Knee surgery update, fretting about med refills (sorry, kind of long) UPDATED

Sorry no insight on knee surgery, but I pray that your pain will subside quickly. I encourage you to drink your proteins. The last thing you want is any problems due to WLS. Praying for you!

Glad you are starting to mend.  Know what you are talking about with the inconvenience with trying to carry something with the walker or crutches.  I used some of the above ideas to get me through it. 

By all means, ask for more pain meds, if you need them you need them.  Don't go through the day in pain.  When you have PT either in the house or out, be sure you take the pain meds before you go.  That will help with the excessive pain while they work and push the knee through its paces. 

I realize everyone is different and I can only speak from my experience from my knee replacement.  Heck I had a job interview 4 weeks out and went back to work in 6.  Needed to use the cane but made it through and is the best thing you will do for yourself.

Sending positive vibes your way, it will get better! 

I think good pain management with medication andncoldmpacks is very important for the first month or 6 weeks.  I do not think that you are drug seeking.m total knees are painful and if you don't manage the pain, it will wear you out and you could have a fall which would mean back to surgery.  Get enough medication and don't feel badly about it...you will ween off later.  I think lots of passive, active assistive range of motion is most important right now to prevent a stiff knee.  Also make sure you are reaching full extension.  Protein intake now is most important.  Maybe get a tray for your walker and a second walker upstairs. Thank you for checking in.  You are in my prayers!  Allison

Thanks, Allison.  The extension hasn't been a problem for me (was at 3 degrees before I left the hospital) and two of the bed/chair based PT activities that I have been doing since the day after surgery are geared towards getting that down to zero.  Bendin is another matter. Will see what the home care PT today involves.

Lora

Update: they sent my "refill" request (yeah, I expect to have to pick up a paper script) to the surgeon for review.  I guess part of what makes me feel a little weird about needing more meds is that I was so surprised that the original script gave me so few days worth.  I have never had a pain med script that was for less than 7 days for ANY surgery!   

Perhaps, because of all the attention on opiate abuse these days, he prefers to only provide a conservative amount (i.e., what he expects everyone to need) and then only provide more if the patient asks for more.  I cannot imagine him thinking I should be done needed pain meds only 9-10 days after knee replacement, but you never know...

Lora

I think you are correct. 

Wow Lora that level of pain is scary and what keeps me from seeking a hip replacement.  I doubt I ever will, I am more afraid the replacement will fail and I will be in worse shape, I have that sort of luck.  I hope they fill your meds and you heal quickly.

Goo luck and thanks again for replying to my pm.

Fear of the pain involved and whether I would be one of the people who had an "unsuccessful" outcome was what kept me from doing it for the past two years.  I can already feel that this pain is very different from the pain I had before, though, and that (within my limited range of motion, anyway) there is no grinding pain when I flex my knee.

FWIW,in  the pre-op educational class I took and listening to the PTs and nurses in the hospital, it sound like hip replacement is, in general, less painful recovery than the knee. 

Lora