9/14/18. I can't believe how well I am doing just one week and a day after my partial knee replacement surgery! Seriously, I am walking with a cane, and I went out to dinner with Brent and Ryan, to sushi, then Brent and I did a couple returns at the mall. We rented a wheelchair and Brent pushed me around the mall. Although it felt a little weird, it was also nice, and easier than walking.
A recap of the last week or so:
On the day of my surgery, my knee didn't really hurt too much and it wasn't very swollen. The next day, it was more painful, more swollen, and there was a lot of stiffness. Day 2 was a little harder than the first day.
On the third day, I was also in pain and there was swelling and stiffness. I wanted to sit and do a puzzle or something, but getting up and walking even for a little while or sitting for just caused so much pressure and pain that I want to put my leg back up and ice again. I iced and elevated and did my PT exercises the best I could. Dad was so good at "overseeing" my exercises; he would read the description for each exercise and make sure I was doing it correctly. It was actually very helpful. We started calling him my physical therapist. He and Margaret made some delicious meals, which we all enjoyed, and they helped me so much, getting me things to eat, filling my ice machine, bringing me water, and just being there for me to talk to when Brent and Ryan were at work.
I finally think I began to feel a little better by day 4. There was still stiffness, and the bruising began to be pretty noticeable, but things were improving. I have been able to take a shower every day. That has made me feel good. Having Dad and Margaret here meant that Brent and Ryan could go to church and I wasn't left alone. That was nice. We went on a short drive and although it was nice to get out, there was a lot of pain while in the car.
On day 5, I went to my first actual physical therapy appointment. A physical therapist did meet with us following the surgery, before we went home, but this was the first post surgery appointment that we actually had to go to after leaving the surgery center. It was painful, but I think it went well. Dad and Margaret took me, and they were very helpful, getting me in and out and so on. Dad even made sure the therapist was planning on helping me to be able to straighten my leg all the way. He had a conversation with someone on the way to my house who had a knee replacement and didn't do all he needed to do initially to keep his full range of motion, to be able to straighten his leg completely, and Dad was insistent that I wanted to be sure and do that. She gave me more exercises to do at home and mentioned I should bring my cane next time. That was really intimidating to me since I felt like the walker was helping me get around pretty well. After PT, Dad and Margaret and I went to Walmart, they walked around while I drove a little motorized cart.
Day 6 was a little rough. Dad and Margaret had to go home. They had planned a nice trip celebrating Margaret's birthday and they needed to get back for that. The night before I was having some chills and by the morning I wasn't feeling too good. I was nauseous and just not feeling great. I tried to not focus on it, thinking it wasn't anything, but I didn't really feel like eating and eventually I developed a low grade fever, around 99.6 to 100.2. I called my doctor to see if I should be worried about infection, and was told it was fine. Dad and Margaret didn't really want to leave with me feeling lousy, but I called Brent and he came home early, about an hour after they left. I called and arranged someone to come help and take me to my PT on Thursday.
Day 7, I was still feeling pretty bad and had unpleasant diarrhea and nausea, but it improved over the day, and Ryan wasn't able to go to work because he was feeling bad also, which made me realize that it wasn't an infection in my knee but a stomach bug most likely. We spent the day together commiserating, watched a movie, and he helped me. He was able to go to work the next day.
It had been a week since my surgery. I went to my PT appointment and she really worked me, it hurt so much. She explained that this was important to break up scar tissue and improve range of motion. So far, the pain in my knee had subsided so much that I hadn't taken many pain pills with any consistency after the first 5 days. I had taken maybe one per day for three days, and then no Percocet at all the next day. My knee was still painful, just somewhat tolerable. I started taking extra strength Tylenol.
Comments
Post a Comment