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I had a knee replacement op 10 days ago.

Posted , 143 users are following.

ann02425
ann02425

I have a continual, deep pain/ache in practically the whole of my leg. I use ice on it (frozen peas!) a great deal of the time and I take my pain killers. At night I cannot sleep because there is nowhere New I can put my leg which does not become become equally painful within a few seconds. Anybody else have this problem? Also, I had to stop taking Diclofenac a few days before the op. How long before I can take it again?

15 likes, 331 replies

331 Replies

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  • mag00197
    mag00197 ann02425

    Posted

    I have been feeling so down,  because I am a very independent 75year old.  Now I have to rely on my husband and although he is very good to me, he comes home telling me how it is with people he has spoken to who are getting on so well.  2weeks on I'm still feeling very tired, (nights are horrendous).  No one told me how difficult sleep would be.  Also I didn't expect to be taking so many pain killers.  The hospital gave me enough for a week.  I am so thankful that I found this discussion and I have read out some of your accounts of pain after ops to my husband.  It is so good to realise I am not on my own.
    • sally58158
      sally58158 mag00197

      Posted

      Hello Mag

      i think that we would all agree that nothing prepares you for the brutal nature of this op. Even our surgeons have not actually gone through it and everyone on this forum says the same. It is a long process and we all have different recoveries but the intense pain and sleepless nights are a constant

    • susan20089
      susan20089 mag00197

      Posted

      Oh dear mag we all know exactly how you feel. I also felt guilty about my husband doing everything but you have to just go with it at the moment.  You are not able to do things for yourself and haven't hot the energy.  The majority of us didn't do well I can assure you.  The sleep is the main thing and the pain.  I am still taking painkillers 8 weeks on.  I think at 6 weeks things seemed to turn around, but that might have been just for me. It might happen for you a lot quicker.  We all need the time to heal.   I myself rested a lot, doing exercises when I felt able to do them. I didn't, like some people, exercise all the time.  I myself thought it mor important to let my body do the talking.  The nights were awful for me too, sleeping on the couch as I couldn't get comfortable in bed.  I took NYtol for a while which seemed to help.  Those first four weeks it is very hard to slerp eat snd exercise.  You get plenty of rest Mags, let peopl wait on you and don't get down when you hear about others doing so well.  Believe me things will get better for you. Everything seems to come together within a few days when you are ready.  Keep us posted eith how you are feeling as we all will be able to sympathise and help you. Xxx
  • mag00197
    mag00197 ann02425

    Posted

    Thanks so much to those who've replied to me.  I've just read them out to my husband and I think this has helped him to understand.  I wish I had found this site earlier, it has helped me so much.  I'll keep in touch.
  • kev_stir
    kev_stir ann02425

    Posted

    Hi Ann, I had knee replacement 3 weeks ago , I was out after 6 days but within 3 days was back with an infection in my leg. I wonder how long your night pain went on for as I have the same thing , sleep almost impossible at minute when i do sleep I wake with a leg that feels so heavy and dead the only feeling in there is pain
  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    I am an athletic 57-year-old male. I am five days postop left left TKR. I hit the wall the second day postop while in the hospital. The pain was just brutal!  Since then it is steadily improving. I have one of the new Conformis iTotal knees. I have read there were some problems with some of the earlier ones which they have corrected. My surgeon  did a minimally invasive procedure where the scar goes around the kneecap not across the top. The incision is about 5 inches long.

    was operated on Monday released Wednesday and by Thursday was fully weight-bearing and gently walking on it without crutches. Friday I was going up and down stairs without crutches, one step at a time using my good leg. By the end of Friday I was finally able to do a couple of leg lifts without ant assist. Right now the most pain I get is from going flat to putting my legs down on the floor. It feels like battery acid is pouring into my veins. It takes about 3 minutes to slowly stand before I get over the pain. I max d out the CPM machine to 120 degrees on my 4th day post op. My extension is in the negative numbers (on the machine) but I really need to increase that as pre op I could not fully extend it. My knee is very rounded with inflammation so is difficult to bend on my own beyond 110 degrees. Starting last night I was able to roll over in bed without wincing in a lot of pain so my sleeping improved. A previous surgeon suggested I had an extremely high tolerance to pain as I had been bone on bone for the past 13 years yet still aggressively downhill skied on it. At the time I was 43 and he said I was a perfect candidate for a TKR replacement except for two problems, I was too young and I was too athletic. Fast forward 15 years and I started having issues with the knee again. Current surgeon looked at the new X-rays and read old report  and said there's no reason any longer to wait. I went to the gym worked out hard with all the grinding going on and then just had surgery. 

