Had my knee surgery yesterday!

[Mermaid02]

Wow- I thought it hurt before! That was nothing! At least from here on out things should be getting better! It's my right knee so I'm not sure when I'll be able to drive- I go back to see him on November 12th.

Just sitting back waiting for Trick or Treaters!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hmmm..I felt instant improvement after my surgery as that stupid pain I had for years was gone.

But one I took the dressing off of my jello leg--it was sooo weird. I went to sleep and by day three, my leg was super stiff--and got "stuck". Driving would have been impossible. I had enough difficulty stitting in the passenger seat.

I'm sure in another week you will be fine. But I'm surprised you aren't doing PT. IS that common? I went to the physical therapist on Day 5 and thank goodness...they were able to straighten my leg. Thank goodness. That manuever hurt, but felt so much better after they did it.

 

[goofyernmost]

I had right knee surgery last Friday. No long term problem just a situation created when I missed a bottom step and landed on the concrete on my knee's. Dislocated the knee cap (which went back into place within an hour) but tore the large muscle just above the knee (can't remember the medical name for it). The bottom line was I couldn't lift my lower leg at all. Still can't!

The pain previous to the surgery (about a week and a half worth) was pretty bad and within 12 hours of the surgery it started to feel much better. Right now, one week later, it is just a dull ache with a few hot spots, but quite bearable. I have 25 staples holding my leg together so I guess any chance of winning the Miss America contest is out of the question. I have gone off the "good stuff" almost completely and have been able to control the pain with just Ibuprofen.

Unfortunately, my job requires a lot of driving. Fortunately, it happened on the job so at least I have income, albeit only 60%, but far better than nothing.

BTW...I don't recommend this to anyone.

 

[dodukes]

What kind of surgery did you have and what for?
I had surgery the week after labor day and was driving by day 3 (there was NO WAY i was staying home) THe doc said that as long as I was off drugs, could put weight on my leg and felt in control of the vehicle it was ok. I made damn sure that was fast!..

Anyway i feel A LOT of improvement since, it was weird at first cuz i was afraid i was gonna hurt the surgery somehow but he said there was nothing to hurt, and i was allowed actually insiste di put weight on it upon leaving the hospital (outpatient surgery but it was at a hospital none the less)

btw, i had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee for a medial meniscus tear and they also scraped some cartilage on the lateral side (where he said most of my pain was) and that lateral is wher i feel suddne jolts still.

 

[MAKmom]

Wow- I thought it hurt before! That was nothing! At least from here on out things should be getting better! It's my right knee so I'm not sure when I'll be able to drive- I go back to see him on November 12th.

Just sitting back waiting for Trick or Treaters!

I hope you feel better soon

DH had surgery years ago on his knee. I was wonderful to him for a few days, I moved a bed down stairs & treating him like a king.

Then.....I went upstairs & there was a BAT flying around our bedroom. I lost it... I was screaming & crawling out of the room. I did not care that he was my patient anymore. I told him to go get that BAT!!


The poor man was doing the stairs for the first time on crutches. He looked like BATMAN in his leg brace. He grabbed that BAT in mid air wrapped it in a towel & gave it to my daughter to take outside & let go.

He is my hero

 

[mamacatnv]

I had a meniscus tear repaired and my ACL removed at the end of August. I began PT exactly 1 week later. I went 3x's a week until this past week and now go twice a week for another month. Those PT's are amazing! Now I have all sorts of equipment here at home to help in the rehab and I work my knee every day, often twice a day. According to the PT's the meniscus is a piece of cake but not having the ACL is a whole different recovery.

I found that once the staples and the compression bandage came off at the one week mark that my knee felt significantly better. I was bearing weight after 48 hours. Sleeping was the hardest and I slept in my recliner for about 2 weeks. Rolling over was pure misery in those early weeks.

Driving would have been tricky for me the first few weeks. Thankfully I had surgery on the left knee, otherwise if I had to suddenly brake I am not sure I would have been able to.

