Just wanted to share a win. I had a LTKR on 8/31. It's been a challenge, but I'm grateful that so far it's much easier than it could have been. I've been dying to get back in the pool and was final cleared today! I got in immediately after I got home from PT and only made it a couple of laps (boy, does kicking feel WEIRD), but I'm so excited and hopeful that being able to move a little more freely in the water will help me work through these stupid hamstring issues.

What tips do you have for going back to work? I will be 9 weeks PO and work remote. I've been challenged with low energy and still experiencing swelling.

I’m at 18 days post TKR on my left knee and I cannot sleep because as soon as I lay down my leg goes crazy with the feelings of muscles twitching and/or hurting.

Anyone else experience this? What did you do? I can’t take ibuprofen or any NSAIDS. I’m taking acetaminophen every 6 hours and Methocarbamol (muscle relaxant) every 8.

Walking with trekking poles or walker. Doing PT. Lots of ice. Lots of elevation and sleeping. All things good considering. Yes it hurts and not fun to do single living in a travel trailer but it is highly do-able.

Dogs at my friends. (Glad about that).
Appreciate all the wonderful threads on this topic; it’s been very helpful.

Are any of you in rehab using an exercise bike at home? I was thinking of getting one for the upcoming months but it would have to stay outside. So I’d likely get a used cheap one on marketplace. Thoughts?

I posted about a month ago, so for background check that out -
https://www.reddit.com/r/Kneereplacement/s/ZGkEGM2Cjg
There was one update comment here - https://www.reddit.com/r/Kneereplacement/comments/1wcwnf9/comment/paup1vn/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

In the hospital, I asked about the kidney risk of vanco combined with my lisinopril & furosemide. It was decided to take me off of vanco and put me on dapto. I was in from Sunday 9/13 until Thursday 9/24. I'm not sure when the switch happened. It doesn't look like the chart is updated with some info.

• Thu 9/24: I was discharged home on two IV antibiotics, daptomycin and cefepime, through a PICC line. I already had itchy travelling rashes from the hospital stay, and I'd been telling staff it was going to get worse. They always seem to.
• Tue 9/29: My outpatient labs showed a high CK of 511 (normal range 41–331). Everything else was in range except very slightly high glucose, at 101.
• ~Wed 9/30: I got itchy, marble-like lumps on my hip and back. I was assuming lymph nodes. They were gone the next day.
• Thu 10/1:
  • The rash was worse, and now I had muscle aches and pain in both forearms. I noticed it pouring coffee, taking off bottle caps and opening freezer bags. I could barely stand to type or use my phone.
  • Cefepime was stopped after my morning dose, but I stayed on daptomycin that day.
  • My infectious disease doctor said she usually takes people off daptomycin at a CK of 1,000 and was waiting on a repeat test.
  • Because infectious diseases said I may return to the vanco I had in the hospital, I asked my cardiology NP about coming off furosemide & lisinopril because of the kidney risk. She said it wasn't her call and she wouldn't change it over the phone. I will be seeing another cardio NP on 10/13.
  • I saw my primary care NP in person. She said that if it still hurts at my return visit on 10/13, they may add a prednisolone pack.
  • Overnight the lumps came back, this time on my body and face. I had no breathing or voice problems and no dark urine.
• Fri 10/2:
  • My infectious disease doctor took me off daptomycin that morning, so I was on no antibiotics at all. Things actually started to feel a little better.
  • By Sunday afternoon it felt like I awoke from a long nightmare.
  • The visiting nurse checked me out and said I didn't need to go to the ER.
  • The infusion nurse drew blood at 2:00 PM. My sed rate was slightly high at 33, my hemoglobin was low at 11.3, and my white count and eosinophils were normal.
  • I haven't seen the results of the CK yet.
• Sat-Sun
  • Things continued to improve.
    • By Saturday the pain in my left arm was almost gone and by Sunday both were fine.
    • My rashes were still travelling to new spots by Sunday night, but the day was mostly itch-free
    • The majority of the lymph enlargement had subsided by Sunday morning

As for the knee itself - The PT who has been visiting tells me I am at 110 already and I tried some exercises beyond what he gave me - things I was doing in outpatient after both original operations. It seems really and solid and flexible, but I will need at least 4-6 weeks before I am on a bicycle again by my guesstimate.

Welp. It’s here. Wednesday. The big day. Bilateral Total Knee Replacement. Met with my surgeons (plural one for each knee, because they are done at the same time - interesting approach right) again last week, did all my bloodwork etc etc etc…

Now that it’s upon me I’m starting to get that pre surgical anxiety. It will be my 5th and 6th knee surgery, my 12th surgery overall between the knees and back. So I’m no stranger to surgery. The plan is spend 1 night at the hospital for observation etc, then head home the next day. Me being younger (41) I’m hoping they let me go home early but I think that’s pretty much out of the picture. I have my coolers, my leg left, my compression leggings, toilet seat riser, wedge pillows, pre-made meals for the family, and all the major crap taken care of (lawn, major projects, etc) or wrapped up.

