knee replacement op?

Weren't you amazed how quickly the pain wears off ginny ? After 2 0r 3 bad days I found I was coping with just paracetamol - couldn't believe it!

I have no extra height on the loo but do have to hold on to the cupboard to get up.

I have already taken washing off the line but need help to carry it in, and by perching on a suitable stool have managed to iron and peel veggies.

I had my first knee replacement on the 10th June so now 12 days post op. I am 59 years old and have been unable to walk more than around the house without pain for the last year to 18 months.

I had a spinal anesthetic which helped with the initial pain but do ask for painkillers. I was only in hospital for 2 nights and my knee was exercised by a machine that moved it gently whilst I was in bed. I was out of bed and sitting in a chair ( leg raised ) 7 hours after the op and a short walk with frame the next day plus physio's showing me exercises. Not going to say it is not painfull but very important to do all excercises regularly as this increases the chances of a good recovery.

I came home on the 3rd evening. I had to be able to get up and down stairs, I found this fairly easy. Also to be able to bend the knee 90 degrees which is not easy and quite painfull but after that initial time I am trying to get a little closer each day.

I have managed all washing and dressing on my own ( including hair ) but like to have someone on hand when having a shower. Standing up in one place is not painfull

A combination of moving around, resting with leg raised and bent, exercises seems to be working and I can see and feel small improvements each day. One thing I find very soothing is to have an ice pack on my knee when resting and this help reduce swelling.

I'm sure I have missed some things so please feel free to ask any other questions you may have and I will try to help.

I was lucky having had my bathroom and downstairs loo refurbished not that long before my surgery and I bought raised loos for each. I agree, even with the taller loos it took me ages before I could get off one comfortably.

I found it was a long time before I could sit down on the loo without something to steady me on the way down. I just didn't have the strength in my knees to control the descent! Luckily we've got a ledge under the window that I could grab. It's a good idea to stick to disabled loos when you're out.
Looking back I suspect I just didn't bother about changing the beds for a while

Yes you should. Even if they do not slide, you may trip on the rug and you will not have full control of your operated knee for a while. I strongly urge you to do the exercises that you will be taught and continue to do them for a few months afterwards. You will benefit in the end.

You may find that you will need a chair in the bathroom when brushing teeth etc and another in the kitchen. I found it tiring and painful waiting for a kettle to boil and bread to toast.

I also stacked up my freezer with ready meals for the microwave. My problem was that my freezer died 48 hours after my discharge, the food was ruined and I was ordering a new fridge/freezer at 11pm one night!

another question: do I have to take up all the rugs?
And thank you all very much for your helpful answers

I had to have my bedding changed for the first 6 weeks, I did not have the strength. Re my washing, my surgery was early November 2012 so I was hanging washing up indoors from the day of my discharge. It was difficult but I just tried to work a way around it. I had to sit down to hang it up as I was using crutches. When one lives alone, one has to work a way around all problems.

The person who changed my bedding washed it and hung it indoors. I could cope with it when it was dry.

I didn`t for a while, my daughter number 2 did my washing and ironing for a while, and and I was sleeping downstairs there was no bed to change.

thinking of more questios all the time. How did anyone put their washing in and take it out? And change the bedclothes.

Not a very good typist. How long before I should be able to do the above?

I am Bimbadeen's sister! How long is it m the loo without the raised loo seat and grab bar please?

Seven weeks seems like so very long. I had a vision of me going feral, my stairs aren't brilliant, my clothes and all my makeup up there and me sleeping downstairs never bothering to get dressed! DBH would not be the most solicitous of carers...
I have been told a few times that I am too young for my hips to be done, I had no idea it could apply to knees as well.

Well, here I am, 7 weeks post knee replacement, and it was absolutely the best thing ever for me. I am completely mobile, only using a stick a shocking pink one!) outside for security, and am pain free. I am so delighted with the outcome.mWell, the opposite hip is crumbling....

However, to return to the real subject; as most people say, they won't let you out of hospital until you have climbed a flight of stairs. I achieved this on Day 3 (op was Weds, this was Fri.) and went home that day. I am NOT a terribly fit and active person, but found it easy enough.

But I would not have liked to do more than one flight for a week or so, or at least not just to go to the loo. (And I did seem to wee a lot during that first week...) I think having a commode as standby would be a good idea.

We have an en suite bathroom, which was very convenient too.

Don't leave it too long janerowena My GP thought 60 was too young, but luckily the surgeon thought my knees had really deteriorated when he saw the x rays. I had a 3 month gap between the two knees and it took most of that time to psyche myself up for the second one but I was glad I did. I'm not back to how I was 20 years ago, but I'm lightyears better than I was for severl years before the operations. I can't sit on the floor or get up again easily but that's the only limitation. A male friend of ours had his knees replaced and went back to work as a builder.

My MiL put off having anything done until she was in her late 70's and already barely able to walk. She wouldn't do the exercises because they hurt and after a fall she gave up on physiotherapy. She ended up house bound until she had to go into a home.

janerowena People are different and I think how long you take to get better and how well you manage and how soon after depend on so many things. My parents' window cleaner went back to window cleaning, ladder and all! I had both knees replaced, one at a time, last year. I got over the first within a month in terms of not using any aids. The second took a bit longer. I really wish I hadn't put it off for so long as it is so much better than before. Being without pain is a big bonus. I agree with posters who've said, 'do the exercises'. It does make a difference.

Janerowena, I had my knee op last September 23rd. I don`t have any more mobility than I had before, but the pain has gone, which to me is the most important thing. My other knee is on the way to needing replacing, but I haven`t got to that desperate stage yet, don`t really know if I want to go through it again, but if it gets as bad as my right knee was, I`ll probably be banging on the hospital door!

TriciaF you are correct.

I might be wrong, but I think hip replacement is a simpler operation than a knee replacement . For several reasons.
I've had a hip replacement, but I understand knee replacement is much more complicated.

When I had the hip replacement, the OTs trained me on the stairs and in the bathroom before they would let me out of hospital. Social Services provided me with a trolley for getting food to the table and would have provided a raised loo seat and a gripping tool, but my neighbour loaned me these.

The Occupational Therapist visited me about 2-3 months after I had returned home following my knee replacement. A bit late but there was a long waiting list.

When anyone has this operation, as with a hip replacement, you should be visited by an occupational health therapist who will advise on the best way to do things and how often to do the stairs and will arrange for social services to supply equipment such blocks for chairs, a chair of a suitable height, bath boards, loo seats etc. but be warned - in our part of N-W London they don't take any of it back.

All things that put me off having mine done. I suppose it just gets to the stage where you are having so many problems that you just get on with it. The other thing is, I have heard that you never quite get back to how you used to be. I wondered if that depends on the age you have it done, in the first place.

My problem was getting up to go to the loo at least x2 during the night. I used crutches for a few weeks as told and I took my time, having removed all rugs from my laminate floors.

I found that I needed a seat in the bathroom for facewashing and teeth cleaning.

I have a shower with a stool in it and I was very careful because for a few weeks I had little control over my operated knee although I did the exercises religiously.

I am lucky, I have a downstairs loo and also a stairlift. I had problems getting up off the downstairs loo because only one loo seat with arms was supplied and I elected to use it upstairs.

Cooking was problematic for a few weeks but I had a kitchen chair which I sat on frequently. My kitchen is too small to fit a table and chairs.

When using crutches I could not safely transfer a mug of coffee or a plated meal from kitchen to dining area so I ended up eating and drinking in my tiny kitchen.

How long ago was that, numberplease? Only I shall have to have one, one day before too long probably.