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Please help?

Posted , 16 users are following.

Patel86
Patel86

Hello everyone,

My mum has a Knee Replacement surgery next week. I wanted to ask from people who have undergone this procedure as to what sort of house chores are safe to do and whether it can be started a day or so after you return home. Would my mum be able to cook with help from friends and family? Also because the bathroom is upstairs will she be safe to go up and down the stairs? Thank you in advance.

0 likes, 32 replies

32 Replies

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  • tracy2364
    tracy2364 Patel86

    Posted

    Hi

    Hope all goes well for your mum. I'm only 51 and had PKR on 7th Oct, have found the whole process really difficult. Good days doing loads then over doing it and then bad days.  We have a downstairs toilet and I knew that I wouldn't be able to get down stairs easily in the early days so bought a portable commode from a mobility store and put  it in  a spare room which was great, also a plastic mug with a lid but open handle which i could carry with my crutches.  Food stores which do home delivery as I couldn't drive for groceries

    Your mum will need lots of support and understanding.

    Best of luck

     

  • shirley43993
    shirley43993 Patel86

    Posted

    When you say light things I hope she will be better than anyone that most of us have talked to. Is she going from hospital to a place that does rehab or straight home? Two to four days after surgery I was far from cooking or cleaning and they didn't starts stairs with me until two weeks, I did some stairs before that point but very slow and the first few days they hurt. If you have no choice, you have no choice but help is something when you are pain meds that really helps. It's hard, one of the hardest surgery there is and you need to be careful..
  • liz00723
    liz00723 Patel86

    Posted

    Hi Patel

    i had a TKR 3 weeks ago and the advice from all the people on here is spot on.  I have found this the best Forum ever.  They have cheered me up when I've been down and made me feel I am not alone.  I feel as if I have friends here.

    i am normally very fit but there is no way I could have made even the lightest meal.  The stairs were really quite easy and I found going up and down the stairs was a good way to alleviate the stiffness.  It is only now 3 weeks and 2 days after my op that I am thinking of trying to make a pot of soup this afternoon.

    this is definitely a major operation and you are never told how difficult it is going to be.

    Last night was an awful night for me as I didn't sleep at all in bed but did sleep for a couple of hours on the sofa.  My brother on the other hand had the same op, suffered with same things as me but did sleep well at night, so we are all different.

    good luck for your mum.  Everyone tells me I will think it was. Worthwhile in the end, but at the moment I would say never again.

    keep in touch on this forum.  It will help.

    Liz

    • Patel86
      Patel86 liz00723

      Posted

      Thank you Liz for your great advice, I am truly thankful with everyone's response and advice on here.

      Thanks for the good luck. I wish you all the best with your recovery and I am sure at the end of your recovery you will say you don't have any regrets with the surgery what so ever, I am sure it will be worth it for you :-)

      I hope you get good nights sleep. All the best. Take care.

    • liz00723
      liz00723 Patel86

      Posted

      Hi Patel

      just thought I would say that I never needed a raised toilet seat, I was ok.  In fact the nurse said to me that hip replacements definitely need the raised toilet seat, but not knees.  I was ok but I am sure others wouldn't be.

      It is a horrible operation and unfortunately I was not aware of how things might go.  You definitely go through a weepy stage, or at least lots of females do.  Mine was always the middle of the night, but when I got my meds sorted that seemed to sort itself out.

      one day at a time, but with your love and help she will be fine.  What day dies she have her op?

      liz

  • delia56360
    delia56360 Patel86

    Posted

    She will need looking after as she will have to rest and keep that leg iced and elvated, she will be able to go up and down stairs useing her sticks it will be slow but she will be fine , She will need an extention on her loo, the home nurses will provide that .. She will be able to cook small things because standing will be tough for a while . Its a tough old journey she has to go through . I am 13 weeks on now , when i first came home i was fine but the days ahead got tough i went through a crying stage and dreadfull tirdness this is all part of the healing , just be patient it will all get stronger week on week .. Also make sure she has her meds and does her excercises every day after .. Dont push yourselve to much little by little but that knee need to be moved 

    I wish her luck on the journey 

  • Muffett
    Muffett Patel86

    Posted

    Right now concentrate on YOU and family members helping your mom out. Worrying about chores should be your least cocern. It's your turn to take care of mom. She changed a lot of dirty diapers if you catch my drift.
  • patsyrose
    patsyrose Patel86

    Posted

    Just a note re a raised seat on the loo...I think that it depends on how tall you are.  I didn't have one in the hospital for my first knee and the loo was a perfect height (I am 5 feet 2).  When I had the second one done, there was one on the toilet, but it was much to high for me.  The Physio then removed it and said that they are actually really for hip replacement patients.  One thing that you do need though is a handrail or something that you can help to pull yourself up with.  I always use the sink at home ;-)
    • liz00723
      liz00723 patsyrose

      Posted

      I Haven't had a raised toilet seat either and am 5'10" tall.  I use the wash hand basin to hold on to.  Find it ok, but a bit tricky first few times.

      they told me as well they were only really for hip replacements,  but not all people are told the same.

      Nothing is easy, but I guess it gets a bit easier as the weeks go in.

      liz

    • irish_linda
      irish_linda liz00723

      Posted

      i would be lost without the raised toilet seat  and im still using it because the bend is not as good as it should be  .im 5ft 4in . i think its one of the most used pieces of equipment that i have and its so cheap
    • liz00723
      liz00723 irish_linda

      Posted

      I know Linda, lots of people say the same as you.  I intended getting one, but when I was told I didn't need one I thought I should try without.  Not saying it was easy but it was doable as long as you have something solid to lean on.  I am recuperating at my friend's house.  If I had been at home I would have bought one anyway.

      Initially my best aid was the leg lifter.  It was brilliant when your leg feels like a solid lump.  About 2 weeks after I got home though, without thinking I had lifted my leg on to the bed unaided.  Think my face might have been a picture when I realised what I had done.  Haven't used it since.

      A plastic bag on the car seat to enable turning easily is still vital to me.

      we should all share these tips we find work for us.

      Good luck everyone.

      liz

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo liz00723

      Posted

      It depends really on whether there is something to hold on to. The configuration of my bathroom means there is absolutely nothing you could use to help pull yourself up, and believe me, it was hell every time I had to go to the loo . . and as I had cistitis, it was rather often!!!
    • liz00723
      liz00723 martinarvelo

      Posted

      Oh poor you, that is not nice.  That's why I keep saying everybody is different.  I couldn't use the downstairs loo as there was nothing to hold on to but upstairs was ok.

      bigger problem for me has been getting a shower, nightmare unless you have a walk in shower.

      None of it is fun, but keeping my fingers crossed that things get better.

      Manage to put on the compression stockings myself this morning, big achievement.

      Liz

  • tracy2364
    tracy2364 Patel86

    Posted

    I'm 5foot 5 and was told that seat raisers are only needed for hips.  I used a belt from a dressing gown as a leg lifter if I didn't have trousers on as then I would just hold the trouser leg and lift.  Plastic bag on the car seat is a great help but also sitting on a cushion is also helpful as I found the height of the car seat really too low which made travelling by car really painful especially when I was discharged and any journey in the first few weeks.
    • liz00723
      liz00723 tracy2364

      Posted

      That's A good idea Tracy.  Going to try the cushion this afternoon going to the Physio.  Thanks.

      liz

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo tracy2364

      Posted

      Depends on where your loo is!  If there's nothing to hold on to it is very difficult and a great strain on the good knee at the beginning. I wish I had thought of the plasting bag on the seat . . that sounds like a great idea!

       

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