Two weeks out from a total knee revision

Posted by DMG @hashemis1, Sep 23 2:28pm

Tomorrow I will be 2 weeks out from my total knee revision. Thus far the process has been relatively smooth. I did bang my knee on the shower door two days after I got home from the hospital and that certainly has complicated things. But by far the biggest challenge that I have is that I suffer from severe, continuous bilateral Facial Pain. This is my first post but I certainly plan to write one in the chronic pain section about my enormous challenges with the special thing . But for now I just want to talk about the revision . I knew it would impact my physical therapy and it certainly has. I have had three physical therapy sessions at home so far and I'm at 90° flexion. There has been an enormous amount of pain to be sure, but that is to be expected for this highly invasive surgery. Smacking my knee really hard on the shower door caused bruising and it cost me about four days of physical therapy. So there was some time in bed that would not have otherwise been there. I've done a pretty good job with the icing and a good job of getting up and walking around the house using a walker. I'm now ready to graduate to a cane. My two week post op tomorrow morning and I'll have my Staples removed. I have a brilliant surgeon here in Dallas and so that is certainly a blessing and a mercy. The isolation has been buffered by visits from my close friends in my synagogue. Because of the existing trigeminal pain I have been largely isolated for 10 years. So the mental and psychological challenge of now having to deal with this is significant. As a retired clinical psychologist I have been able to navigate the trigeminal pain, at least well enough to still be here. I have an extraordinarily supportive rabbi and many close friends who come to see me. Sorry for the rambling but I wanted to give you a clear picture of what's Happening. Any help you can land would be greatly appreciated.

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Profile picture for DMG @hashemis1

@tallbackhip that's what I thought I was doing . I am new here and don't know how to use the system yet. Is there a way to move my comment to the chronic pain community posts?

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@hashemis1

Looks as though another group addresses Chronic Pain, perhaps post a brief query in that group, on the trigeminal pain? You might be able to copy and paste parts of your messages above, into a new message to the other group.

Best wishes

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No, I'm saying that my trigeminal pain has forced me to live at home for the most part.For these last ten years.

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Profile picture for robcfl @robcfl

I'm curious, are you saying you have been home alone from when most hospitals kick you out at 23 hours [if you are on medicare]? I live alone and am pre TKR. 82 yr old Lady. I am concerned about post TKR as I think I need support.
Your progress sounds remarkable. Glad you found a clinic for pain. As far as your post, I would copy your message and pase to a new 'thread' for pain. You can still get some great feed back!

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@robcfl id suggest you do need support for the first few weeks at least ! It’s difficult to manage the medicine along with the pain . I hope you can find some homecare or hire a friend /neighbour to check in regularly

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Hi- this is Beth from Minnesota. I am 3 weeks out from my L TKA and can relate to your progress. I think PT stands for “pain & torture”, but without it, we would be in deep trouble.
My biggest problem is not the knee, but piriformis syndrome or “Deep Gluteal Pain syndrome” as it is now called.
I am guessing it is due to gait disturbance as we try to walk on the new knee. My “pain in the butt” is worse than the knee and I relate to all who have sleep disturbances!
Best wishes to all who go through TKA!

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