Knee replacement. Help!

Op at lunchtime. Completely unaware! Had Sedation, epidural and light anaesthetic. In HD due to ❤️. Normal ward , see physio tomorrow. On morphine. Some lovely staff! Anaesthetist kind, patient, informative.?
Scheduled to go home Monday. Then I'll follow Jane and hennetha up the long road to recovery. All good wishes worked! Huge thanks!! xx

Great to hear !!!

Good, Eirel. Keep posting. Strength to strength now x

Hope you have a good night - onwards and forwards x

I am glad that this is behind you now and you can get on with rehab and heading for a pain-free life.

Wow Elrel. Great news. Hope you had a good nights sleep before day one of new knee. Lots to look forward to today: standing, sitting up, going to the loo, physio visit- you'll be tired out by the least effort. Have you got much appetite? I seemed to be sending back tray after tray uneaten. Still not eating much. Good luck!

I was in hospital for a week and I lost 8kg there. The food was awful but I did not want to eat it anyway. Maybe I should admit myself for a month and get a decent weight loss!

Elrel I cannot believe how well you are doing- I was asleep for many hours post op and the last thing on my mind was posting anything. You will be knee bending and up using crutches today.

Oh I am so fed up today. I'm sick of being an 'invalid' and having to be looked after. I can only sleep in bursts- hate sleeping on my back. Most of all I'm resenting this great stiff thing I'm having to heave around. I dread the ordeal of showering on that bath board. I hate myself for moaning. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Just venting.

Jane10 I managed to sleep on my operated knee with some degree of comfort because like you I got fed up with sleeping on my back. It took me months to be able to roll over on to my non operated side.

I am amazed that you were discharged with such a poor degree of flexion. I managed 220 degrees the 1st day post op but I had impressed upon the surgeon that I would not be able to use my stair lift unless I could flex to at least 90 degrees. He kept his side of the bargain, I have no idea how!

At least you can shower, even if you hate the bath board! I promise, things will improve.

My knee has swollen a lot since discharge. Physio wasn't bothered about degree of flexion as my muscle tone was VG. I have excellent straightening though. Absolutely no problem there luckily.
At my last physio appt she said things might loosen up when I get the clips out. Also that it'll take time and I'm less than a week out of hospital. I know I'm being impatient and unreasonable. Knowing is one thing but feeling's another!!

I'm still walking a bit like a three-legged giraffe, Jane, even after one month. But every day it get's a little easier.
The leg seems to weigh a ton, doesn't it. But we will get there eventually. Good luck.

Jane things will improve but not fast enough when you're the kind of person who wants their independence and mobility back now!! I have an inkling of how you feel as I broke both arms in August and was pretty gutted and fed up. Well to be frank I was in tears some days, it was so frustrating and painful, especially at night.

But now I can do almost everything I could before. So you will get better, you will feel better, so hang on in there.

If you feel you have undue swelling don't be afraid to ask someone who ought to know. I had my plaster removed and a new one put on because of swelling. You need to feel reassured.

When I was discharged i could only just make the 90 deg flex, despite lots of physio that did not improve noticeably. I suspect this was due to swelling etc. But I now have as much flexion as my good knee, didn't really notice the improvement happening, but it did.
Just be patient, keep up the exercises and you will be fine.

Sorry that you are frustrated by the lack of mobility etc. Jane. After a fall I was in leg plaster for 4 months and you may rest assured that I was pretty peed off with it by the end! Take heart - you will be mobile long before that and you will reap the rewards bit by bit - patience is a skill In learned pretty fast! Don't be gloomy - the autumn is so beautiful!

Thanks all. I know I'm being unreasonable. 3 legged giraffe that just about covers it for me too!
I was wondering about Anya. I do remember your awful accident as a result of doing others a favour. Glad to hear you're better.
I wonder how Elrel is. She sounded very bright post operatively but the morphine may have had something to do with that!

Did you sort the stairs out Jane10?
I have just managed to sort it out after six weeks of bumping up and down on my bottom (a non-weight bearing plaster) and now have a boot.
Up with the good, down with the bad - the knee that can bend does the bending work. I use one crutch and hold on to the bannister on the other side. The top is a bit nerve-wracking though!

The supermarket (even with two crutches) was a step too far - I had to go and sit down on a seat with all the other old ladies and some gents.

I had to do that for a good few weeks after I was able to drive myself to the local supermarket. Luckily somebody had donated a couple of benches. I was exhausted and that was not going up and down every aisle- I was only selecting the aisles where I knew I could find the food I wanted. Somebody had to pack for me but I could cope after that.

I've only had to negotiate stairs once this week- at the Physio clinic. I sort of managed. It should be much easier when I can bend my knee a bit more. The physio went over the 'up to heaven, down to hell' mantra and clarified what goes up or down.
In a shock new development I've managed a few things without my stick at all!
Although its tiring I usually feel better after doing my exercises. Feeling brighter.
Sorry to hear about your leg Jalima. Do you have to go to the supermarket right now? I mean with 2 crutches it must be impossible. I know though that I am missing choosing what we buy and making decisions based on what looks nice. DH is doing the shopping at present but I have to give him an exact list. If he goes off piste we'd end up with all sorts of indigestible combinations. He's been terrific though.

DH has been doing everything and it's the first time I have been for several weeks. I just needed to see if I could do it but it was surprising how it takes it out of you (and I haven't had an operation or a new knee, just a broken bone).
I tried to do a bit of cleaning today because I think cleaning is something he seems to ignore!

I don't know if they ignore cleaning they just don't seem to see it. DH will always do exactly what I tell him to but nothing beyond that. Fair enough. I really can't complain.

Jane -vent away, that's what we're here for. I've been drinking loads of water but now on restricted fluids to get my sodium levels back up. Left High Dependency yesterday lunchtime. In private room, wasn't expecting that. I like a chat! Cousin and Tai Chi instructor visited - me still in backless hospital gown ...
Saw physios twice yesterday and will do once (?) today. Little walks on zimmer. First one caused v low BP, 'Cath' has gone so this morning so two more little zimmer trips today. Feel slightly nauseous.

Thanks for thinking about me, much appreciated. ?

Thinking of you. It's been 7 months now, and today the weather changed dramatically and my knee is very sore they say it can take up to a year ...

My neighbour offered to do the cleaning after the op, 2 hours on a Friday (I do pay her) - so that really helped. Now- I'm afraid I've got used to the luxury- and she is happy to continue- and I'm very happy to let her (she is a bit bossy and tells me I should do this, and that, with MY house - but we have a good laugh). It's great to know that in an emergency she could up her hours and help- she used to be an assistant in an OAP home and has lots of experience.

Oh , and DH did the cooking - and the great news is that since then, he often offers to cook- hurrah.