This isn’t a request for medical advice, though the Doper Docs are much welcome.
My mom (70 years old) had knee replacement surgery about 3 weeks ago. The surgery went perfectly. But about a day and a half after she was released from the hospital she started having constant severe nausea with no pain, and no vomiting. In addition she has vertigo-like symptoms of dizziness, fatigue and a feeling of faintness.
These are very nearly incapacitating her and the poor thing is absolutely miserable. We took her back to the hospital for a barrage of tests and the docs are saying this is an idiopathic thing (fancy doctor talk for “we don’t have a clue”).
I lived at the hospital last week while she was there, she’s home now, but we’ve got more doc appointments and she’ll likely go back. At any rate, upon returning to work, a coworker stated that his sister, who is 65 and just had a knee replacement, is having nearly identical symptoms as my mom.
Does anyone else have a similar experience?
Again, per dope rules, this is not a request for medical advice (we’ve got a GI, her surgeon, the family doc, and my sister and I internet researching like mad), merely your experiences, what you did about it etc. It’s possible that like my coworker’s sister, someone out there had something similar that may give us a clue on what to look for next.
Is she on multiple medications for other problems? How’s her health generally? Is she anemic?
I ask because my grandmother is in her mid 70s and has had two different episodes in the past year of extreme nausea, dizziness, and disorientation. She’s also anemic and will forget to eat if someone doesn’t remind her. (And of course, when you ask if she’s eaten, she responds “Oh, no, I’m not hungry…” because god-forbid she ask someone to make her a sandwich because she’s 76 and tired.) The doctors think she either took the wrong dosage, forgot one of her medications, or just didn’t eat. We’ve had to keep a much closer eye on her.
Don’t know about your mom’s personality, though. Maybe she’s more self sufficient. Hope she feels better soon.
ETA: Oh yes, and my grandma’s diabetic, too, adding to the whole mess. I’d definitely consider any other health issues your mom has when you’re thinking of what could be the problem.
My 62 year old mother had a knee replacement a week ago today and she had to have a blood transfusion* (2 units) two days after surgery and felt much better. I don’t know what her symptoms were before, but the couple of times I spoke with her before the transfusion, she sounded very weak and depressed. After the transfusion, she felt better.
*I forgot what she said was “low” when they checked her blood, but that’s what she needed.
My mother complained of nausea and dizzyness for the the first week or so after surgery. We had trouble convincing her to eat for the first few days in the rehab center. She thought that the anticoagulants she was on made her nauseated. She also had a pretty bad time coming off the pain medications she had been using before the surgery (oxycontin, bad stuff). She basically can’t remember anything about her first few post-op days, but she seems okay now. (It’s been about month.)
My mom is 70, but the sort of 70 that puts most 30 year olds to shame. She is retired, but prior to this, was very busy and energetic.
Being 70, she has a few health issues, she takes blood pressure meds and was a bit anemic after her knee replacement, but like another poster’s relative, she received a blood transfusion for that.
She’s had so many different tests, the doctors are stumped (but not giving up, she’s scheduled for more this week). We’re looking at the *allergic reaction to the new knee, or it’s components as well.
Seems like there’s a rash of ACL reconstructs going around the rugby world right now. I had one a month ago, and my good buddy had one about 6 months ago. Unfortunately, his doctor didn’t give him any antibiotics, and he developed an infection. They had to go in and scrape out (or whatever they do) all the infection, and then put him on an antibiotic drip for a couple weeks. I don’t remember what his symptoms were, but I’ll ask him in the morning. And I hope this isn’t what’s going on in your mom’s case, because they had to open him back up and the second recovery was harder than the first.