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Knee Surgery Hospital Horrors and Highlights

Posted , 15 users are following.

jenny80029
jenny80029

This TKR recovery is a long haul!   We WILL get there in the end.  I am still looking back from time to time to my time in hospital.  I was fortunate to have a very positive experience, which was a relief because I have had some bad experiences in hospital in the past.  What I would like to suggest for this thread, as a bit of entertainment more than anything else, is for people to post ONE (just one!) hospital highlight and ONE (just one!) hospital horror.  Probably keeping fairly brief would be best if possible.  It could be entertaining!   My start is:

highlight...the first time I stood up.  I could feel my operated leg was wonderfully straight and it hasn't been that way for years!  

horror...the time I realised that my nightdress was just that little bit too short.  I hadn't factored in the fact that when using a walker you have to lean forward.  I also hadn't registered that my fellow patient had visitors as I trundled off to the toilet...leaning forward!!!  lol

1 like, 106 replies

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  • DebbieHurts
    DebbieHurts jenny80029

    Posted

    One funny Horror: I stayed a couple weeks in a rehab after my TKR in March and experienced a lot of both good and bad there.  There was a patient who would wheel himself up and down the halls singing loudly in a nasaly voice, and when he saw me on my bed through my open door, he stopped and serenaded me.  I pulled my curtain around so I wouldn't see him, but he just wheeled himself further in and kept singing.  I told him, "Go away, please!"  Evetually he wheeled off.  I winced everytime I heard him coming after that, but he didn't stop again, thankfully.

     

    • marilyn10235
      marilyn10235 DebbieHurts

      Posted

      Oh dear I hope he wasn't singing 'knees up muvver brown"!!

      Sorry, you are probably in USA, so wouldn't really know that old song!!! I just thought with our knee ops it fit!! Lol

      Glad you survived 'Placido Domingo's' vocalisations!!!

      Marilyn

      XX

  • Duckfan
    Duckfan jenny80029

    Posted

    I love the British sense of humor. In fact olive all things British. Maybe because my ancestors came from the Isle of Gurnsey
    • marilyn10235
      marilyn10235 Duckfan

      Posted

      Oh Guernsey is beautiful, went there on holiday with my parents & Aunt & Uncle when I was a kid. My first taste of Coca Cola!! Lol

      XX

  • jenny80029
    jenny80029

    Posted

    Another horror....hearing a fellow patient in a a lot of pain due to constipationn

    It scared me so much and i took a senna tablet i had brought with me..and vowed not to

    Eat much! The poor lady was literally groaning in pain and while being helped as much as possible

    I couldnt bear the thought of pain in another area....the knee was enough to contend with!

    • CHICO_MARX
      CHICO_MARX jenny80029

      Posted

      Constipation is a well-known side effect of hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco, etc.).  Oxycodone (same pain-killing effect, no constipation, based on a different molecule) is available with acetaminophen as Percocet.  Ask your doc to switch you over.

      "Adverse effect profiles were similar, with the exception of a higher incidence of subsequent constipation with the use of hydrocodone." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health

  • Ozziegee
    Ozziegee jenny80029

    Posted

    The one horror that comes to mind and there were a few, was when I was discharged from the Hospital. I'd been in there five days, I'd had trouble with swelling, meds and then pain. My friend came to pick me up, they put me in a wheelchair and the 'attendant' took me out to the car. Even though the seat was back it was a tight fit to get in. I gingerly put my butt in first and then swiveled my legs around. The left one went in ok but the operated knee/leg would not quite make it. It was obvious that I needed to do some adjustment to wriggle in.......before I could do anything the 'assistant' grabbed my leg, just bent it and jammed it in, problem solved! I let out an explosive scream to which he said, "what happened, did you get a cramp"? I replied, "no, you mother bleep, bleep, bleep.....

    • jenny80029
      jenny80029 Ozziegee

      Posted

      Aaahhh! I knew you would have a classic just waiting to come out! Thanks for sharing!
    • Ozziegee
      Ozziegee

      Posted

      The one bright moment I can think of is when the night nurse slipped me some Morphine. When that didn't help, she gave me another dose. That did the trick. I was having trouble with meds from the getgo....kept passing out, low blood pressure, etc., so they switched me to a low dose of some lightweight stuff. That was the only time I got the morphine but it was huge for me at the time, I was literally screaming in pain.

    • chris00938
      chris00938 Ozziegee

      Posted

      Oh heavens LOL!  Oh boy!  That gave us such a laugh but I doubt very much if I'd laughed if it had been me there then LOL!  I am pondering on when I get the second knee done - sitting on the passenger side it's going to be the knee closest to the middle of the car - first knee to get in, and I IMAGINE it's harder than if it's the second knee to get in???????  Anyone know?

    • chris00938
      chris00938 Ozziegee

      Posted

      Ah - was it the morphine causing the low blood pressure?  I had a problem with that after my knee op and after another op a few years back, and it lasted for two or three weeks, gradually wearing off.  I THOUGHT it was loss of blood that caused it though.  I only had the original morphine at the time of the op though.  Nothing after that.
    • Ozziegee
      Ozziegee chris00938

      Posted

      My guess is, it's going to be a bit tougher BUT, easier to drive.

    • Ozziegee
      Ozziegee chris00938

      Posted

      Now ya got me thinking about the morphine. You might just be right. Not sure.
    • Duckfan
      Duckfan Ozziegee

      Posted

      Oh my gosh. I'm laughing so hard. Clueless was that attendant. Was it a cramp, are you kidding me.

    • chris00938
      chris00938 Ozziegee

      Posted

      That's what I wondered - thanks Ozziegee.  I don't drive anymore these days, so won't benefit from that aspect:-(

    • chris00938
      chris00938 Duckfan

      Posted

      You're making me laugh about it afresh Duckfan:-)))))

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