything to make the toilet higher. I had devised a method of getting on and off the toilet in the painful months before surgery that involved resting my elbow on the toilet tank and swiveling down to the seat. I was able to get in and out of bed without help also, just using the walker.
My surgeon likes his patients to have physical therapy 5 days a week for 2 weeks after surgery, so the therapist came the day after I came home. I recovered my range of motion relatively quickly, and my walking, with some coaching, was great! I occasionally forgot to use the walker, if I was just crossing the kitchen for a drink or something. Pretty soon, I abandoned the walker entirely. That was at about 2 weeks.
Both physical therapists I worked with advised against using a cane if I didn't need it. They would rather see me continue with the walker if I needed the stability, but they said that canes often cause a limp because we have to compensate as we use it. I didn't feel I needed it, so I never used it.
I had some swelling, but not a lot. The ice machine that circulated ice water over my knee was very helpful with that.
The CPM was also helpful, but I quit using it after a couple of weeks. I never needed help getting on and off once I got home.
After I'd been home a couple of weeks, I developed a lot of pain on the surface of the knee. It was sharp pain, as if the surgery was just yesterday. I went in to the doctor and he explained that in a few cases, the place where the nerve was cut in the surgery can get hypersensitive. On one side of the incision, the knee is quite numb, as those of you who have gone through it can testify. On the other side, the severed nerve can go crazy, and he pointed to the exact place that hurt the worst. He recommended massaging the knee and the scar, just as you would rub your head after you bumped it on the kitchen cabinet.
Now 6 weeks after the surgery, I still have that pain. Generally, walking isn't painful at all, or lying down. But sitting, even in the recliner with my knee elevated still can be very painful, in the same sharp-pain way. Sometimes the whole knee hurts from it. It's also very sensitive to clothing rubbing on it. Walking on the treadmill actually seems to help. Maybe it's improving the circulation.
In addition to the gradually increasing time on the treadmill, I'm adding ankle weights to my leg lifts, and doing some stair exercises and stretches to get more strength in my legs. I've been fairly sedentary, so I'm excited to get into better shape.
One last thing. One book I read recommended getting your weight down as much as possible before the surgery so that your knee can recover without having to bear all the extra weight of an overweight person. I'm at 145 right now, 5'7'', and that, in addition to my relative youth have probably been much in my favor.
The Following User Says Thank You to Mother Hubble For This Useful Post: whitebear23 (10-21-2011)
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
Jan.27th I went through left knee replacement surgery. I am 47 yrs old but have freea long history of body damage. Having gone through 3 left knee and 1 right kee surgery I know I have a huge advantage in recovery along with being young. They kept me in the hospital for 3 days which seems standard. They went by in a flash, thankfully they used a pain block and it was awesome combined with the morphine I really was 90% pain free. The side note is due to all these wonderful pain items your body pretty much stops going to the bathroom. ( and the nurses demand quantity...lol.)Problem though comes when you over do laxatives,sofeners,pruin juice.....and the fact that it isnt very comfortable to sit.Oyvay. Now for the recovery...I was walking with a cane in three days I believe soley do to the wonderful machine called a CPM. They place your leg into this machine that flexes the knee up to a set bend that you can control. I was in that three times a day for 2 hours each time. AWESOME MACHINE!
Nows comes the three days I spent at a nursing home....ughhh! I have never been so tired in my life. Between the alarms,bells,buzzers,and the yelling from some disgruntled elder . I pushed my knee to acheive the 110 degree bend my surgeon had placed as my goal prior to leaving nursing home.I am now home walking still with a cain and still swollen. My question is how long before my knee is normal size?????????
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
The Big Mistake
I am 58 year old male with bilateral TKR in June. I have been an athlete all of my life and spent considerable time preparing for this event. Thus, I felt well prepared going into surgery. I selected a surgeon with an outstanding reputation for whom replacement rate was well above average. The hospital was rated number one in orthopedic surgery in Pennsylvania.
Bone was worn down on left knee along with scar tissue from previous surgeries made surgery longer than expected. Recovery was very difficult with pain and a very bad reaction to pain meds. I completed all PT as requested and continue with PT. I have 122 degrees of bend in both knees with 0 degrees extension in right knee and 0 degree extension in left knee. Pain continues particularly after being on my feet for any time. Specifically, knees begin to tighten and become stiff with decrease in range of motion. Going down steps and getting up from sitting is a real struggle.
My PT (up until January) schedule has been two hours nearly every day with an hour plus on the stationary bike then lifting and stretching. I doubt there is anyone working harder. I am also doing acupuncture and massage therapy.
At eight months things should be better. All of this was suppose to improve my quality of life. Instead I am worse off. Doctor has no answers. I had a 2nd opinion from another Doctor in the same practice who indicated it will take longer. My opinion is that this has been a disaster and I am much worse off now that I was a year ago. I regret the decision to have the knees replaced. I'm not seeing many ways out of this but can't imagine living with this the rest of my life.
