TKR - what it would have helped to know beforehand.

Scoobygert

A few things I wish I had known.

This thing takes time. The doc told me not to measure improvement in days, but in weeks. Sometimes (most of the time) it seemed to improve every two or three weeks. Annoying and frustrating for a hyper mom, but do-able, with patient people around you. My dearest had to remind me A LOT to take the pain medicine, and they were stingy with it, let me tell you. I had to call almost every week to get more, and listen to the crap about weening off. My problem wasn't the knee pain, but the hips and back pain from the walking differences. I have bad hips and a twisted pelvis, augmented with severe muscle spasms in my back, so the pain was excruciating at times. I imagine if you have one doc that takes care of you, that won't be a problem, but I have never seen the same doc twice, in three months of follow-ups, so there is no patient familiarity here.

I REALLY wish I had outpatient PT more. VA is awesome here in the Twin Cities, but they are still over tasked. After 8 weeks of being assured I could do everything I needed to at home, I had very limited range of motion and was treated like a malingerer because I didn't get the ROM back on my own. I did everything they told me to do, with MANY more reps, and it still fell short of Ortho expectations. I decided to use my stationary bike as a tool for ROM, and worked out some other tricks to help.

Let me finish my thanking my son. This 13 year old kid is awesome. He fetched more ice, drinks, books, cords, socks and shoes than I would have thought possible. He did laundry for four months straight, as I couldn't do it before the surgery, either. He carried groceries up the stairs, took the dog out three times a day and did all the vacuuming. He would dig things out of the fridge for me and did everything when I ran out of energy. His summer break sucked, but he was a gold mine for me, and he has been richly rewarded. I fully encourage you to borrow a kid if you can. Set up video games and their favorite books and foods, and you have an instant helper.

Good luck!!