Total knee replacement

Hello Jason,

SO glad you wrote in and posted. You have some great encouraging words here. I'm 53. Had my first and hope only R, TKR Jan. This year. I'm 12 weeks out. I was 45 when diagnosed I was bone on bone. Back then they would not do the surgery till age 50 or so. So my knee capsule was in bad shape at my surgery. During my first 10 days I could not bend much at all. Did home health come our for you and do some physio? I had them for 5 visits. The nurse was worried for me due to no bend.

So went into outbound PT.. I'm behind the curve. But it's slowly getting there. I'm at 101 degrees of bend at what , 12 weeks.

As others have said, keep the pain meds regular. I did set Alarms! Protein shakes at 3am helped to not get neasuea from my Oxy. Ice, Ice, BABY!! DO you have an ice machine?? Use ice as much as you need. I use a thin towel betweeN the ice pak and skin. Elevate leg on the couch. During your early days you can't elevate enough! It all sucks. The depression, pain.. it consumes you. Hang in there. This forum site is the best I've found! Go thru and read several postings. I quickly realized I was going thru normal experiences and I will get better. Your surgery and experience is way harder. Don't give up. I just purchased a Therapy strap on Amazon. PT uses on me. It has many loops on it. I can do the heel slides and stretching much better.

Keep us posted on your journey. You WILL make a difference for another person.

Praying for you!!

Read the Depression Section...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-tkr-experience-or-wish-i-had-another-kidney-stone--524499

Now that you know what it truly is, you'll kick it in a day.

Hi

This was the same for me, I am in the U.K. Some countries help you with pain it seems much better than the UK.

Hot baths and icing the rest of the time was my only real relief. Google Aircast Cryo, it's a ice bucket and knee wrap, makes changing the water in the wrap much easier especially at night.

6 weeks I had, 12 weeks full time icing 16 weeks during the night.

Use bio oil or something similar on your knee /scar.

Good healing

Jason, what are you only 8 days post op? Everything you say is just about par for the course. Pain, stiffness, not sleeping leads to feeling depressed. Do your best to get up and move. Do you have a walker or crutches? Walk around your house as best you can or you'll just get stiffer. Hopefully your doctor gave you some exercises and try, try,try. If pain meds aren't working you have to call your doctor. I found this site when I couldn't sleep for about the 4th night in a row and crying uncontrollably. Everyone on this site is wonderful!! You'll get through this. We're here for you!!👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🐰

Hi Jason, sorry to see you're feeling gloomy. I too felt the same way and I don't suffer from depression usually so my heart goes out to you. I put mine down to Tramadol, the excruciating pain, sleepless nights, not able to be active and stuck looking at the same four walls 24/7. Enough to make anyone feel down. I cried so much my kids became worried but now at 11 weeks post op I'm starting to feel a lot better apart from the heat and swelling on my knee. It's a long road to recovery and sometimes it feels never ending but this forum was the best thing I ever found as no one, absolutely no one, apart from fellow TKRs can ever comprehend the pain and feeling of worthlessness this op brings.

i found that at 6 weeks everything seemed to be a lot better but it doesn't feel that way every day, I still have bad days and nights but they are becoming less luckily.

Keep us updated ... Healing vibes coming your way x

Jason, this sounds pretty normal for a lot of people.  I think just being stuck indoors resting for such a lot of the time doesn't lift the spirits either and you are in such early days still!  Just take it day by day and find things that help pass the time that you enjoy, whether that's cake, or a good book or film or whatever.   Elevate, ice and rest but do the exercise.  If you're on a bed, put a tray under the foot to make it easier to slide up and if your quad muscle won't pull the knee upwards, then use your hands to help it, but don't ignore bend exercise especially at this point.  Week by week look back at what you've achieved and you'll see progress!  But this group is fantastic - so many have gone through this like you.

've often seen that younger patients seem to have a harder time of it than us old ones!  Depression is VERY usual after TKR. that may not help a lot, but at least you know that you are in with the crowd on this one.  the lack of independence, the pain, the lack of sleep . .they all combine to make us feel absolutely fed up with life.   It is very early days yet.  Lifting the leg is difficult at first, because of all the cut muscles etc, and also because of the psychological fear of the pain it is going to cause.  I just could not move it. . it seemed to be stuck to the bed with glue, and weighed at least a ton and a half . . . but then my physio lifted it several times for me, and without realising it, I started to use the muscles myself.  Mind you, that was around day 15 after the operation.  My only advice would be NOT to stay in a lying position so much.  If you have a comfortable chair, force yourself to sit in it and try to bend the knee a bit, even if it is not a lot.  don't let those muscles and tendons heal in a straight position, or it will be more difficult later on to get the bend.  Yes, it will hurt. . yes, you will feel exhausted, tired, fed up, depressed . . but in the end it will be worth it.  Do you have decent pain control?  I found tramadol saved my life. . and also helped with the tiredness and feeling of depression, but everyone is different. For some, tramadol is a disaster. . . I'm now two years post op.  I felt just like you. My foot was like a dead fish and my ankle had no movement whatsoever. i seriously thought that I would never walk again . . but here I am now (and have been for last 18 months or so) totally mobile again.  By six weeks I was walking two miles a day . . . give it time, but don't give up.