Knee replacement in 3 weeks. What should I expect,?

I had my knee replaced 6 weeks ago.iam 56 .i had the spinal block to with general anastesia.they give you the spinal block cause it numbs you so wen u wake up from surgery you dont feel pain.iwas in the hopspiral over night .they gave me demaril and oxycodone in the hospital.its not baf at all for me the physical therapy is the worst .you will be fine good luck im here if you need me 💖💖💖

Also i had no drain no catatethar and no blood transfusion .stay calm 💖💖

Hi

I’m 42 and had TKR in November. It was fine under spinal and sedation which I was advised was better as you come round straight away and are able to get up as soon as nerve block finished. My consultant advised that they do not like to do GA fir TKR. I’m glad I had Spinal and sedation. I knew nothing of operation and felt fine straight away

I did not have drain (I have had one before and it was fine) I had no catheter. They scanned my bladder when I returned to ward and as it was under half full I didn’t need one. Apparently you cannot feel when u need toilet after spinal block so some people wet themselves so they sometimes use catheter. 

I was in hospital 2 nights on reflection, I think I should off stayed a 3rd. Pain relief well managed in hospital. I had morphine initially plus paracetamol and ibrufen. I was discharged with codine. 

I think the best piece of advice I can give is to be prepared for long recovery. It’s a big operation. I naively thought I would recover quicker due to age and being fit. It’s major surgery and you need time to heal. 

Hope this helped. 

Good luck. 

Aah Bless u all very daunting isn’t it, I have had two knee replacements in the past year.

i had spinal block and sedation for both, brilliant I didn’t know a thing about it, woke up in recovery, I was petrified about the spinal, again brilliant, they sprayed something on my back and again didn’t feel a thing.😀😀

I had a drain for the first oneno problem out after a couple of days, didn’t have catheter. Blood transfusion is usually because of low HB in blood.luck of the draw I think with that one, 

Painkillers are given, if you need more ask for them.

Every knee is different as you will see on this forum, do the exercises, vital.

you will be fine, pma, and down the line you will be glad you’ve had it done.

The operation is the easy bit I found, terrified beforehand, but unfounded, good luck, be brave and let us know how you go.

 

I had  epidural because of chest problems and catheta because of kidney problems. With epidural you get a quicker recovery than general but take headphones and music. The sound of drilling and hammering is terrible! Catheta is undignified but saves you getting up to go to loo first night! Good luck and be prepared for a long haul rehab! I’m 4 months out and still have lots of swelling and stiffness. All normal apparently. 

I'm 44, had a TKR 3 weeks ago (Dec 13). Had a spinal with sedation (begged to not have a spinal after a previous bad experience but no luck). Surgery went well but couldn't urinate for 2 days due to the spinal, had to have 2 catheters to drain bladder 😢.  No drain, no transfusion, had 52 staples but never had any issue with infection and never had any weeping.  Had morphine shots every 4 hours which wasn't sufficient so switched to Percocets which didn't agree with me and then finally Tramocets - was in hospital for 4 days due to pain control issues.

Since being home I use a cryogenic machine and ice pretty much anytime I'm sitting which is about 10 hours/day.  I do my excercises as much as I can and on my first physio appointment they feel I am doing very well and am ahead of the curve.  Pain is much less now, 8-10 hours between pain Meds, but stay on them as they allow you to sleep, excercises, and not be miserable. 

Hope this answered some of your questions, let me know if there's anything else I can answer. 

General...no drain...no cath...major opioids and muscle relaxers (Percocet and Flexeril)...two days.  All of this was very typical.  Here are some more things to consider pre-op...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-pre-op-expectations-622045

Your recovery will look something like this...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-reality-of-a-tkr-recovery-in-one-picture-626038

 

I had TKR in October, and I am 47 years old. Had spinal done which I was terrified of but honestly it was just fine! I was so surprised. You are sedated as well so I came in and out of sleep, knew a bit of what was going on but didn’t care lol. You are very disconnected. No catheter, no drain. They put an adult diaper on us in case of accidents. I was in hospital for two nights, would have preferred three. Had a lot of pain after surgery and they had a hard time controlling it. What worked for others did not work for me. Finally they put me on Dilaudid and it worked thank God! 

They do say recovery is harder on younger patients and I do admit mine hasn’t been nearly as easy as my mom’s was. I still am struggling with range of motion - bending difficult and I’m not where I should be despite doing the exercises and physio. My surgeon told me it’s because I’ve had prior major knee surgery and scopes plus had limited bend prior to surgery and to keep on working.

It’s a big surgery and not an easy recovery but it’s different for everyone! My mom “sailed” through hers (compared to me!) last summer and is doing great! I’m doing a lot better than I was, can clean the barn again (my husband helps with heavy stuff) and drive etc. I’m definitely not returning to work full time at my three month mark though.......

Good luck - you can do this!