TKR full steam ahead!

Oh Cheryl - wonderful!  Hope all goes well for you and looking forward to you being back telling us everything:-))))))  I'm SO looking forward to my pre-op on 15th May, for my second one, but know I'll have to wait 8 - 12 weeks after that for the op.  But at least I'll have a date soon after the pre-op so can do a countdown!  It really is incredibly exciting that we get this chance of a new life after being crippled for so long!!!!  That's the long and the short of it!

Thank you so much Chris, I've been doing the countdown for about the last 3 months. I added a note on every day in my calendar saying the no of days till TKR.  It's really given me something to hang onto and made me feel more positive every day. It is rather wonderful that we get this chance of a new life after being crippled for so long, I can't believe it! It's been a 7-8 year wait. NEW LIFE here I come!

Good luck for Friday Cheryl. At least you know what to expect.

Marilyn

XX

BIG smiles for you:-)))))

Congratulations. .gosh, it's getting very exciting on here at the moment! Best wishes and keep us posted!

Hi Cheryl!

Another Cheryl here!😊

You will do GREAT! I was really excited to get each of MY surgeries, too. I didn't have to wait as long as you had to, though. All I knew is I WANTED MY PAIN TO BE GONE! I was in so much pain prior to surgery that SURGERY wasn't nearly as painful as my everyday existence PRIOR to surgery. You may find this to be true as well!

Of course you KNOW recovery is coming. That requires patience, but at least that pain is HEALING PAIN that is the body's response to getting REPAIRED!

Wishing you an uneventful surgery, a quick recovery, and enjoyment of a NEW LIFE with two good knees!

It is a wonderful thing to get rid of the grinding, throbbing pain!

Sending prayers to you this morning for calm, strength, and happiness!??

SPOT on!:-)))))

Thanks so much Marilyn.

Yes!! Thank you, they're contagious!!

Thank you so much Jenny.

Thank you so much Cheryl. Could everyone please put in a word with the Big Guy upstairs and ask for NO infection this time, that would be awesome!!

Done:-)

Done!😊

Phew - that sounds a bad experience!!!!  I can't remember - are you in the UK?  I'm really sorry you had such a traumatic experience, and it would have been traumatic - there is NO denying that!  I do remember before they lifted my leg outside the theatre they put a sort of airbag with warm air going through it over my upper body.  I'd forgotten that until that moment LOL!  It was lovely and such a relief to get warm again.  There is supposed to be something added to the spinal that gives really good pain relief for two or three days, too, from what I understand, so you really didn't get any of the benefits at all, but certainly some issues you could have done without!  Maybe if anyone is having a spinal they can check that it comes with a sedative, as most seem to.

😮 oh no! That sounds horrendous!

It must depend on where people have it done... I loved that lovely warm Lilo!

I'm with you on the General! Our two sons were born via C-section. The first was an emergency C-section following a long and painful labor and under a General anesthetic. I was HAPPY to just go to sleep after all the craziness of that long labor! 😨

Our second son was a planned C-section, and I had a spinal. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVED being awake the whole time and being a part of the whole birth experience IN ZERO PAIN 😁, BUT laying flat after the birth for several days AND the head-splitting headache on day four was NOT something I would want to endure again UNLESS I got a sweet baby out of it!!!👶

I had 2 C-sections with a general and 2 with an epidural.  My sister also had epidurals.  She had a TKR a few weeks ago with a spinal and she said that it's a spinal, not an epidural that she had with the TKR and said it was quite different from the epidural. What do you think?

I asked Dr Google just now and she said - It is easy to confuse a spinal block and spinal epidural because they are both injections into the spinal area. For a spinal block, narcotics or anesthetic is injected once with a needle. For a spinal epidural or combined spinal epidural, a catheter is placed in the epidural space to allow continuous anesthesia.

So - did they feel different?

I just looked it up:

A spinal is a single injection with a thin needle

that puts the local anaesthetic close to the

nerves, within the fluid that surrounds the spinal

cord. The numbing effect lasts for about 1½

to 4 hours.

With an epidural, a fine plastic tube (an epidu

ral catheter) is threaded through a needle and

the tube is left in the epidural space in the

back. Local anaesthetic is injected down the tube

to cause numbness, which varies in extent a

ccording to the amount of local anaesthetic

injected. Local anaesthetic and other pain reliev

ing drugs may be given to prolong the effect

of the numbness for more than 3-5 hours. An epidural usually st

ays in place for 2-3 days.

 

I've never had an epidural. I believe spinals and epidurals are done at different parts of the spine. Also I THINK an epidural has an ongoing medication being given throughout the operation like a nerve block, and a spinal is a one-shot deal in the spine and then it starts to take effect. I may be wrong on that, but that is my understanding.

Anyone know more details?

I got the terrible headache with the first one. . then discovered that provided you don't sit up for the first day, you can usually avoid that. of course, with a new baby to feed etc. that is not really going to happen!

I often see in USA posts that they seem to leave the block in a couple of days, giving excellent pain management for that first 48 hours which is pretty horrific. that certainly doesn't happen here in Spain, and I don't think it does in the UK either. . .Also anaesthetic can be injected  into the area to alleviate pain.  Here they just expect you to get on with it and shut up basically . . .

I've got a feeling that it mentioned a possible headache on my info from the hospital re the spinal.  I didn't have one though.

I seem to remember reading about headache associated with spinal block also Chris, but didn't have one.

I found it a very positive experience, as I also had the Propofol, (or as the anaesthetist called it 'a gin & tonic', with the LA so felt nothing much from the knee whilst in hospital. Luckily!

So many different versions of the same thing??

Marilyn

XX

That sounds like the stuff I had Marilyn.  I came round totally happy and had so little pain from the start.  I wonder if this is the usual procedure with spinals in the UK now?

No, not happening!👶

I was on my back for several days. The headache hit on Day Four. Never had my head feel like it was going to EXPLODE before. I feel so bad for migraine sufferers. That has GOT to be AWFUL!😨

Not really too bad. . cold, and boring, . . No feeling of course, just the noise and vibration . . .but I'd rather be asleep next time, if there is one!

 

I was reading about that . . it's to do with cerebral liquid apparently . . I shall never forget that headache!!!  I didn't get it the second time thank heavens. 

 

It's weird how reactions to procedures can be so random. I'm glad you didn't have trouble the second time!

It was wonderful being awake for the birth, but I FOR SURE would NOT want to be hearing all the pounding and sawing that TKR surgery brings! If I would be awake I would not want to put on headphones. I'm too NOSY for that! 😁 I'd want to know what was happening, and when I'd find out I would probably PASS OUT!😮🤢🙃😱😵💫💥