Hi everyone, I'm home from the hospital, 5 days after total knee. First 2 days are sort of a blur of pain and confusion due to Demerol and whatever else I was being pumped full of. Surgery went great, little less than an hour, had a spinal, and was back in my room in about 3 hours.
Only complication so far was severe drop in Potassium and Magnesium and was treated aggressively. I was more medically ill than surgically. Kept me an extra 2 days to stabilize labs. Home with homehealth care nurse, PT, and a husband who's absolutely the best. My kitties were as glad to see me as I was to see them.
RA flare has hit big time. Hands and fingers are virtually useless in morning, ankle is swollen and wrists and back hurt. It makes rehab difficult because of having to lay flat on my back in the CPM machine 6 hours a day and then having to use a walker. Will restart MXT today. Am giving myself inj. of anticoagulant twice a day for the next few weeks, so what's another weekly injection! Have a call into RD about flare. Don't want to up Pred. but will probably have to do that so I can give 150% to rehab. If it were just knee pain I could get by on 1/2 the pain meds.
Won't be on forum much for a week or so. Take Care, Lindy
Glad to hear the surgery went well. Do they know why your other levels dropped, is that common after surgery? Can you at least prop a pillow under your good knee to support your back a bit, laying flat hurts my back something awful as well. Hoping for a speedy recovery!! Love and hugs.Glad your surgery is over Lindy...sounds like you had a pretty rough time. Hoping you feel better soon!
Good to hear from you Lindy. Been thinking about you. Hang in there....You can do it!
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
God bless you and i hope you get well very quickly.
Please keep us updated as time goes by on how your knee is. Did you get one of the new lady sized knees?
I was reading an article published early this year about how they only had one size fits all before and they were large like men's knees. Now they have lady sizes which work far better.
I too will have replacements probably in about 15yrs since i can't take the new medications due to chemical sensitivities. So getting any updates is greatly appreciated.
Get well soon.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, take it slowly and take careBless your heart Lindy I sure do feel for ya. No kind of surgery is fun but I'm sure this is awful. My best friends hubby had knee replacement several months ago and he too had it rough for a while. Now he is soooo glad he did it. The difference in him and his activity level is amazing. Hope you do the same and have a speedy recoverySlow and easy is the name of the game for now Lindy. I bet that you are glad that it is over. Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the surgery. Take care! So glad to know you're home and doing okay. My mom had both knees done @ once and it's a hellish road back but worth it. Mobility is everything. Good you have pets, they really do make us feel better at our lowest. Bless your heart. Sounds like you have a good support system too. Take good care.
Lindy I'm glad to hear the surgery went well. I am sorry to hear you are flaring and in so much pain. Wishing you a speedy recovery...take good care of yourself.
Peace & Love...Neasy
Lindy,
So glad to hear from you. Doesn't sound all that pleasant to have to stay in hospital a few extra days. Hope your flare gets a little better and you heal quickly.
Take good care. Glad to hear from you Lindy. You have been in my thoughts this past week. Sorry you did get sick on top of the surgery and the flare.
Take it easy recovering. We will be here when you are feeling up to posting again. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers for a recovery that goes well!
Take care Lindy, and wishing a speedy recovery for you.Hi Everyone, the physical therapist just left and since I'm up I thought I'd give ya'll an update. Have no idea where "ya'll" came from? Must be my Texan friend rubbing off.
Am still ahead in rehab even with the flare. My so called wonderful RD didn't return my call today. Will call tomorrow and demand to talk to him and let him know how unhappy I am with his lack of concern. I can demand all I want to and he'll talk to me when he's ready, but it will make me feel better. Just as long as I remember to do it with a smile.
So far rehab isn't as bad as I imagined, maybe I just haven't reached the hardest exercises. Foods pretty good at this restaurant. Stan fixed rib eye steaks, brown rice, cantaloupe last night and tonight we're having Marie Callender's chicken potpies and salad.
It's kind of interesting having your husband help you with your sponge bath. I will be soooooo happy when I can shower. I think tomorrow we're going to put a plastic bag around my leg and I'm going to shower. We put in a handheld shower head so I can shower easily and control the water.
Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. It means a great deal to me. No matter how strong we feel we are, every once in a while it's nice to hear those words of kindness and support. I think that people with RA build up a shell of stoicism around ourselves. I feel that it's weakness to need those words but at times like this I realize that I/we do need them and appreciate them that much more. Lindy
Lindy,