    • gillme1955_UK
      gillme1955_UK Don007

      Posted

      Hi there. Your TKR sounds really interesting and you're doing so well! 

      Can I ask where you had the operation? 

      Many thanks,

      Gill

    • Don007
      Don007 gillme1955_UK

      Posted

      My original response went to moderation because I included a web site link, so following is a copy without the direct link in case the original gets bounced.

      Not sure if I should post that on a public forum. I think the best idea would be to go to conformis website and read everything on the site and watch all of the videos. My surgeon is one of the guys in one of the videos. I've always have been a cutting edge (no pun intended!!!) kind of guy so have no problem going with newer technology. The only thing is, I figure it is like any new technology, you never want the first generation. They are now on the second generation with some additional modifications added to it as some original issues had surfaced and haze been addressed. My surgeon is booked out 6 months in advance, does 5 TKR in a day and does it 2x a week that I am aware of. He also has people flying into New England from as far away as California that I am aware of. All I can say from what I'm reading, is recovery time for many seems to be way longer than what I am tracking for. I also know that I am putting in a lot of effort and pain to do it, but for now it is my full time job.

  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    Cont'd

    I am currently on morphine and Vicodin plus a blood thinner. Every day the swelling gets a little bit less, the pain a little bit less and my strength improves a little bit more. Only time will tell whether or not this new knee is as good as it seems and whether or not it would last as long as traditional knee replacements. Other than the ride home from the hospital I have been on my own preparing my own meals since coming home. I do have a freezer full of frozen food ready to go  I wish you all the best hope you all keep improving.

  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    I forgot to say my surgeon used glue instead of sutures or staples so I was able to shower yesterday without fear of getting it wet since the entire area is covered in this clear plastic.
  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    just in case people are upset that they are not recovering as fast you have to remember that recovery is in the shape of the bell curve. Some will do better some of the worse and some will do average. I may been lucky that every step along the way my bell curve am hitting the upper end of it so everything is speeded up. I may of been doing just as well with a different knee implant, different surgeon, different surgical procedure into the knee, or different knee arthritic pattern. There are just so many variables that what is good for one person may not be so good for the next person. I'm just posting how my surgery went and what the results are for me. Not everyone will or can respond in the same fashion that I have. I'm also not out of the woods yet either as I don't know how it will continue to perform in the coming weeks months years.
  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    The ebb and flow of pain. 

    6 Days Poat Op

    Strange how pain comes and goes with a TKR. 

    I've been doing pretty good with motion and strength and all of the little successes each day. Pain has still been an issue as we all know. 

    Last night I hit the wall again and could not get comfortable. 

    I had taken the 2nd to last morpheme tablet an 1 hydrocodone last night before bed. I also applied ice while lying in bed. 4 hours later after tossing and turning in pain I got up and took 2 hydrocodone tablets and instead of ice I turned on the heating blanket. I know ice is good for swelling, but heat is good for relaxing muscles and soft tissues. That did the trick for another 4 hours when I woke again. Did the same thing again but climbed back into bed with an ice pack for 15 minutes then removed that and let the heating blanket do its thing. Seems to have worked. No additional swelling but the soft tissues and muscles seem quite a bit happier.

    • david01153
      david01153 Don007

      Posted

      Hi Don...it's strange but all the people who I talked to before the TKR never mentioned the night pain. In my case I think having fine weather post OP has helped. It meant I could have my knee outside of the quilt. I've found, with my knee, that even the weight of a sheet was too much. In fact any material, including lightweight cotton PJs, touching the skin over the scar seemed to produce a static charge type of pain. I've found, in my case. Standing a chair cushion, wrapped in a pillow case. Upright between my legs while lying on my back. Created a tent space over my knee giving me much relief. Only waking if the 'tent' colapsed onto the knee.
  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    7 days post op. 57 yres old.

    The PT just left. Did not measure flexion but appears to be 0º or better.

