Hi. I am two weeks and 4 days post total knee replacement surgery on my left knee. I am a 57 year old female; my knee was bone on bone. This is my memoir of what others facing this same type of surgery need to know and expect. If I had known some of this “stuff” beforehand, I think it would have helped in my own recovery process (which is going very well as of today!)…
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Post surgery clearances may need to be a part of your own pre-op preparation process. I had to go to about 6 appts. before my actual surgery at the hospital where I was scheduled. I have mitral valve prolapse, high blood pressure, and a few other issues I did not think would require such “clearances” as what I went through. Given I couldn’t walk a step for the past four years without experiencing severe pain, the heart-related stress test (on a treadmill) was the most challenging…but I did it. The alternative would have involved getting an IV with a drug to induce a rise in my heart rate. Forget that. Also, the “educational” class we had to take a few days before surgery was, IMHO, a major waste of time. Everyone in there was scared witless…and I was clearly the youngest patient-to-be in the room. One man kept asking the same questions over and over again; my husband and I thought ingesting nails would have been a more beneficial use of our time (90 minutes).
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Surgery day involved my getting poked ultimately black and blue by two different nurses before the anesthesiologist (spelling?) finally found a vein to give me my pre-surgery IV. If you know you have had difficulty with “small” veins…jumpy veins…whatever…save yourself several bruises and request/demand that the anesthesiologist give you your IV when you are being prepared for surgery.
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Now, it sounds like I had a ‘lot’ of drugs for pain post surgery—but they worked. I had no pain while in the hospital (3 days). I am allergic to codeine (I go into anaphylactic shock)…so my “meds” were a combination of Celebrex, oxycodone, tramadol, and Tylenol. 1-3 5mg. tabs of oxycodone, 100 mg. Celebrex, 50 mg. tramadol, and 500-1000 mgs. Tylenol every 4-6 hours. They worked!
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I went to a rehab after the hospital post surgery for a one-week time period. We have over 30 steps at our home…so I wanted to be sure I could go up them without drama (or added trauma). All I can say about rehabs is this; if you can find a rehab that focuses enough or a lot on “knee replacement” cases…go for it. Mine was a very fancy nursing home that doubled as a rehab…but I was clearly the youngest and only knee replacement there in many moons. However, it was close to our home and easy for family and friends to come see me. Ironically, PT there was good…as was the fact that I got ice packs, meds, and meals on demand. But otherwise, the staff wigged out if I tried to walk because “Don’t fall!” They kept forgetting I was 57 and not 87 or 90. Different focus from what they needed to have with me…but I got through it. And that was good enough. I also got used to the Cleopatra style baths where I was washed by others instead of being allowed to wash myself.
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Once I got back home, I was off the tramadol (I started itching in rehab, so I dropped that as a pain med)…and I was also taking no more than 10 mgs. of oxy just before bed at night or when the pain got very bad during the night while sleeping. Still, being home…I struggled with a “new” pain that was like a bruise on the surface…but went all the way through and felt like a deep pinch to the left and lower area from my central knee. When I’d put my weight on it…it hurt like hell. The pain meds helped, but didn’t get rid of it. PT guy coming to the house had no idea what was causing it or why…since he has had many knee replacements and never heard of this before. By the end of week two post-op…thankfully that “bruise” and the pain associated with it just went away.
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Get a collapsible cane at CVS around $25 or $26 to take with you to hospital and/or rehab. Best investment I ever made. Also, too many hoops to jump through regarding procurement of a walker and/or toilet seat riser (with arms). Though if you need these things once you are home…try to get them through friends or privately instead of through insurance. Just a weird process trying to do all that the “right” way via insurance (and we have the “best” or so we thought!). As it is for me now, don’t need anything but the cane very rarely…and stopped requiring the toilet riser before 7 days post surgery was up.
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Now off all pain meds (day 18 post op) except Tylenol. Found that the oxy was making me more agitated than anything else. Now I understand how people can become addicted to pain meds. You really REALLY have to pay attention to your pain and pain levels…make sure you are in pain over “level 5”…before you take a pain med. Otherwise, it’s like eating when really you are just thirsty. My pain is nearly gone now…and yet I still struggle with general “discomfort” (I prefer sleeping on my stomach or side) as I am sure will continue until I am finished with PT (8-10 more weeks from what I understand).
