Totally in the dark
Posted , 13 users are following.
I'm 3.5 weeks out fm TKR. I opted to go to treatment facility AKA nursing home.
i was there for 20 days, and during that time I was given an ice pack a total of 3 times. Every day PTs would work with me for an hr or 2. My knee never got loosened up. Measuments stayed the same even tho I was doing the process. It was very disappointing and discouraging
Home health PT coming next week also home health nurse. In the few hours that I spent with them I found out more things that I did not know and should have known. I feel like I was done a disservice at the facility. One thing was I couldn't get my pain medicines in a timely manner. Sometimes I had to wait an hour and a half just to get one pill. I would not recommend this to anyone I feel that I would do much better at home with the PT people who will be focusing on the areas that need a in-depth attention. I spent a lot of time doing arm exercises riding a bicycle and putting puzzles together while I stand while I stood at a table. I am no further along than I was the day after surgery except that my knee is healing thank God.
I am very disappointed in my doctor in the facility and with the therapists who really I don't think I understood the severity of the swelling that I still have in my leg or should say knee.
hope I'll be able to straighten my leg again someday
1 like, 31 replies
Er79in judy17487
Posted
Oh wow! I'm so sorry!!! Ice is so key so I'm so sorry you didn't even get that!! Hope now that you are out you will start to progresss!!
judy17487 Er79in
Posted
michelle0137 judy17487
Posted
Hi! Icing was not helping my swelling at 5 weeks out, and this is what the doctor said to me: when you watch football and you see a player turn their knee or ankle and they're carrying them off the field with the injured part packed in ice...that is when ice is crucial, within the first 30 minutes. I remember when I woke up after surgery, there were two huge ice packs, one on either side of my knee. My point is that ice does feel good, but doesn't do much for the swelling beyond initially injuring it. What is really going to work is proper pain management, rest, and physical therapy to build those muscles and keep the scar tissue from building up. Good luck, and keep us posted!
judy17487 michelle0137
Posted
Oldfatguy1 michelle0137
Posted
Very true and vice needs to be applied immediately after therapy or any occasion where strain is involved. Won't go into my complete history but 11 surgeries and 5 rehabs including having the prosthesis removed for 4 months waiting for a staph infection to clear, has taught me the importance of ice. Yesterday I started fall clean up in the yard and was on uneven terrain and doing some unusual bending, twisting and turning . this morning I woke up in agony.....both knees. To add to my problems, i am the caretaker for my wife who is advanced stages of Parkinson's. So I established priorities....get her up and fed, then hit the pain meds then then my beloved large gel packs from the freezer. After an hour if elevation, icing and moaning to rival any emergency room on Friday night (that's when most of the bar fights, beatings, stabings, shootings and drunk driving car accidents occur) I am now starting to get to The point of figuring out what to get her for lunch so I can get back to my ice bag. I don't worry about the 20 on 20 off any more.
My next step is looking for the best deals in case prices of wine. There I have 2 priorities....cheap and big bottles.
kgunch michelle0137
Posted
Sorry, but if I read your post correctly--that ice is only good immediately after the procedure and not any time after--I have to disagree. And I'm wondering whether you misheard your doctor. Ice is really important for edcing pain and swelling, and elevation is also an effective techique for reducing swelling. I've never heard anyone in this group suggest that ice is only effective for a short time after surgery. Did I misunderstand you?
michelle0137 kgunch
Posted
This conversation with my doctor came about because I had swelling at 5 weeks post op that would not go down no matter what I did, icing, elevation, heat, compression, nothing worked! That is when he brought up the fact that ice really helps right after an injury you know the whole ice for 20 minutes heat for 20 minutes. But that at 10 weeks out from surgery it's probably not going to help the swelling a whole lot, especially he says because my swelling is caused by a scar tissue that has built up and hasn't been torn away fast enough by doing the exercises at physical therapy. Yes, ice helps pain, but it may not necessarily reduce all types of swelling. That is what he told me, and no I did not misunderstand him. It makes total sense, because like I said, ice has not helped my swelling at all. Not even being in my bed for 8 to 9 hours at night when I sleep cause it to go down. When I wake up in the morning, it's as bad as it was when I went to bed. But I still is, because it does help with the pain. Hope that clears it up.
judy17487 michelle0137
Posted
After sleeping my leg feels just like the first day, but after a minute of walking it loosens up. Still can't figure how to keep it straight while sleeping. Impossible
Oldfatguy1 judy17487
Posted
Judy....one other thing....I would call the social worker at the hospital. They are the ones making the arrangements for transfer. Put her on notice that, no matter how bad you are feeling, this matter isn't going to drop and she will be put on the list for allowing you go there.
Just to take a step back....
Put this in writing to the hospital administrator and list the social worker and the facility. They might developed a great story line but the state and Medicare can see right through that BS. Fortunately , I'm in a metro area and all of the rehab facilities , for the most part, are separate facilities, not part of a nursing home. More rural area have a lot more of this combined population.
david_61958 judy17487
Posted
judy17487 david_61958
Posted
Jeannenp judy17487
Posted
Your post was what I fear for people going to a facility after surgery:no ice, no PT, and delayed pain meds! My TKR got infected at the time of surgery (3 month delay in diagnosis but that's another matter) and I considered a facility since it was immobilized from going to ankle, no weight bearing and IV antibiotics. But my family and I did much better with my care at home with what you had to deal with. I'mso sorry! Be patient, rough start but you'll catch up! That being said, I won't even consider doing the other knee unless I can't walk! This was crummy!!! And too many people agree.
dave63380 Jeannenp
Posted
Knee replacement is a good thing for a lot of people, me included, at 2 years post op, both knees. That is of course dependant upon your surgeon, hospital and post op therapist getting it right. It is understandable that more people come to this forum because they are having problems. My doctor sent me the email, I did not go looking for this forum. I didn't know about it when I had knee surgeries. More recently I had RTHR, 12 weeks ago, so I have been through three surgeries without any serious problems or unmanageable pain. Other than being overmedicated by hospital after first surgery, one extra day in hospital and they discontinued giving me Methadone. I was just out of it according to my wife, don't really remember much. I keep hearing how painful knee surgery is from many people. Maybe I was in so much pain before surgery that any thing would have been an improvement, but it never really was that bad. I feel very fortunate that I have had the best doctors and medical care, maybe I was just lucky. I hope that everyone here can find relief from pain and eventual healing. I feel I've learned a lot about this process over the last three years and hopefully I can be of help and encouragement to anyone willing to listen.
judy17487 Jeannenp
Posted
Agree. I have friend who had two without even a whimper. Guess it's the luck of the draw
judy17487 dave63380
Posted
you won the TKR lottery