Hope you heal quickly

 

[Tazicket]

I had surgery on my right knee about 4 years ago - it was a patellar reallignment. Unfortunately, it isn't something they can do arthroscopicly, since they had to move where my patellar tendon used to anchor and screw it into a new place.

Mine also hurt a lot more in the days after surgery than it ever did in the days leading up to it. I had to wear a toe to mid-thigh cast for 5 weeks (it was super bright smiley face yellow! ). It took me a while before I could drive again, but my knee was unbelievably screwed up before the surgery. My doctor/surgeon told me later that it was in much worse shape than he thought it was going in.

Here's a tip I picked up after my surgery when I was home and on the good drugs... If your foot tells you it wants to teach you how to play poker, it's time to back off on the meds.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Mermaid02]

Poker huh? What about Uno? J/k My left leg is the one that needs the hip replacement so I literally don't have a good leg to stand on.

I had a meniscus "repair" although he removed part of it so I'm not sure its technically a repair. And some arthritis cleaned up, I think if I could count on my left leg to be stable this might be easier, but it's pretty touch and go itself.

 

[Tazicket]

Poker huh? What about Uno? J/k My left leg is the one that needs the hip replacement so I literally don't have a good leg to stand on.

I had a meniscus "repair" although he removed part of it so I'm not sure its technically a repair. And some arthritis cleaned up, I think if I could count on my left leg to be stable this might be easier, but it's pretty touch and go itself.

Strangely enough, Uno never came up.

As far as stability, I wasn't supposed to put any weight on my right leg while I had the cast on (not sure if you can put weight on yours or not). I was an absolute disaster on crutches - it's a wonder I didn't hurt anything else! I wound up borrowing a walker from one of the ladies at my church and that helped me feel a lot more stable until I could walk better. It might be something to consider to help you feel more stable, too.

 

[Micca]

Hope you're feeling better this morning Mermaid. I'm getting a little weak in the knees reading about all these injuries/surgeries.

 

[highland3]

DW had total knee replacements (yes, both) done in February. She had severe, rapid onset arthritis in both. The bone-on-bone grinding was enough to make me wince!!!!

She had a wicked recovery, with lots of physiotherapy (home and clinic) but was doing well... riding her bike, walking... no cane. Then a few months ago, it started to get worse.

On Thursday she went in and they reopened her left knee to remove a big mass of scar tissue that had built up around the plastic knee cap. It was causing reduced mobility and lots of pain. She has to get other one done in a few months.

Everytime I look at the scars and listen to her talk about the pain... I cringe and feel a little shot of pain in my knees.

Good luck with recovery everyone! I can't imagine losing my ability to drive for even a few days!!!

 

[dodukes]

I think your arthritis clean up is going to hurt more than the meniscus, at leas for me tahts the case, im about 6-8 weeks later (im not sure it was the tuesday after labor day)...anyway just now im begining to feel the cartilage he removed on the outer part be a little funny but the medial meniscus removal jsut doenst hurt... i dont know what the doc told you but i wud suggest tryng to put weight on it as soon as possible, and defintely dont be afraid to wiggle the rest of ur leg, my doc said that u cant hurt what he did so i felt more confident after that.

one thing i did "learn" was really just to do what felt good to me, i drove fast, you may not, but all my friends had a different opinion on everything..lol...just a little while a go i grab my ankle and pulled it to my behind, kinda like what u do to stretch your quads, well a few weeks ago, i NEVER would have thought i would do that again , i was horrified to do anything to my leg ..haha..but what i foudn out was that slowly but surely i have returned to all ROM on my knee.

I have not attended PT, i wasnt sent. The only restrictions i have now, are no pounding on it, like no running and what not, but he technically said after hallloween i could light, but if i try to hop accross an intersection cuz im running out of time its still a little hurtful so I will jsut wait like everything else.

I was reccomended swimming and cycling as the choice things to rehab with.

Don't know about UNO but my knee kept telling me to order dominos thin pizza and breadsticks....LOL

 

[Mermaid02]

I had an ace bandage from my foot (only my toes sticking out) to mid thigh- I got to take that off this morning.... NIRVANA!

