Having knee replacement: how to prepare and questions about PT

@zackat google the words " ice therapy machine knee " Tip - if you have the cooler type, use frozen water bottles instead of ice cubes to keep the circulating water cold.

Hi all - I'm having a revision to a TKR what was done in July 2018. Dh will be working from home during the early part of my recovery. During my original recovery, I remember having in-home PT for just a few weeks. If I can't drive for 6 weeks, how am I going to get to outpatient PT? My area centers aren't open late enough for dh to get home in time to drive me. All area friends work. I have a stationary bike and am good about doing exercises at home...

I lived on Uber and Lyft. Choose a place close by, which was relatively inexpensive to get there. Hated the feeling of having depend on friends and family all the time. Give me some sense of independence. Couldn’t get in the backseat though - not enough leg room..

Yes, I thought of Uber and Lyft, but I have a fear of my outside stairs - about 10. I know this is mostly psychological as I've never had a fall or slip on the stairs. The only time the fear is legitimate is when they are icy. And we're headed into that season!

@babette If you are on Medicare and can’t get out you shouldn’t have a problem. I know I had in-house PT for about a month and then it was my choice to drop it because I didn’t want to be “home bound” anymore.
JK

@jk Alas, I'm too young for Medicare. I do have coverage for 100 PT visits per year, though so that ought to do it! I will be nuts being housebound, too. Let's hope I'm able to drive, with surgeon's OK, a bit earlier than 6 weeks!

@contentandwell Alas, I'm not quite of Medicare age. My insurance covers 100 in-home PT visits per year, so that should do it! I'm hoping my surgeon will let me drive prior to 6 weeks. That's a long time to be homebound!

Good Morning,.....I had my right knee replaced January 2019. I had PT at home for the first week and a half and then went to outpatient PT the following week.....Luckily my cousin was around and could bring me back and forth 3x a week. I was told I wouldn't be able to drive for one month, and my Doctor said when I felt I could drive, I should go to a big parking lot, drive around and be able to slam my foot on the brake as if I was stopping in an emergency. By the time 3 weeks was over, I felt well enough to give it a shot, which I did, and I have been driving ever since. You will know when you feel you are ready to drive. Don't push it and please consider the instructions my doctor told me. Luckily I live fairly rural and finding a parking lot that wasn't busy was easy. I wish you the best of luck in your surgery and recovery. Do, do, do the exercises no matter how much they hurt! If my pt at home told me to do them twice a day, I did them three times.....NOT always easy, but I feel it was essential for my recovery. Take the drugs they give you about an hour before PT. I found after a week, I did NOT need anything to help me sleep, but I still took my drugs before PT..

If you are alone, it might be a good thing to cook and prep meals that you can freeze and pull out whenever you need them. I know I didn't have a huge appetite for the first week following surgery. I also would recommend getting a toilet seat riser and a leg lifter. You can get them fairly inexpensively at Amazon. They both helped me immensely.

Good luck!!!

@babette. I thought you looked young in your picture so I’m not surprised. 100 PT visits a year is great, that’s definitely more than Medicare allows but I’m not sure what the exact number is.
Six weeks is a long time to be home bound if you are feeling well enough to be out. I could drive fairly easily because the last knee to be done was my left, and I gave up standard transmissions quite a while ago.
Great idea by @emb123 about prepping meals ahead of time. I have always done a little of that. When I cook a nice meal I generally try to cook enough for two nights and if the meal can be frozen I will, otherwise we will have it two nights later.
JK

@babette, Good afternoon. Just one question....do you have an ice machine that uses frozen containers of water? That was a
a major plus for my at-home PT after a TKR. My insurance covered the cost. Good luck and be free of suffering. Chris