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It is true…take my Tylenol 1/2 hour before PT begins. Also true to use ice pack on knee to help with pain. (old fashioned kind of pack is the best…it molds around your knee best.) Also…got a handicapped parking placard after my first appt. with my surgeon. How come no one else suggested that and did it for me that same day? My placard good until mid-May. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
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Anti-embolism stocking on my left leg (all day…only take off at night) is a pain at first…but you get used to it. Also got used to the daily morning luvenox (blood thinner) shot in my gut for the first 14 days post op…but now on 325 mg. aspirin for the next 6 weeks after that was over.
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I don’t have pain anymore like I used to! Not even 3 weeks out! It was worth it! I’m so glad I did it! God bless all you future knee replacement candidates who read this post! MD in MI 
Moderator Action
Welcome to the SDMB, MyLeftKnee56.
The General Questions forum is for questions with factual answers. Since there is no question here, this is better suited for our Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share forum. I will move this thread for you.
Moving thread from General Questions to Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS).
I had my left knee replaced coming up to five years ago. Isn’t walking wonderful! Good luck with your recovery.
Did either of you have fracture blisters? I swear that was worst part of my husbands post-op. It made dealing with the compression stocking a nightmare and caused him a lot of pain until they healed. He’s had an ongoing issue with venous insufficiency in the area (shin) where the blisters were. I often wonder if the two are related in some way.
I’m having a partial replacement this Thursday. I’ll pitch in with a few comments over the weekend.
New knee April 2012. My biggest problem was the pain killers. For me they on dull the pain just a little. And I react badly to the oxycodone. It was like being sea sick for 60 days straight, and my digestive tract did not return to normal for 12 months after I quit using them. They messed up my physical therapy so my knee is still stiff. but at least I can go some where that reuires walking with out a wheel chair.
My advice for anyone going through recovery is have a talk with your doctor before they cut on how they will be handling the pain and what the pain should be like. That way you can recognize that the pain meds are a problem and make adjustments. Because of being on the pain meds and not knowing what to expect I could not make my self clear that they were not working.
Because of therapy I ended up with a Hernia. This time they did not use the oxycodone or morphine and I did much better.
My left knee is giving out but I am going to wait this time.
Hi everyone. Thank you for your responses. First, I have to say for the person who struggled with constipation or for anyone who does post surgery while on pain meds----I am here to tell you that sugar-free twizzlers or gummy bears are the answer. Forget the Colace and Sennocat the Miralax or the Milk of Magnesia. Have some sugar free gummy “whatever”…and you WILL GO TO THE BATHROOM guaranteed! If you look up “Haribol Sugar Free Gummy Bears” on amazon.com…there are over 34 pages of “customer reviews” why it is the laxative of the century without realizing it.
Second…I never heard of fracture blisters. I am going to look that up after I finish posting this. I am so sorry your husband went through that! Sounds awful! The pain from what I hear may not go away completely until 4 months or so post surgery. Today I went to work (3 weeks post op today) and saw a couple of clients (2 hrs.) and was fine. So—everyone’s journey is different that’s for sure. The goal…to be able to walk “fine” and no pain meds ever again (meaning over the counter stuff I popped for the past 4 years while suffering!)
Thank you for your good wishes re my recovery. I pray it just keeps going and doin’ as is. I will start PT at my local clinic in town this Friday. We’ll see how that compares to the guy who came here to the house. I spent these past few weeks doing things like standing on my tip toes up and down 15 times…swinging my leg out and back together 15 times…marching in place with my left leg up and down 15 times…and then calf stretching for a minute both from my kitchen counter and on the 2nd stair going upstairs. Beyond that…he had me walk around my house, use a stepper 10 times on each foot…and lift my leg up with only my heel being supported by the chair opposite me for a minute or two. He also used one of those bands to have me push and pull my foot against it 20 times. Lastly, lift my leg straight up 15 or 20 times from a lying down position on my couch. This “cycle” of exercises I just described was done 3 or 4 times before my session was over here at the house. He also massaged my incision on either side of it for whatever that was worth…
I am not taking anything now but 1 aleve before bed…and that’s if I feel discomfort not so much pain—but like the feeling of a fading toothache inside my leg and knee area. So that’s it.
