Recovery From Total Knee Replacement Surgery
My Journey To Recovery After A Successful Knee ReplacementOn December 15th 2010, I went into hospital for a total knee replacement operation. I was only in my early sixties but had had trouble with arthritis for the past ten years. I had tried the non surgical therapies to control the pain of the arthritis but nothing seemed to work any longer. Tablets and steroidal injections, etc, had managed the pain over the last ten years or so but having tripped and twisted my knee, a new X ray showed that there was no cartilage left between the femur and the tibia on the inside of the joint. My surgeon thought it was time to offer me a total knee replacement. After discussing this with my wife ( who was going to have a lot more work around the house and looking after me) I canada goose outlet eu agreed to go ahead with it and was duly placed on his list. All I had to do then was to wait for a call from the hospital which would mean I could have the operation to replace the knee joint.
In this article, I will only canada goose outlet store calgary briefly describe the operation but more importantly I will take you along with me on the journey to full recovery.
It has now been 2 years since the operation and my last progress report will be posted later this week. I now have a fair degree of pain canada goose outlet new york city free movement and am not physically affected by the lack of movement canada goose shop europe that I do face. The major issue is that I do not kneel on the joint at all which means I do have difficulty rising from the floor without some support from nearby furniture or similar. Was the operation a success, was it worth it? See the last progress report and the guest book below for the answers.
DISCLAIMER: I am not medically qualified, this page represents my own experience in recovering from this operation. I do not claim that everyone will have the same timeline for their recovery.
This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. and shows an MRI scan of a knee joint with osteoarthritis.
The image is licensed under CCby2 France and shows the new inserts in place. The strap shown is to help keep the model together and is not part of the procedure.
Rather than embeding a You tube video of an actual operation I have listed some if you are interested; if you do not have a strong disposition or maybe you are due for this procedure, then the image alone could well be unsettling. I have therefore decided to simply add this list rather than the embedded video.
Please be warned read the description for each video if you may be upset by it, especially if you have yet to undergo the operation yourself. It is not as bad canada goose outlet in chicago as it may seem though, and the vast majority of people have few problems. Your canada goose mens uk sale doctor/surgeon will advise on any risks.
An actual operation total knee replacement
A live operation, showing why the procedure is considered such major surgery Not for the faint hearted!
This will inform potential canada goose jacket black friday sale patients about the procedure but using diagrams rather than actual film is easier to watch for those affected by the video aboveAnimated operative procedure
Another animated video, which shows the work to be done in a quite short video.
hospital bed, recovering from anesthesia
After The OperationYou are offered different anesthesia options before the operation; either to be put to sleep during the procedure or to receive a shot in the spine to deaden all feelings below the waist. I opted for the latter but was also given a relaxant to \”make me feel drowsy\”. It actually made me feel so drowsy that I fell asleep whilst being prepared in the theatre and missed the whole operation.
Waking up after the operation, I did not feel any pain which was due to the drugs being pumped into the system. A little contraption that was worn on the wrist which would inject more painkiller as required ( by the patient) but was quite safe as it was programmed not to provide more than a given amount in a given time. I canada goose outlet in usa remember being wheeled back to canada goose factory outlet uk the ward and before long I did start to feel the pain. I soon got used to using the device on my wrist.
My operation was the last of canada goose outlet sale toronto the day and so after being made comfortable I was left for the night. In the morning patients were encouraged to get out of bed ( not forgetting the exercises) and very soon the physiotherapists were helping to get you on to crutches and walking (?) around the ward. I actually had no problems with this canada goose uk kensington parka but had tremendous difficulty with some of the exercises which required the leg to be straightened, However it seemed that bending the knee was considered more important as a measure of success at this stage.
over the next couple of days the physios returned to help with getting up and down stairs with the crutches, and with other tasks that one would be required to do at home, including simple but necessary tasks like sitting on the toilet.
The use of the painkiller injections were discontinued after one or two days and tablets were the source of pain control. Talking about tablets, laxatives were offered when the tablets were dispensed, the painkillers were known to cause constipation. I did not however need to take up the offer as I drank plenty of fluids and kept quite regular.
I was walking quite well with the aid of the crutches and I had a knee canada goose factory outlet winnipeg bend of 90 deg, which was the required target for discharge. So after four nights I was allowed home. Before the operation, any need for special facilities or help had been assessed by the team and as I lived with my wife and had all required facilities there were no issues for early release. Five to ten days was accepted as normal.
As an aside, the day I left hospital we had some of the heaviest snow that the UK had seen for fifty years. My son managed to come for me before the snow got too thick as of course I would not be able to drive for quite a while.
The photo is licensened by Wiki Commons user Bobjgalindo under the Creative Commons Atrribution/Share Alike License. Then as long as you can bend the knee through 90 degrees, use the crutches to get around, handle the stairs and manage to sit on and get up from the toilet you will be ready to be discharged from the hospital. Depending on your particular circumstances, you may need to attend physiotherapy sessions or see a phyiotherapist in your own home.
I was discharged on the 5th day following the operation and sent home with a list of exercises. It is important that the exercise schedules are followed diligently, as the speed of recovery can depend upon this. If the knee is not exercised scar tissue can form around the implant restricting movement and necessitating further surgery to clear up the problem. Early pain in the exercises is to be expected and pain relief tablets are prescribed for this. A good tip is to arrange to take the pain killers and wait 10 20 minutes before exercising, to allow for the full effect of the medication.
In my own case, my knee swelled up considerably on the second and third day after my discharge and the maximum bend I could obtain was reduced considerably. Unfortunately, the physiotherapist who came to see me at home had seen the 90 deg which I could manage, on the first day. She had then signed me canada goose ladies uk off as not needing to be seen again. The situation canada goose factory outlet montreal was compounded by the fact that my discharge from hospital was on the 19th December and My next appointment was not until new Years Eve. By then the bend had reduced to something like 55 degrees, and this seemed to worry the physiotherapist. But on New Years Eve it was difficult to even contact my surgeon or his secretary so It was another 5 days before I saw the Surgeon. Further X rays showed that the inserts were OK and that there should have been no problem. Lots of Physiotherapy was prescribed.
You can see the very neat scar I was left with, the off centre angled line is very deliberate to give better access to the bones once the skin is held back by the retractors. The dressing is very compact and is designed to just fit over the cut
Note: Re Swelling and BruisingObservations canada goose outlet After My Second TKRJust a quick note here about canada goose outlet the post op changes which will be noted in the whole leg.
I have suggested above that the swelling \”and bruising\” may have been partially the cause of the problems uk canada goose outlet which I experienced in the early days after the operation. Having now had a second TKR on my other leg, I now know that this is a common feature following such an operation. I was https://www.outletcanadagoose.biz not warned of this however on either occasion, which is somewhat surprising. Maybe it is so common that they did not deem it necessary.
In fact the bruising on my second operation was much worse as can be seen from the accompanying image.
But this time because of my prior experience, I made sure that I overcame the pain from the bruising and made good use of the exercises to maintain a good degree of mobility in the knee.