Partial Knee Replacement
Posted , 4 users are following.
I'm 75 years old and opted for partial knee replacement on 11/26/19. Research says this is better than full if you qualify. Lost cartilage in right knee so I was bone on bone. Obtained walker, urine bottle, toilet seat, cane and stool softeners (due to pain med) prior to operation. All very useful. I waited too long for operation. Doctor took half hour longer than normal to restructure ligaments. Post op pain was horrible! Ten times worst than left shoulder operation in 2018. Was 2 days in hospital. In hospital had 3 nerve blocks, morphine & Oxycodone-Acetaminophen 7.5-325 MG (generic for Percocet) every 4-6 hours.
- Week 2: first 2 weeks are the WORST, lots of pain, regretted doing operation, 3-4 Oxy pills a day, using tons of ice, friend loaned me ice machine that attaches with tube to knee-GREAT machine, unable to sleep more than a few hours a night, can only sleep on back, 45 staples removed this week, first full shower instead of wipes, off walker and using cane, going to physical therapy (PT), If you do operation DO YOUR HOME EXERCISES and WALK, as hard or painful as it seems leg will get better much faster the more you do.
- Week 3: sleeping better, leg starting to feel good, urine bottle gone, off cane at 3 1/2 weeks.
- Week 4: was worried about going pee 3-4 times a night but after tapering down on Oxy tablets able to sleep thru night now, able to do complete leg rotation on exercise bike. I notice improvement every day.
- Week 5: knee feels really good, happy I did operation now, toilet stool gone, doing PT, home exercises, walking at mall.
- Week 6: knee very good, scabs from 5 1/2 inch scar gone, able to drive now, one more week of PT, leg still swollen, they say it could take 6 months for swelling to go away, still a little hard putting on underwear and pants, went thru 80 Oxy pills, 15 left, tapering down from 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 (stool softener a must). Happy with my progress!
1 like, 4 replies
jean02698 UKR
Posted
congratulations....seems like things are going very well for you....very true about doing your exercises....
UKR jean02698
Posted
Thanks yes I'm doing good! I'm 7 weeks now and getting better every day. Being able to drive again was a major milestone. Although my wife is wonderful I don't like being dependent on her to take me places.
martha08360 UKR
Posted
I like reading comments like this, as I am having a revision in April, and Im claiming results like you had !!!! Good to know about the oxy, but truthfully, my surgeon would NEVER have given me that much... Are you in the UK or USA? curious minds want to know.
UKR martha08360
Posted
I'm in the California in the USA. The same surgeon that did my knee did my left shoulder in 2018 and I wasn't prepared for that pain. My shoulder was in pretty bad shape and they had to drill holes in the bone. I was released the same day as surgery after a nerve block and he gave me Norco to take home. The next day when the hospital called to see how I was doing I said terrible, I've already taken 6 Norco and I'm still in a lot of pain. They called the doctor and he bumped it up to Percocet and my wife ran to get it.
When I had the knee replacement I went to the same doctor and reminded him about the shoulder and said I wanted Percocet and not Norco to start and he agreed. He gave me 40 to start. Like I mentioned with the knee I had lost cartilage but didn't mention I was bone on bone for several years which is not good. I had gone to doctors 4 or 5 times and got cortisone and then the new PRP shots but they only worked for a short time. Finally had to do the surgery and the surgeon took more time repairing the damage with me. Normally he said patients were released the same day but he kept me in the hospital for 2 days and I received 3 nerve blocks, morphine and the Percocet. The first week was hell!! I was taking the Percocet every 3 or 4 hours. Then when I started physical therapy the pain was bad so I went threw the first 40 pretty fast. As mentioned in total I had 95 pills over the 7 weeks which averaged 2 a day. I'm doing good now so won't need any more. I was addicted to Vicodin when I ruptured a disc in my back several years ago so I do not want to do that again.
I hope yours goes much better than mine. Good luck.