Has anyone had trouble with Zimmer knees? Can anyone recommend a surgeon who can provide solid information on what is happening to my knees?
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
I had a Dr. tell me this happened with one of his patients. After much research they found she was allergic to the metal in that particular brand of knee joint. They redid the surgery and used a different joint and the lady was fine. Not sure that is your problem, but something to think about.
I am 46 and will have a TKR on Friday. This will be my third surgery on my left knee. I was athletic and am very outdoorsy. As a farmers wife I have spent 25 years jumping out of potato trucks and tractors and off of other farm equipment as well as 12 years of jumping out of an autioners sound box. I have bone on bone grinding and pain. my Dr said my knees looked like I was 70+ years old. I guess I was just trying to have to much fun. I appreciate all of the information and hope I am well prepared. I suspect this is going to be one of those things, that no matter how prepared you think you are....there will still be suprise glitches. I hope I have learned enough from all of you who are willing to share your stories in hopes of helping others. Thank you.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
Hi WHS. I just celebrated the 10th anniversary of my bi-lateral TKR's. Not too many people do both at once and it can slow your recovery....not the knee recovery but your whole body.
I'll share my experience with you. I had the good extension and 120* of flexion at 8 weeks. I did everything my doc asked. I wanted to keep up with my PT and said to stop after 3 months. Why? He told me that I just needed time to heal and to stop pushing my body so hard. You can overdo the PT.
The fact is, you just went through having both legs broken above and below the knee. The bone needs to grow into the prosthesis. If you're like me, you came out of surgery taller and you muscles have to stretch and that takes months. I had anemia from the surgery for over a year despite 4 auto-transfusions.
So I stopped pushing myself and just started taking care of the rest of my body. You lose a lot of blood with these surgeries and it is extremely stressful on the body. I am about to undergo my 3rd spine surgery in 2 years and my doc is very worried. He told me ANY major orthopedic surgery such as spine or TKR's or THR's take a full 2 years for the body to recover. And he's right.
I started walking regularly about a year and half after the TKR's and the pain was gone and so was the stiffness. I eventually was able to stand for a 12 hour day at work and walk 5+ miles. But you must give yourself and your body time. Heck, it takes a full year for your body to recover just from the anesthesia.
You may be pushing to hard. My doc warned me about that as I'm a real worker after surgery(I've had 14 knee surgeries). Muscles grow VERY slowly. Bone needs to repair. I've met people with metal allergies and you usually have some kind of localized rash with that. Ask for a skin test. My doc did that prior to surgery.....tapped 2 disks of metal to the inside of my arm for 48 hours....one for each of the 2 major metals in the joint.
I just think you aren't allowing your legs to heal. All that PT may be undoing the healing that is taking place. Consider it.
As for me.....I LOVE MY KNEES! They are as pristine as they were 10 years ago. But here is something to think about. TKR's are like tires on your car. If they are rated for 30,000 miles then you can be pretty sure they will wear out at 30,000 miles. Same for knees. They will wear out if you keep pushing them. My doc restricted me to no more than 10-15 miles/week of walking and would prefer if I kept it under 10. I have and they are great.
Give it time. You're never going to be the athlete your were. That's not what TKR's are for. They are a replacement for a wheelchair which is what you were headed for. I lost so much bone in my left knee I went through the surface of the joint and had to have bone marrow drained each week for 6 months prior to surgery. I came out of surgery 2 inches taller. And since my legs were straighter, I had to get all new shoes.
I'm just glad to be out of pain and walking. You will get there. Give it time and give your legs a rest.
gentle hugs.........Jenny
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to jennybyc For This Useful Post: mamiess (03-03-2012), plumcrazy (10-23-2010)
I found out in 2006 I had end stage osteoarthritis both knees and both hips.
I was only 49 at the time but had a history of arthritis in my family.I also had played football in hs and college and rugby after that.I applied for social security disability and was denied twice(joke)despite contributing for 29 years.I had only charitable care while I waited for SSD to schedule a hearing
with a law judge.I could hardly walk and the pain at times unbearable.A social
worker found an orthopedic surgeon and a hospital willing to perform rt hip replacement on me.I had the surgery September 07.Tough surgery and physical therapy but it went well. I finally heard from SSD and got a date for
my hearing.two weeks later a letter came from the judge saying I was unfairly
denied and reversing the decision.(hoorah-notyet)At the bottom of the letter
it said this wasn't the final decision,my case would be reviewed by SSD and
they would let me know their decision in 90 days.Suffering daily with intense pain,very limited mobilityand no income I waited for their decision.(JOKE)
Finally I recieved the letter saying the judges decision was the final one.
