19 Days After TKR

A

A New Leaf

New member
I just had total knee replacement on 6/29, so this is my 19th day post-op. Seems that after reading several other posts my progress is pretty much on track. This is both encouraging & discouraging. I guess in retrospect I wish I'd thought to do research on a site like this PRIOR to my surgery so I'd have been better prepared. I truly had no idea it would be this painful, hard & such a long haul. Too late now! All things considered I am doing pretty well. My pain during the day is manageable, just switched to ibuprophen during the day but am wondering other's find effective? Anyone try Aleve? I still need pain meds (Percocet) to tolerate PT & for nights. But I am sleeping ok, usually wake up once per night sometime's twice but go back to sleep. Compared to what I'm reading from others I'm pretty comfortable given my circumstance. My biggest concerns are when can I go back to work? I'm not in a rush but love my job & want to get back to it. Also, what will I be able to tolerate comfortably? I have to sit to do meetings, usually an hour or more & then work at my desk but can stand when needed. Then of course there's everything else at home too added to work. Would love to hear from folks 3+ months post-op on how their transitions back to "real life" are going.
Good luck to all of you out there who are going through this :wave:
 
Did you check with your doc about using ibuprofen or Aleve? They often aren't allowed after TKR due to it causing bleeding. Those drugs affect the ability to clot. Ask you doc.

As for returning to work, it all depends on how fast you heal and how hard you work in PT t get that knee bending. and how fast you recover form the anesthesia and the blood loss and all the other factors that play into recovering from any major surgery. But give yourself at least 6 weeks before you even go back part time......your body needs the rest. I did 3 months as I did both knees at once. And I was tired for about a year.

Good luck and ask your doc...they are the best judges of how you are doing...and about the ibuprofen.

Hugs..........Jenny
 
Thanks! Doc did say ok on those 2 OTC pain relievers & Aleve is doing nicely during the day for me. Haven't had an RX pain pill in 10 hrs today with just 1 Aleve, so far so good. Did give me a little tummy trouble yesterday so was more careful today. Still need the "strong" stuff for nights, but that's ok. Figure you're right on with returning to work time frame. Thanks for the advice!

Aloha!
 
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