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Blateral TKR 6 weeks ago

Posted , 9 users are following.

allan87044
allan87044

i thought I would share info. First 2-3 weeks, barely sleep. Pains as opposed 

to aches, lost 15 lbs and my taste for food. No appetite. And exhausted.

approaching 6 weeks Tuesday and not as tired, doing constant PT in office and home.. Slowly getting appetitie back, sleep somewhat better. Pain has migrated to itching and aches. Let's not forget stiffness in AM or after idle. 

I can walk it off abit, but never really without that dull ache feeling. I have good ROM. Stretching helps. I am 71, but in great shape. Two knees is not for the faint heart or out of shape. Glad to answer any questions. The recovery is slow, but one can see it come, "ever so slowly". I am physically ahead, but one must let all the tissue and nerves recover..reading other exp riences is a bit of a comfort. Not alone. 

2 likes, 17 replies

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  • moandrieu
    moandrieu allan87044

    Posted

    Good on you for doing both at the same time. I did too, though I'm 20 years your junior, I'm now nearly 6 months out. You are right about the lack of sleep the first couple of weeks. At 6 weeks I could ride my moped, but it was a little scary at first to sit on that seat and force my knees to bend comfortably - and I thought I had really good range of motion. But riding that bike was so good for forcing me to work on that bend. I wish I'd known the upper body strength I was going to need. Should have been a no brainer, but I was clueless. There's still some dull aches, tingling, numbness. But it continues to improve. I found it much easier to sit upright in my bed, lifting and stretching my legs as I read or was on the computer. I don't do well just sitting in a chair. Great job you are doing.
    • allan87044
      allan87044 moandrieu

      Posted

      Went into surgery in great shape. It helps, but all the initial drugs kill your appetite, pain meds make u goofy, no one sleeps for months (4:45 AM in U.S.), the aches come after pain leaves, and for every hour of surgery, it is a month to rid the system of anesthesia effects. I work out in various forms all day. Naps are just around the corner. Either need one or just chill

      every day. Six weeks in, food taste and desires just coming back. 

      Lost 15 lbs. One is never to richardsgrenwich or too thin. And, nothing feels as good as thin. 

    • moandrieu
      moandrieu allan87044

      Posted

      I'm American, but currently in India. They don't do the pain meds the same here, I wish they had been stronger. And the PT came to my apartment 6 days a week, for close to 4 weeks. None of the fancy machines were available that other friends had had and no rehab hospital. I too lost some weight, but I don't remember losing that much or losing my appetite.
    • allan87044
      allan87044 moandrieu

      Posted

      They canme to the house for 3 weeks.mthen I went to PT friends. Made a diff, but, I am b

      very discipline (old athlete) and have gym in my house.mthat helps. Bike, weights, etc.

  • tess94652
    tess94652 allan87044

    Posted

    I lost weight too during those first few awful weeks but oh dear it's gone the other way since - too much comfort eating and being spoilt by the family!!! - so off to slimming world next week to try to shed a few pounds. Good luck with your recovery - sounds v positive!
  • Dotty_Lotty
    Dotty_Lotty allan87044

    Posted

    My word I now feel so feeble ! I have just has one tkr( 6 days) and still feel grim I am full of admiration for you, your deremination sounds incredible. Well done you. I have taken note of your point that we need to let tissue and nerves recover . I guess  we all just want to get back to normal asap and it is just not going to happen like that. Thankyou for putting my feeble progress into perspective.
    • allan87044
      allan87044 Dotty_Lotty

      Posted

      6 days is nothing. You will barely remember those. Keep exercising even when u would rather nap. Your not there yet. You have barely figured out steps and getting out of a chair. 2 more weeks 1-2 weeks befiore u see a sign of anything. Stay medicated for that period. Too tortuous otherwise.

      It is slow progress, but there.DO THE PT..ICE. Eat healthy. And add protein.

       

  • Peglegbev
    Peglegbev allan87044

    Posted

    Week 9 after tkr for me.

    Had the usual mess morphine (fab) paracetamol codeine ibuprofen now just paracetamol and ibuprofen when it gets too painful

    Still not a proper bend and still a weird foot but can sleep for 5h now without getting up for a pee !

    Can sit for about 1.5h but them have to either walk about or do stretches

    Also lost appetite which is a good thing as needed to lose weight

    Back to work in a few weeks :-(

    • allan87044
      allan87044 Peglegbev

      Posted

      Up sound like . Sit for 1.5 then stiff and ADD sets in. Aleve works well for me. Side effects way better than Advil.nnew data has Aleve a potential better choice than advil for pain management. So I read.

      sitting at work is a challenge. That is if up ave a sitting Jon. If stanning, 

      my guess is that will have a time limit as well. God luck.

    • Peglegbev
      Peglegbev allan87044

      Posted

      Oh well office is used to me wandering around so not a problem might be if I start doing lunges without warning
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo Peglegbev

      Posted

      Twelve weeks, and I still have the 'weird foot' . .actually, weird feet, although the operated leg is worse. . which makes me wonder if in fact it has something to do with the spinal rather than the operation?  it's like a tight band  . it was so 'real' when I was still in hospital  that  I had to look at it to see if it was tightly bandaged . . .
    • allan87044
      allan87044 martinarvelo

      Posted

      Tight bad is normal. Last thing to go. So everyone and doc tells me.

      you can speed it up. Stretch all the leg muscles  2-4 times a day. That loosens the band feeling. Working for me. Still tight, but less , and goes away faster when I start walking around. 

    • Peglegbev
      Peglegbev martinarvelo

      Posted

      Yay I am not alone. I thought I had a bandage wrapped to tight the worse part is the elastic band feeling around me toes
  • sarah87162
    sarah87162 allan87044

    Posted

    I too had a lot of trouble sleeping after my TKR nearly 3 years ago. It has changed my sleeping pattern. Even now I usually wake up in the night, never used to.

    For me it is just something I have had to accept.

    Bit it does get better.

    At least I don't wake up with my knee aching and painful as I used to.

    Now I just wake up and eventually go back to sleep again.

    I have always been such a good sleeper and this was something I was just not expecting.

    Hope this settles down in time.

    Sarah

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