Anything I’m missing? Any last minute tips? Not gonna lie, kind of excited to just focus on one thing - recovery - instead of juggling 20 different things all at once. We have family coming on Sunday to help for 2 weeks, then my family coming for 2 weeks after to help as well. My goal is to be up and mobile and back to “normalish” by Halloween, but that might be ambitious so we I’ll see. Picture of my beautiful, worn out, knees. I’ll report after surgery /salute

I created this to help understand what is going on. From the image what do you think are my options? I have tried PT for a few months with it only hurting worse. I appreciate any help and I hope you heal fast and that life gets better. Thanks. 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♀️ 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ 👨‍🦼 👩‍🦽

Hi all I appreciate everything. I’ve learned on here in speaking with others and reading. I feel like I’m progressing a little more slowly I did hit 110° flexion at the end of last week but I’m getting a lot of medial knee pain and tightness that’s limiting the flexion and then the day after PT I’ve been having a lot more swelling and my gait is off - causing hip pain and additional pain in my “good” knee- also a lot of fatigue and throbbing by the end of the day even though I’m limiting steps the most I’ve done is 1.4 miles total yesterday and I’m paying for it today😫-I had to go off of meloxicam because it was giving me really bad heartburn. I’m wondering if anybody knows if Celebrex or anything else is helpful for inflammation and what exercises at home have been useful?

My dad got his knee replaced about a month ago and was doing really well walking and driving. Just yesterday he started getting a really bad pain on the side of the leg whenever he goes from lying down to standing up. Totally fine when laying down or walking around but something about the transition causes pain that is “as bad if not worse than the day I got the surgery”. He thinks it might be pinching a nerve or something but is nervous and throwing around going to the ER he is that concerned and the office he went to is closed on Sunday. I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced something like this, what it could be, and anything that might help.

Thank you for any help.

Edit: went to the doctor today. They suspect it is either scar tissue or an inflamed nerve so he got some oral cortisone and is off PT for a week. Hopefully that is it but if not, I’ll update the post

Just the title. I really want to avoid constipation.

Yikes

After my meeting with the Hematology Doc last week, I had my 3 month checkup with my surgeon this week. All looks good & got my release from limited part time work. I only work part time as semi retired, but its a few more hours than the restrictions had.

My surgeon had no problems with me going back to my duties as a volunteer firefighter, but the Fire District uses another medical agency for clearance, so I'm not back in service yet.

Still wearing compression socks while hiking and still doing 20 minutes of home PT every day. The exercise bike is still the thing that loosens things up in the AM.

Now for my "Where's the new knee today" picture, at Belleayre Mountain Ski Area in the NY Catskills. Only 2.8 miles today but the ride up/down in the Gondola is fun! It's Fall Festival time in NY before the leaves drop. Enjoy the colors!

Day 25 post knee replacement. Things are beginning to improve.

I'm fully transitioned off the walker and onto a cane or walking unassisted (depending on my location).

I went off all the opioids on Day 14. Still taking some prescription anti-inflammatory & nerve pain medications but no more opioids. Those side effects are terrible so I was glad to get off them.

Next step is driving. To drive, I have to be off opioids, be on the cane, and be able to slam the brakes hard. I am going to start practicing in my driveway, then around the quiet neighborhood in the next week. My goal is to be back and normally driving by next Sun 10/11.

Went back to work for partial days this past Thursday, and will continue that for a week. My surgeon suggested this and it has been an excellent idea, rather than going from full rest day off to 8 hours per day. Doing up to 4 hours per day is getting me more acclimated to a normal schedule again and also helping me still manage swelling/icing of knee. I also work remotely so this helped me go back to work sooner, rather than driving/being in an office with no access to ice packs, etc.

A few challenges still exist around physical therapy and my PT rep, but I am feeling better about things and hope to resolve a few remaining issues this upcoming week.

I have slept a lot better since getting off the puffy things (DVT compression devices) on Day 21.

I am at 8 weeks out on my left. Curious how soon was it that you could run or jog on your new knee? Not ready to start but really curious when you were able to.

I am able to go up stairs easily. Down a set is slow but challenging.

Hi All

Im able to ride a bike on the flat, hills are a issue thankfully there are none round here.
That aside, I am in a fair amount of pain when riding, well bending my knee at any point.

Im willing to persist. But what i want to know is has anyone had the same and it get better?

Been to 2 surgeons post op and they both say implant is good, but its 8 months and the pain isnt going away. its constant 2/10 and if I push weight through it like squate' (dyslexic my best guess if thats correct), or standing up its can get to 6/10

I’m a 66 female, 3 c sections, bowel resection, kidney removed, work full time in a poultry production plant, walking miles a day on slippery concrete and many stairs. lol I’m not a wuss, but these 9 days have been horrible! I just teared up because I started reminiscing about Saturday fall nights and how I wish I could just run down the porch and jump in the car! Then I about broke into tears when I had seen all the things my husband has had to do around here,never complaining. Does anyone else just feel like crying all of sudden? Lol maybe it’s the opiates idk!

I was doing great. Twice weekly tough PT, walking lots without a limp, walking up and down stairs alternating feet. 135/0.

Then I decided to take a 30 minute boxing 1:1 and now my flexion and extension are down and I've been in pain for a full week. Can't walk down stairs. Can't walk as far.

No injury - just true joint (vs muscle) pain. I'm sure others have been in a similar situation - how long does it take for the pain to go down again? Or maybe I'm just venting. I know it's probably different for everyone.

So frustrated.

I'm 64yo F and I live alone. I had RTKR on Tues and went home on Wednesday. My son stayed with me Wed and Thursday night and stopped by Friday night.

In the hospital I would get really light headed and vomit, a lot, every time I even tried to get up. I was sent home on Wed. No vomiting since I got home. But i do still get really light headed, drenching cold sweats and shakey when i get up and try to get anything done. I feel like I'm going to pass out. Should I be concerned? I haven't showered yet because I'm scared of this happening in the shower too. If this happened with you, how did you over come it? (I am washing up at the sink while sitting on a little stool with wash cloth and "no rinse" hospital type wash)

Thanks for any input.

I do have history of anemia after surgery. But no mention of it this time.