My incision is 90% healed over…but it’s not the prettiest thing to look at. The skin went dark around it…and it is a little lumpy up top where…oh boy! I have a fat upper knee! LOL!
Other than that…all good. I am so grateful. I can’t believe I can walk now without feeling all that damn pain I had for the past 4 years and couple months! Now—we’ll see what he says about my right knee when I go on Thursday for my first post op appt. I do have some cartilege left there—but I don’t know if synvisc will be the answer to that—or not. We’ll see. But seriously, if he says "get this one done sometime within the next … years…I will do it. I definitely will do it.
Take care all. MD in MI
Glad you’re doing so well!
Isnt it funny how we are all different in our recovery and responses to pain! I went home on my 3rd post op day after total knee replacement with the CPM machine and aspirin and pain meds. No blood thinner because I wasnt randomized to that. CPM was to improve flexion/extension and I had oxycodone for pain 2 every 4-6 hours.
I had a PT person come to my house the first week and then I went to an outpatient PT facility for more torture … I mean therapy. I walked without crutches or walker or cane ever since getting home from the hospital. Just didnt need it. We have 3 flights of stairs in the house and that was good therapy!
The hardest part for me was the extension exercises - getting the knee to fully extend was a bear but they made sure I could do it before I was discharged from PT and I worked on it on my own at home. The I.T. band (a band of fascia) on the side of the knee was the most painful thing… it got aggravated during surgery and was inflamed and painful and numb all at the same time - I have hella pain tolerance but I was in tears after PT and most of the day and night. Pain meds hardly touched it. Ice helped and massage. It took nearly 8 weeks for this pain to subside and for me to get off the pain meds. Now I can fully extend the knee and walk as long as I want to. No pain. I just cant sit in lotus position for yoga but I can modify it - the prostesis only allows so much flexion.
To make things worse, 2 months after surgery I developed a C.Dif. infection from use of antibiotics and then kidney stones the same week. I was a sick puppy for quite a while with that. There’s no way to avoid antibiotics with surgery, but it really killed off all the good flora in my gut and I lost 30# in a week. Not everyone has this tho, just a fluke.
Would I go thru it again? Of course! My knee was completely degenerated from repeated injuries and I was in constant pain and couldnt walk far. Now, I have zero limitations. My insurance covered everything except the CPM machine btw. Dr Barrack @ BJC in St Louis: fabulous surgeon.
No fracture blisters, and having looked them up thank god for that. The worst pain I had was in my shinbone when lying down. I learned from support boards that this is not unusual. It hurt so much that I couldn’t stay lying down and so I spent 6 weeks sleeping in a chair with my legs up on a table.
I had right knee replaced due to bone on bone. Feb 18, 2014 Had prior med problems, have AFib and had pacemaker for past two years, but got cleared for surgery. Surgery went well, had a well extablished Ortho Doctor specialized in Knees so he knows what he is doing.
I had some major bruising from top of leg on back side due to bleeding and had lots of discomfort, leg twice the size of left leg. I felt very bad, didn’t want food, got consitpated from pain meds and food had no taste and I ate very little.
Two weeks post Op I had lost, 25 pounds, legs were like rubber with muscle disapering, and lots of pain. I would just be laying in bed or on couch and get stabbing pain in joint, PT was very painful even on meds. At two weeks, my prior heart problem with A Fib kicked in to protest all the meds and pain I was subjecting myself to and I went to 175-200 beat per minute. I went to heart doctor who put me in hostital as I was about to stroke and I had no PT for about 5 days. That allowed scar tissue to form and now had trouble streightening out or bending more than 45 degrees.
Next week back in hospital, knocked out and a manulipation was done where they break all that scar tissue loose and while asleep, get movement from -10 to 120 degrees bend. Start more PT and kept the 120 but lost the straightening out fully. Doctor gave me a tourture board, which I strap the knee down under tension and try and break the scar tissue loose.
Here I am two months post op and I still have a few degrees to go. May never get there. Would I do it again??? not sure. I limp now worse than before the surgery.