Posted , 9 users are following.
11 days post op and I think I'm going backwards instead of forward the pain was awful at bedtime but daytime as well now is a struggle as much as I try I can't bend my knee it's getting stiffer by the day and the pain is unbearable hospital gave me morphine and Co codamol also on blood thinning meds I'm using ice packs at least every 2 hours and elevating I'm thinking I may need stronger pain meds any advice on the meds I'm in uk thanks
0 likes, 31 replies
clive45466 eileen88018
Posted
Look at the Aircast Cuff ice bucket and knee wrap, then you can permanently ice.
Not easy, but if you have someone to help you in and out . A hot bath helps.
Regards
eileen88018 clive45466
Posted
Thanks Clive I'm icing most of the day but was told not to bath for at least 3 weeks or shower I haven't had staples out yet x
clive45466 eileen88018
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I had a waterproof plaster on , but I was in the bath from almost day 1, in the first days just did not lower my whole knee into the water, kept the scar area always out. By turning my leg still got pain relief by having some of my knee in hot water.
Good healing
eileen88018 clive45466
Posted
chris00938 eileen88018
Posted
Eileen, I'm guessing you haven't got the Aquacel dressing that's waterproof then? Have they said you can't shower after the dressing is off and staples out then? They took my staples out at the local GP's yesterday and told me I can shower straight away (I was showering from three days because I had the Aquacel dressing on though). It's all very hit and miss with what everyone gets told, isn't it.
eileen88018 chris00938
Posted
I don't know what dressing I've got on Chris it's like a huge plaster but I was told I must not bathe or shower for the first 3 weeks just strip wash but I must admit I've been sitting on edge of Bath with my feet in water and managing to wash to my waist can't wait for Thursday to get staples out .
chris00938 eileen88018
Posted
I hope you find it easier with the staples out Eileen. I did. They were pulling a lot when I was bending my knee, to the point the blood was coming from the holes they made. I wonder if the nurse who takes your staples out might tell you it's all healed and it's OK to shower.
martinarvelo eileen88018
Posted
I don't think there is much stronger than morphine. . . but 11 days is very early days. I was only just about out of hospital and unable to walk at that stage (slow starter!) but with gentle perseverance, here I am now with 134/0. It just needs a lot of patience, a lot of perseverance. . . and time.
CHICO_MARX eileen88018
Posted
Dilaudid (Hydromorphone) is 7x stronger than morphine. It is very, very strong and rarely used because of the possible respiratory side effects. I get 2mg IV when I go to the ER for a kidney stone but that's about it.
Then there's Fentanyl patches...100x stronger...used for terminal cancer cases. You don't want to go there.
Stay strong...it does get better!!!
PS: How do I know all this crap? Married to a pharmacist for 25 years and now to a lovely woman who was a psychiatric nurse in state mental hospitals dispensing the heavy duty anti-psychotics for 30 years. Yeah...we know drugs...
martinarvelo CHICO_MARX
Posted
CHICO_MARX martinarvelo
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Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is just plain Tylenol to us. Does absolutely nothing...except maybe for a headache. The typical post-op opioids are hydrocodone plus acetaminophen (Vicodin and Norco) and oxycodone plus acetaminophen (Percocet). Most people are on them for 30+ days and then titrate off of them to Tramadol and acetaminophen over the next 30. Yes, there are some people that need them longer. Haven't heard of many people on straight morphine...except right after surgery at the hospital.
chris00938 CHICO_MARX
Posted
I'm wondering about stopping the paracetamol - still taking it four times a day but since I've got no pain I'm wondering if it's silly keep taking it! I think I'll scrap it for a day or two and see what happens then! My GP was pushing me to take it four times a day for years but I never did - just two a night to help me sleep, which it did. But I think I'll stop today and see how it goes if it's probably doing nothing!
martinarvelo CHICO_MARX
Posted
CHICO_MARX martinarvelo
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Absolutely. I don't like opioids AT ALL but when I need them...I need them. I avoid the hydrocodone because of its constipating side effects so I get the oxycodone (Percocet) for big operations (hip, knee, back fusion). This time, I got the Percocet PLUS Flexeril, a powerful muscle relaxer, TOGETHER!!! Still didn't take away all the pain as I am resistant to these drugs. Still, it helped a lot.
PS: Home the day after surgery, got out of bed whacked out on this crap, my wife looked at me crumpled on the floor and called a rehab joint to come and take me away! Just shipped me out!!! Couldn't blame her. She had brain aneurysm surgery in 2010 and really couldn't care for me. I was home in a week and still delusional enough to think I was playing a gig with my band that Saturday night. What an idiot!
I have always rehabbed lightning fast from every op I've ever had...but not this one. Took me eight months to get up to 10,000 steps a day on my FitBit...then I developed severe stenosis at L2/L3 (think sciatica down BOTH legs) last October. Surgery in 10 days. Luckily, the doc's going to use a different technique by going into my spine from the side and inserting an expandable spacer between the vertebrae. Once in place, they crank it open with an Allen wrench (like a jack lifting up a car) opening up the space and relieving the pressure on the nerves. Overnight stay, immediate pain relief, zero rehab in 80% of cases. Crossing my fingers and toes else it's a whole new fusion L2 through S1. Not what I want to do. This has kept me from completing all the quad work from the knee op. Just want to get past it and regain all my strength.
CHICO_MARX chris00938
Posted
None of that stuff is good for your stomach. If you don't need it, don't take it.
martinarvelo CHICO_MARX
Posted
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