I will be having knee replacement in a month or two, but want some info from those who have had it done. I will only be 35 when I have it done. Within the last year we have tried clean up surgery, meds, cortisone shot, therapy and everything else in between, but nothing is helping so the doc told me when I go back for my follow up visit let him know what i have decided which is I have decided to do the replacement. I just want some info on questions to ask him and some thing you all can tell me what to expect after surgery like how long the hospital stay is, crutches or a walker and how long on them each, how is therapy and whatever else you can think of that may be helpful that I may not even think of in the recovery phase and questions for the doc.
I am 9 weeks post TKR that stems from a sports injury in my 20s, and went into the TKR very fit from my 5x week gym workouts. I started on a walker and in 3 weeks graduated to a cane, two weeks later no cane. I have been in outpatient therapy 3x week since late October. I am still on pain meds. My knee can be forced to 103 degrees from my therapist (painful!) but I am shooting for at least 115 degrees to return to bike riding. I am a pretty stoic person but have to say, this rehab is very painful. If I had to go back to work now I would get up every half hour to stretch and walk around; I am self employed and plan to work again beginning in January.
My advice is, 1) Get a Don Joy ice machine, you have to ice often and this makes it very easy to do. 2) Take the pain pills as long as you need to, get your surgeon to change scripts until you find one that works. 3) Do everything your PT tells you to do if you want to maximize your recovery. 4) As long as you are taking pain pills be sure you also are taking OTC pills to avoid serious constipation. 5) Stay positive. I had started feeling I would never walk without pain or have fun again, but I am getting better and you will to.
Oops, 2 weeks on the walker. I was in sthe hospital five days, but only because I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and threw up for 48 hours, nasty! Usually 2-3 days I was told. I started home therapy Monday after a Sunday discharge, 3x week for two weeks until they released me for real therapy. Look for a place where you work directly with a board certified therapist, not a place where you are shuffled off to be supervised by therapy assistants. Your insurance will cover either, but you will get more from the former.
u are really helping. Hope you don't mind if i keep asking questions as they come to me. lol...my kids and I usally walk to school since it's about a 7 minute walk, so how long did it take u to be able to walk up to 10-15 minutes and then being able to drive? I am hoping to go from a walker to a cane like you without any crutches in between
You can't drive until you are off pain meds. I have hip pain after I walk 30 minutes, possibly because the surgeon straightened my leg (the osteotomy cocked it a bit), and the need to getu used to that, or be occurring because one leg is stronger than the other,. I went to the y yesterday for 3 hours (had to wait for my ride), felt fine there, but woke in serious pain.
I had a lot of scar tissue from previous surgeries removed when they did my TKR, so I probably am not going to have a typical recovery. Pain pills don't make recovery pain free, more like tolerable. I am not ready to give them up, but not driving is awfully inconvenient.
Is it easy or not easy to tear you mcl. pcl, or acl or anything like that while waiting for knee replacement when you have bone on bone like myself with a lot of water on the knee and the knee is not tracking up and down correct as it is? It sometimes locks up on me know and I have heard a few people have said they ended up tearing one of those ligaments while waiting on knee replacement surgery with the knee not tracking correct and stuff. Just wondering how much caution I should use or if it doesn't make it any difference then if you have a good knee?
I dont have any experience with the problems you list. My bone on bone knee was very painful but.I kept my quads very strong, hamstrings too, to avoid additional problems.
Thanks for the reply. I do have a new question along with the other questions already posted. My question is has anyone had there foot go to sleep while waiting for the TKR surgery? I am not sure why it started falling asleep, but it does it for 5-10 minutes out of nowhere and then I can start moving it. At that time the knee seems a little more painful as well. Could this be because something is now getting pinched off depending witch way I move my leg or could it because i am getting more water on the knee or because the knee may be even more out of alignment at times? It is just worrying me cause I don't wanna be driving and it falls alseep since its my right knee.
Last edited by Administrator; 12-04-2012 at 03:11 PM.
I am scheduled for TKR in mid Jan. The doc says that I should be released late on the day after surgery (surgery is scheduled for first thing in the morning), assuming no complications. I know you have to be on serious pain meds in order to do the PT and I AM prone to constipation. I have read that it is wise to take an enema the mornng and evening before surgery and to be on laxatives afterwards. The surgeon recommends 2 senokot tablets, twice a day and 3 TBS mineral oil daily. If that doesn't work, supplement with enemas. Anyone have any experience with any of this?
I am scheduled for TKR in mid Jan. The doc says that I should be released late on the day after surgery (surgery is scheduled for first thing in the morning), assuming no complications. I know you have to be on serious pain meds in order to do the PT and I AM prone to constipation. I have read that it is wise to take an enema the mornng and evening before surgery and to be on laxatives afterwards. The surgeon recommends 2 senokot tablets, twice a day and 3 TBS mineral oil daily. If that doesn't work, supplement with enemas. Anyone have any experience with any of this?
The sentacot worked fine .for me but start it before surgery and continue as.long as you are on pain meds. Do not discontine early because you feel fine, or you will be ... Sorry! Also keep in kind the pain meds blunt the pain, they do not take it away. Much success with your surgery.
