How difficult are stairs after knee surgery?

I'm having my knee replacement surgery on March 5. My house is multi-level, where (among other things) the family room and half bath are on the ground level, the kitchen is up 5 stairs from that, and then the bedrooms are up another 9 stairs from THAT level.  I am only planning to make one trip daily up to the bedroom and shower (and may opt to sleep in the LaZBoy if that works well), but I am concerned about going up and down the steps to the kitchen several times a day and was considering buying a small 2 cubic foot refrigerator and just putting it here in the family room for a few weeks to store cold drinks, cheese, yogurt, deli meat, etc.  

For those who have had knees replaced, am I worrying too much about the stairs? The mini fridge isn't expensive, but will just be something I need to sell, give away, or make room for in the garage afterwards. (I will be in the hospital for three days and then will likely stay with my mom for another 3 or 4 days (she has no stairs and -- even more importantly! -- can take care of Gus), so I won't be home by myself until I am a week out.

Lora

i'm no help with the knees, but do you know someone who has left college dorm life recently that you could borrow a mini fridge from? i had a really nice one that now just sits in my parents' basement after one year of use.

I would think that everyone's recovery and how they deal with stairs is different, plus each surgeon has their own instructions...I had my left knee replaced 2 years ago, and I only had 3 steps from my garage into my house...Going up and down went slow, just was more worried about falling than anything...I had to walk with a walker, and the home care nurse that came to start my exercises, showed me several ways to go up and down the steps...I had to have someone with me, wasn't allowed to do it alone...I had a lot of pain with mine, lot of swelling, so it took me longer to recuperate...I slept in a recliner for several weeks, was much easier than trying to get comfortable in bed because for a good while your leg won't be able to lay flat...Will take a lot of therapy and determination...If you have a chance to stay with your Mom to where there isn't steps, I would highly suggest that...its been 2 years and I have to take stairs slow, but I still need to lose more weight, which would probably help with that if I were to lose more...Good luck with your surgery...I wish you well.

I had both of my knees replaced back in 2009, one at a time. Before I could leave the hospital, they made me practice with my walker going up and down stairs in their practice area. I have 3 steps that I had to go up and down multiple times a day. It wasn't a problem for me. I really didn't need the walker for it anyways. Everyone is different in their recovery. I had surgery on Monday, went home on a Thursday and by the following Monday used my walker to walk to my car, then put the walker in the backseat and drove myself to my rehab. I was just determined to be independent. I had plenty of strength in my operated leg, I just needed my pain meds to stay comfortable. I will say that the physical therapists were surprised to see me driving that soon after surgery, but I had an automatic transmission so it wasn't difficult. Good luck Lora!

I know a lot of folks that have had knee surgery and stairs are painful.  At the same time you have to use the knees post surgery.  You do have a lot of stairs for right after surgery.  I would get the small fridge so you can plan when to exercise the stairs.  You can limit stairs if you want to attempt just 2 or 3 rather than being forced to do 5 or 9 at a time to get to a fridge.  6-8 weeks post op you should be able to do the stairs.

I had my right knee replaced in 2007 but only had 2 stairs to get into my house. I'm very clumsy and was worried about falling and very slow but could do them. The therapist in the hospital and the one that came to my home both showed my several ways to do them. I still remember "up with the good and down with the bad" that they taught me! I think I would opt for a mini frig just in case you didn't feel like going to the kitchen every time just to make it easeasieasier.

Even with good pre-op PT, stairs are a bit of a pain.  Make sure and get a raised toilet seat!!

You can learn to do stairs with a cane or side step with good foot first.  You may want to learnnthisnoff loading on the effected knee now by practicing..mthat your time andntakemstanding breaks as needed,.

No advice on the stairs, but you can probably get a good deal on a mini-fridge on Craig's List (and I always meet the people somewhere public like Walgreen's parking lot). I also like the advice on getting the toilet seat riser. I loved mine after my plastic surgery.

Good luck with your surgery. I'm sure you will be the model patient. (A friend of mine just had it done. She was not following her PT instructions and the scar tissue built up and she could not bend her knee. She had to go back into surgery so they could "crack" through it. Ouch!!)

Good idea about Craig's list and the parking lot.

I don't know "model" a patient I am, but OMG... your description of the second surgery made my spine tingle!  I have already been warned about the things that can happen if you don't do the PT.  I suspect that was part of the problem with my best friend's husband, who had to have his knee completely re-done a year or two later (and then was told they couldn't do it a third time)! She said it was like pulling teeth to get him to do any of the exercises outside of the PT sessions.

Lora