Isn't it funny how everyone's doc has different advice? I've been able to cut back on the pain meds.... havent' had any since midnight! I think I will take one in a minute here- way better than 2 every four hours!

 

[spacemountain]

Best of luck with your recovery!

I had a plica excision on Oct. 8th. The recovery has been slower than expected, but I am still making progress. The problem is, though, that I still have pain where the plica was removed, which shouldn't still be happening. My PT thinks it might be scar tissue. I still can't walk without a limp, too, which is quite embarrassing. I was on narcotics for a week after the surgery, then I switched to Celebrex for about 2 weeks, which started to not work as well, so now I take 2 Aleeve.

If you're not going to physical therapy, make sure in a couple days you start working on straightening your knee. According to my PT, this is the most important thing, because if you can't straighten your knee it'll cause lots of problems for you later and the bending is easier to regain than straightening.

 

[Mermaid02]

I am bending and straightening- and putting weight on it- I almost fell this morning because of my other leg though- this is going to be tricky for me.

 

[mamacatnv]

I had an ace bandage from my foot (only my toes sticking out) to mid thigh- I got to take that off this morning.... NIRVANA!

Isn't it funny how everyone's doc has different advice? I've been able to cut back on the pain meds.... havent' had any since midnight! I think I will take one in a minute here- way better than 2 every four hours!

I don't know what you are taking but I found that good ole Advil combined with a 1/2 dose of Vicodine worked really well - it was a good combo and actually a better pain reliever than the Vicodine alone.

I hated that ace bandage, I was stuck with it for a week.

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

Wow- I thought it hurt before! That was nothing! At least from here on out things should be getting better! It's my right knee so I'm not sure when I'll be able to drive- I go back to see him on November 12th.

Just sitting back waiting for Trick or Treaters!

Sorry you're in pain What did you have done?
I had arthroscopic done on my right knee Oct. 15th. On the 18th I started to drive, went back to work and came off crutches. Stopped using the crutches only because they were a pain. I kept tripping on them. Started PT on the 19th and they told to me to use atleast 1 crutch for a few more days. I didn't, I used a cane instead. I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't more pain. I was given Vicadin for the pain and only used it the first 2 days as perscribed only because I was expecting the pain to kick in at any time. It never did, so I started taking Advil. The day after surgery was the only day of real pain, but, I think that was because I didn't stay home like I was suppose to. I did errand with my sister instead. I've had a few days that it hurt more than normal, but, nothing that Advil couldn't take care of. I still have problems with stairs alittle. Will be having my left knee done after the winter is over.
Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[5 for WDW]

I have had 5 knee surgeries in the past 3 years. No fun at all. The last two were open surgeries so, a little tougher then arthoscopic. I have severely damaged cartilidge that has required numerous grafts, among other issues.
I need a replacement but, I am only 34. I am in an Unloader brace now trying to hold off on the surgery they want me to have this winter.
You are all lucky that you are able to be weight bearing after your surgeries. I am 6 weeks NWB after each surgery. I can't even put my toe to the floor. Crutches are my constant companion. I even get a CPM (motion machine) at home. What fun.

Op, I hope you have a smooth recovery and are feeling 100% soon! I know all too well how much of a pain knee problems are.

 

[4nana]

Hope you feel better soon and have a speedy recovery. Years ago DH had arthoscopic surgery on both knees for osteo with much success.

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

I have had 5 knee surgeries in the past 3 years. No fun at all. The last two were open surgeries so, a little tougher then arthoscopic. I have severely damaged cartilidge that has required numerous grafts, among other issues.
I need a replacement but, I am only 34. I am in an Unloader brace now trying to hold off on the surgery they want me to have this winter.
You are all lucky that you are able to be weight bearing after your surgeries. I am 6 weeks NWB after each surgery. I can't even put my toe to the floor. Crutches are my constant companion. I even get a CPM (motion machine) at home. What fun.

Op, I hope you have a smooth recovery and are feeling 100% soon! I know all too well how much of a pain knee problems are.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I too need 2 knee replacements and am to young they tell me. You have been through alot more than me. But, I am at the beginging of the process. Lucky me.
Hope you feel better.