After knee replacement surgery

@mhort1213 -- I am very sorry to hear about your negative experience with stem cells. Though the procedure wasn't painful, I imagine the whole experience was emotionally proving. Can I ask you what type of stem cells did you use? And how do you feel now, 3 months after the TKR? Wishing you a good recovery ...
-- Dee

@danielad I had Stem cells + PRP a year ago. Wound up w TKR in August. Feel pretty good now. Knee feels 99% better.

@mari -- I am very happy to know you are feeling so much better!!! A big hug!!!
-- Dee

That’s encouraging to hear. My bilateral TKR surgery is less than 2 weeks now. Hoping to be ready for a lot of walking on cobblestones, and hilly locals by early September.

@johnbishop -- John, hope you are feeling well enough to "read" some of the messages -- ONLY the ones addressed TO YOU of course, and wishing you a speedy recovery! Be well John! A hug!
--Dee

Hi everyone, had my right knee replacement surgery last Friday and went home Saturday afternoon. Saturday has been the only day with a little pain which I think was caused by having trouble getting into and out of the car. So far have been able to keep any pain away with just using the prescribed Tylenol every 6 hours which has been a pleasant surprise. Have been working on the knee flexion but the leg has a lot of swelling so I'm just a little more than 90 degrees now, maybe around 100 degrees. Besides the knee slides and leg lifts on a chair, ankle pumps and quadriceps, I've tried to walk as much as possible. Had 799 steps Saturday and yesterday was a fairly nice day and was able to use my deck as a walk area and got in 2884 steps. Only 830 steps so far today but it's colder and the snow/ice is coming later today.

The swelling in my right foot and leg is quite a bit but I think it's mostly because I also have lymphedema and am unable to get my compression socks on in the morning and it gets worse during the day as I'm up and around. Yesterday I was able to get some older toeless zippered compression socks that I had which are only 15 to 20 mg compression vs the 20 to 30 mg that I normally wear. I wore them yesterday and I'm sure they are helping but the leg looks about the same - right ankle is quite a lot larger than the left. So my quandary is whether to do more resting or more rehab because I'm not really in any pain. I'm planning to see if I can contact the surgeon's assistant today and if it's OK. The cold packs I've been using feel good but don't seem to do anything for the swelling which makes me think it's more the lymphedema issue.

Happy Hump Day to all my new and older TKR cyber friends ☺

@johnbishop -- John, it is so nice to hear you are doing pretty well! Wishing you a painless and speedy recovery!
--Dee

Thanks Dee!

@johnbishop Great to hear from you, John. Sounds like you are doing great overall. I am sure many TKR patients are envious that you can manage the pain with just Tylenol. I'll be curious to hear what your doctor's office has to say about rest vs rehab. If you are not feeling pain, my bet would be rehab.
I never iced my knee after the last TKR. It really didn't get too swollen, and my ortho doctor does not recommend ice for the first six weeks because he feels it retards healing. I know, that's contrary to what most patients are told but his success rate is great. If ice helps in feeling more comfortable though, go for it.
Keep up the getting some steps in, I think you are way ahead of what I did that early.
JK

Thanks JK @contentandwell - I pulled the surgical bandage off this morning after getting a call from a nurse at the local clinic to schedule having the staples removed next week on Thursday. I was going to wait until tomorrow but the corners of the bandage were already lifting up so I just pulled it off...yuck! Look like there was a little leakage but it's old and dried so will just let water run over it tonight when I take a shower like the doctor told me to do...no scrub a dub dub ☺

I really think the reason I didn't need the pain pills was because I have neuropathy and the supplements I'm taking promote nerve health. Saturday when I left the hospital I had trouble getting into the car and out of it when we got home and I think I bent the knee a little further than it wanted to go and that may have put some extra pressure on a few of the staples to cause the leakage. Saturday night I had the most trouble sleeping due to more of an ache in the leg/knee. The past few nights I lay a cold pack in a towel on the bed and rest the back of my knee on the the cold pack which seems to help with the aching. Right now it just feels stiff so walking is probably the best thing. @artscaping mentioned she had her friends take her to a mall and grocery stores where she could do a lot of walking and that helped with her recovery. I'm planning to be back to work Monday but it's from home and all answering the phone and computer stuff so I can do my rehab stuff during down times or when taking a coffee break.

Time to go for an inside the house walk! Sleeting and snowing outside now...looks to be about 3" of the heavy wet stuff out there now so inside is good.