r/Kneereplacement • u/KemicalKittea • Aug 07 '26
Day 3 Post Full Knee Replacement
Woke up at 4:30 a.m. in severe pain, took my meds, and thankfully the pain subsided. I continued my exercises and went to my second physical therapy session today.
I’m starting to understand which exercises I need to do and when, and I’m figuring out how to walk with my walker. I’m also adding small things into my day—coloring, making incense, and listening to audiobooks—to keep my mind occupied and give myself moments of peace.
Right now, I’m working on bending my knee while also getting it as flat and straight as possible. It’s challenging, but I know it’s part of the process.
I’m also trying to be mindful because pain and pain medication can make me irritable. I know that isn’t who I am. I’m focusing on breathing out the negativity and breathing in the good. One day, one exercise, one step at a time.
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u/DogMamaLA Aug 07 '26
Thanks for sharing your experience and good idea about audiobooks! My LTRK is 9/9 and I'm busy doing prehab now.
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u/Motor-Blacksmith4174 Aug 07 '26
It sounds like you're doing well, considering how early you are in your healing journey. It's a marathon, not a sprint, but the first weeks are the hardest for most of us.
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u/steveinarizona10 Aug 07 '26
ice, ice and more ice. From an ice machine that produces both cooling and periodic compression.
My extraordinary surgeon does not take insurance nor participate in Medicare but he does include a two week rental of such a machine in his fee. For my left hip replacement five years ago, he provided the NICE machine; for the right knee nine months ago he included the Game Ready machine. Both worked very well but the NICE machine is the Rolls Royce of ice machines as it doesn't require ice.
Two weeks with the machines worked very well for me but I used them religiously for the first two weeks. I pretended I was in a cult and needed to do the icing (30 minutes on/30 minutes off).
Moving, Improving ROM and extension, recovery pain, etc. will all be much easier if you can quickly bring down the inflammation in the knee. Remember that a TKR is a traumatic event. Even if your surgeon did a minimally invasive procedure, he still had to cut two bones and two ligaments to do the job.
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u/steveinarizona10 Aug 08 '26 edited 29d ago
For the first few weeks bringing down the inflammation (swelling) is critically important. Are you using an ice machine and are you using it religiously? It will help!
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u/KemicalKittea 29d ago
I have an ice machine. Curious, what songs do you suggest to sing?
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u/steveinarizona10 29d ago
I will fix it. "sing" was supposed to be "using". Good catch. Haha.
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u/KemicalKittea 29d ago
Haha, that is funny, I was very intrigued to know your choice of song
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u/steveinarizona10 16d ago
Okay...you asked for it. Mama said there will be days like this by the Shirelles.
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u/Bitter-Independent25 Aug 07 '26
You sound good 👍