    Flexion has gone up to 115º.

    Heat from underneath seems to help the soft tissue pain.

    The terrible burning sensation from standing up appears to be gone.

    Swelling is noticebly better.

    Pain seems to be a constant 3 up to 6 or more at times.

    Finished last morphene pill and only on Hydrocodone.

    Originally had bouts of naseua but since taking medication with milk instead of "food" seems to really have helped.

    Wish there was no pain but other than that extremely happy with results.

  • Don007
    Don007 ann02425

    Posted

    9 days post op

    not much new except slowly improving everyday. The most important thing is to stay up on the pain medication.

    • Don007
      Don007

      Posted

      Now about 6 months post op.

      First thing I have to correct was I said I was 57, that was wrong, I was 58 and had a birthday between then and now so I am now 59. I'll chalk the discrepancy up to the good meds!

      Now to catch up on my past history!

      Pain was a killer until after 4 weeks when it finally started to subisde and basically got better every week. Every once in awhile I'd wake up to less pain.

      I saw an in home PT for the first two weeks after the OP. By week 4 I could go without the heavy pain meds other than at night and used a combination of Ibuprofen and acetaminophen during the day so I could drive to the external PT. Saw him once one week than he scheduled me for 2 weeks later, and then 3 weeks after that! At the last appointment he said I was done with PT!!!??? I said I had my 2nd Dr's appointment in 6 weeks and asked if he thought I'd be ready, his reply was that I was already ready! I was already at 0º and 135º. PT said he wished all his patients did as well as me!

      I must say that I've been in the gym since the 4th week post op and I'm sure this has been the most important thing in my recovery.

      Saw my surgeon at my 3 month appointment. He said my next appointment would be in a year, but asked that I text him to tell him how my knee did my first day back snow skiing! He also stated that my replacement knee would end up being my stronger knee because of the arthritis in my natural knee and that one would probably need to be replaced in 10 years.

      4 months out I fell down a 1/2 flight of stairs and crunched by new knee and sprained my opposite foot. Luckily the knee was technically fine but did hurt and between the foot and the knee it set me back about 4 weeks.

      After 4 weeks recovery I did a fairly strenuous 1 mile hike up and back a mountainous trail, but kept it to a mile because my surgeon said to hold back on my first hike.  The knee felt great, but my leg muscles were still and my aerobic fitness were the weak links!

      3 days later I hiked the same trail, but this time to the summit. It is a 3.3 mile round trip with 1500 vertical foot climb, some of it up fairly large boulder steps. I ended up doing the same hike 3x in the same week! I must say the surgeon was right, my natural knee hurt whereas the TKR knee was fine!

      It is really crazy how I am still learning to trust my TKR in places where I previously would of had to switch feet to protect that knee from pain for the past 30 years! What a relief!!!! An example is walking down a slope. Previously because of an ACL reconstrucion that got stretched, walking down a steep slope was impossible unless I went down sideways, now I can walk straight down it without any pain!

      I know we're not suppose to run on it but I tried it out in 100 step units during a 3 mile walk to get my heart rate up. I had a GPS in my pocket and during one of the sections where I pushed it I hit 8.7 mph! Needless to say I probably won't be doing it again, but it was a great feeling to be able to run after 30 years of not being able!

      This past week I hiked a 6 mile trail with 2000 vertical feet. The knee never hurt at all but my natural knee and the sprained foot did! Looks like I ended up with a case of plantars fasciitis from spraining my foot back 2 months ago sad, but the new knee never blinked!cheesygrin

      Finally, even after 6 months things are still improving. It use to hurt to fully flex my knee, but some time after 5 months even that pain is almost completely gone, and my flexion is probably maxed out now at the mechanical limit of the new joint at somewhere around 140º!

      Needless to say I am ecstatic with my new knee! It was very painful for the first 4 weeks with very little sleep. I worked out a lot getting stronger going into the surgery which both the PT and surgeon said helped a lot with my recovery. I also listened to my body after the surgery and did not do anything to agreviate it beyond what I felt comfortable with until the knee felt ready for it.

      I just wanted to post this for everyone going through a tough time that there is light at the end of the tunnel and it will just keep getting better and better as you go along, it will just take time. Best of luck to you all!

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