I was wondering if anyone who has undergone a TKA at age 50 or younger would be willing to chat? I am 2 months out and wanting to "talk." Is good, just checking some things. I am going to have my knee replaced after the Holidays. We have to travel for the Holidays and I am not doing it in a brace again (had to fly after a high tibial osteotomy and what a pain that was). I am under 50 (38) and wondering what to expect when they do my surgery. I haven't had it done yet but I sure am willing to be a listener if you need someone to talk to! I am glad your recovery is going well and hope mine does too!
grammaskittles,
I feel for you having to have this done so soon but it is so worth it! I can't stop grinning when I'm doing things I haven't done in 5 years!
What to expect: you need to prepare your body by making certain you are well nourished and the affected leg/knee is as strong/mobile/straight as possible. Get some exercises started by seeing a physical therapist and find out what you will be expected to do for recovery exercises at that point. Don't be afraid to take the pain medication after surgery. The medication will help you and if you take it when you need it (not when you don't, not when the pain is excruciating but take it when the pain is beginning and prior to physical therapy or to anything you have learned causes you to hurt after surgery) you will stop taking it sooner than the rest. I stopped the narcotics after a month (was able to gradually taper off starting about week 3). Now I just take ibuprofen independently after being on my feet all day - just once a day. Push fluids, fresh veggies/salads/fruit after surgery. You will want to take a stool softener daily until the narcotics start leaving your system - the narcotics really constipate you.
Also, don't get frustrated with your progress. If you watch carefully, you will see small improvements almost daily.
Rest when you need to. I planned 3 months off work since I'm an OR nurse but because I worked with my body, I was ready to return in 2 months at full-time immediately. Do what your body allows.
Don't skip physical therapy - they are your best friends.
Put away throw rugs until you are stable. take your crutches with you to the hospital and ask how soon you can ditch the walker. I got rid of mine the second morning after surgery.
Immediate postop pain for some is very bad. Big thing, take your pain med before it gets out of control! VERY IMPORTANT and it is ok. If you can, do a spinal and a femoral block - both help control the postop pain and since the blocks gradually wear off, you can start controlling the pain prior to it getting bad. If you have a general, ask for a block - you can.
Please let me know if you have other questions.
big thing is to have trust in your surgeon and the staff who will be caring for you in the hospital. You can be out of the hospital 3 days after surgery easy. You will have a drain in your knee and may have blood from that drain reinfused. I actually lost no blood in surgery but 1500ml was collected totally in my drain. I got about 900ml back and that is a life saver. You will feel somewhat week but that's ok.
Good-luck and let me know how you do!
Thank you for your reply
My husband and kids are going to totally gross out on the drain. LOL That is going to be fun. I'm not too worried about pain meds. I take them now for my arthritis and after 7 previous surgeries on my knee I know not to wait. I do exercises for my quad muscle every day. I did a spinal block for my high tibial osteotomy and loved it. I didn't know I could do one with a TKA. I hate general anesthesia. I don't like to be tubed (paranoia from those days I was a medic lol) and when I had a general for my hysterectomy they had a hard time weaning me off the vent. SCARY! I guess I have lazy lungs. I am going to ask for the blocks and probably a twilight. I have a great doc and the hospital I will be going to is awesome. Thank you so much for the info. I feel better about doing it now. It really will be worth all the therapy and the pain in the ling run. Grammaskittles, please don't expect it to be a piece of cake. It is tough but it sounds like you can manage. If you've used crutches before, you should be able to ditch the walker early on. One thing I forgot to mention, your back/hip may ache/hurt for almost a month after because of relearning to use those muscles and walking correctly. I hated that the most, but it is way better. When had my knee done August 1, I was 38 also! Wow! Mine was a result of a postop infection. Like you, I had multiple surgeries on it. As far as driving a car, I was driving my automatic by the start of week 4. I know I could have driven a standard maybe a week or so after that. Sounds like you have your bases covered so that is good. this was my first week back at work - did 44 hours this week as a surgery nurse. Got tired but not bad so I am thrilled! Good-luck!
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