(two years of waiting)I had my rt knee replaced June 08.very tough surgery and long physical therapy but it went well.I finally have one functioning side
and it feels good.I was scheduled to have my left hip replaced April09 but
that has been put on hold.I had an precautionary endoscopy and it showed barretts esophagus and tha the nissan fundopligation I had in the 90s wasnt visable.I started having symptoms of gerd and esopagitis just like before the
N.F. in the 90s and put on every rx available,but just like then with no significant improvement.(severe side effects from all the rxs)I am now scheduled to see a surgeon for possible nissan fundopligation redo.
This is especially disapointing because my left side is so bad at this point.
Sorry to rattle but I wanted to get my whole story out.........
The following user gives a hug of support to piedpiper: adubose4 (01-19-2012)
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
I posted here earlier in October. At that time was still recovering from my second TKR. Well now I have had my third, yup you read right, my third. I went to see my surgeon for my 6 months postop visit, I was finally walking pretty good, swelling was finally pretty much gone and the only problem I had to report was a tendency for my leg to just buckle right out from under me. Well the minute the doc heard that he had a set of xrays done and saw a shadow that was new, his guess was my implant has somehow broken. So he ordered a CT scan for that same day (fortunately he is chief of surgery so able to move mountains) and had his partner also look at my films. Radiologist didn't see anything but my doc and his partner sitll felt something was wrong but were surprised that I didn't have extreme pain and they could manipulate me so easily. My docs guess was that the plastic portion of the implant must has a small break of some type that made the prosthesis slip in and out of place, when it was out, my knee would buckle and then it would slip back in. He opted to do surgery immediately but first checked with the manufacturer of the implant, J&J DuPuy knee, to check their data base and see if any other surgeon had ever seen this. My doc said it was his first experience in 30 years of doing knees, my luck, huh.
Well I agreed to go under the knife and they opted to reopen the incision and be prepared for a total revision as the worst case scenario. Ends up that was a good plan as I had the total revision of all the plastic components. Bottom line is I am so happy I trusted my doc and went along with his plan. I was up and walking same day, which was same as before, but this time walked even better. Most of the time the nurses were fussing about me moving around my room without a walker. I went straight home on day 4 and felt so good that on the way home, I talked hubby into taking me to the store to pick up some supplies. I was up and about non stop after that and going out and about on errands with hubby every day. By about day 10 I wasn't even using a cane unless I was outdoors and the ground wasn't stable (ice, grass, curbs). I still had awful pain but I didn't care because this knee was really working well. Other than the at home therapy and nurse visits I was released from therapy at the two week mark. My range of motion was so great my doctor and I decided I didn't need any more therapy and could just build back into my exercise routine at my comfort level.
The moral of the story I have come to believe is that if all the factors come together this surgery can really be as good as other posters have stated, just took me three knees to finally get it right. For a few weeks I found that I cut my TED stocking and made it into a sleeve (thigh to calf) and that it was amazing in stopping the swelling which is why I was able to get around so well. It is now 7 weeks after the revision and for the last three weeks I have been getting out of bed most days feeling like a total normal knee. It is only when on my feet all day long that I have some swelling and elevating the leg for an hour or two with ice does the trick, if I think I am going to be doing a ton of walking I take my little TED sleeve with me and just slip it on at the first sigh of swelling. My only residual complaint is soreness as the incision site, having the old scar being only 6 months old and totally reopened again has really frazzled the nerve endings so just a tiny bit of swelling sets off nerve pain and throbbing but that will get better and is just a bother but doesnt make me limp or keep me from doing stuff.
If I had to do these three knees all over again, I think after reading all the posts here I would insist on having spinal for anesthesia versus general, would insist on my own pain pump so I could control my meds, would ask for aggressive antiinflammatory solutions (like celebrex), would have ice on hand all the time (ice packs, ice machine that circulates water), would have compression sleeve for knee to contain swelling. As for therapy, I think the only reason I didn't need it this last time around was that after the first two total knees, I knew what I could do and not do and was not afraid to really bend and straighten my knee. Having that confidence made me relax and just push myself and surprisingly it was easier knowing that I could get a good range of motion (I was at 110 by the time I left the hospital on day 4) so just the knowledge made it easier to get it done. Sort of like having babies, lol, the first is the hardest and after that it isn't strange anymore so it gets easier.
Good luck to all those who still have TKR ahead of them, drive your doctor crazy asking questions and take a stand and demand to be in control.
Re: Total Knee Replacement: Recovery - Things I wish I knew!
Dear I will survive,
Tough situation but great outcome......
I am sure you positive attitude had a lot to do with it,after multiple joint replacements and more ahead I want to emulate that P.A.because I truly feel
that goes a long way in PT and longterm success........
thanks
Piedpiper
Re: total knee and total hip replacement............
I just had left knee TKR and was curious how long the swelling is going to be here?I had the operation Jan 27th and am now walking without a cane but still at a slow pace. Rehab has been ok with riding a bike etc. able to be done. Being an active person I was just concerned at how long I can expect the swelling to hinder me.
