So I had my Knee Replacement Surgery 8 weeks ago and thought I would share my experience because after surgery when I was really struggling I couldn’t find anything on Google that was reflective of my experience. How are you supposed to do your exercises when you can’t move your leg?
If you are struggling, don’t worry is my message and believe me it does get better. It doesn’t feel it at the time but 2 weeks is not a long time and after that things will start to improve. Trust me, you have got this.
Knee Replacement Surgery Day’s 1-2
You don’t realise it at the time but these are the best 2 days! On the day of surgery when you are ready to go you are pumped full of anaesthetic and sleep through the whole thing. Although the last thing I remember is starting to vomit before I went to sleep, it was a sign that this wasn’t going to be easy!
Post surgery you are obviously feeling a little drowsy but there is no massive amount of pain. My sleep on the first night was not great not because of my knee but because there were inflatable cuffs on both my calfs that were constantly inflated and deflated to avoid DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis.) I eventually got them removed at 3am and slept well for the rest of the night.
So after a great start we entered Day 2, which if I could pass my post operative physio check was going home day!
The test consisted of :-
- Walking the length of the ward using a walking frame – Passed with flying colours
- Climbing a flight of stairs – Passed with flying colours
- Lowering yourself down my flexing your knees – Passed with flying colours
In fact I will say, with the exception of a couple of attempts (teaser more on this later), this stair climb was my best one so far. “What, wait” I hear you shout at the screen “how can you be no better climbing stairs after 7 weeks than you were on the second day, that can’t be right?”
I am sorry but yes that is the case and this is the reason why. Pre and Post Operation when they talk about your knee replacement surgery you will hear the phrase “and we have injected you with slow release anaesthetic which will help with the pain.” At the time you pay no real attention to this as you are worrying more about the actual operation than how they administer anaesthetic. If I had my time again I would ask for the biggest dose they have of this slow release drug it is amazing. That is until it wears off and then …..
Knee Replacement Surgery Day’s 3-14
The day after you leave hospital with a cheery wave thinking “that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be” the pain hits you. Not in a wave but more like a sledge hammer and not only on your knee (which makes sense) but also on your thigh muscle and calf. The reason for the thigh and calf pain is because they tie a tourniquet above and below your knee to minimise any blood loss. I think its fair to say they were tied pretty tight and were never going to come loose.
You will also find that your ability to move your leg almost disappears. You will sit staring at it but nothing happens!
You will leave the hospital with a dose of strong painkillers codeine as well as a course of laxatives. Now because of the pain you will concentrate on taking the pain killers, take it from me your focus is misguided concentrate on taking the laxatives! At the end of your course of codeine you will also realise that you have also not yet visited the toilet (for a proper sit down) the consequences of this start to pray heavily on your mind.
When you eventually feel there may be some movement you have to balance the need to take your time whilst also not taking too long as the last thing you need is pins and needles in a leg that you cant move and even worse pins and needles in the only leg that is working! Anyone that suffers with constipation regularly my heart goes out to you, thankfully other than this incident I am one of the lucky ones!
There is no getting away from it the first couple of weeks are tough but for me there were a number of products that made my life a little bit easier.
- Don’t know what its real name would be but I called it My Fake Dog Lead and it was a godsend. When I was a kid there was a fad of people walking around with a rigid dog lead as if they had an invisible dog. Unsurprisingly a short lived fad but this version was brilliant for lifting my leg in and out of bed and also lifting my leg to do some exercises.
- Memory Foam Knee Support – not so much for my operated leg but to help with sleep by using it between legs to stop my knee getting bashed or to put it under my good leg to lift the bedding off my bad leg.
- Knee Ice Pack mine was provided by the hospital to to reduce swelling and pain post operation it was really effective.
- Bed Bottle apologies ladies but a male product but I am sure there are female equivalents! During the first couple of weeks getting up in the middle of the night sometimes feels like too much effort this handy little device comes into its own for convenience and it even has a glow in the dark lid!
- Moving onto week 6 when you re trying to rebuild muscle these Ankle Weights were useful in increasing weight for leg presses
Knee Replacement Surgery Day 15 Onwards
Believe me when I say this you have now put the worst of it behind you. Instead of thinking “What have I done?” you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
You probably wont notice the improvements on a day to day basis as the recovery is not linear but when you look back over a 2 week period you will be able to see a marked improvement.
By week 4 you will probably be down to only using one stick to walk with. By week 5 you will only need your stick when you go outside and even then its probably to help with your confidence. By week 6-7 you will be stick free and have probably been signed off to drive again.
Now remember when I said that your recovery won’t be linear, if you feel you are going backwards for a short period don’t let it get you down. Around week 5, I started to experience my knee starting to buckle when I was walking. I am not sure if it coincided with an increase in exercise but it really knocked me sideways (literally!) and I had to go back to using both my sticks. I laid off exercise for a couple of days and before long was able to discard them again.
At week 8 you will feel much better and your response to how you are is “getting there.” You know you have made massive progress and can feel that you are not far away but there are still “things” that are not quite right.
Week 8 Niggles
Stairs are still a struggle and am not able to walk up them normally (ie a foot on alternate stairs.) I still lead with my right foot and then bring my left foot up to the same stair, coming down I do it in the opposite order. If I try to attempt a normal ascent I just don’t think my operated leg would be able to support my weight. This might be just me being a bit behind as my physio on my last few visits is implying I should be ok on stairs by now. For whatever reason stairs a blind spot at the moment and I’m not sure that is going to change anytime soon.
Walking any kind of distance at all. When I say distance I would say 1/2 mile or more. I find it really difficult, my knee stiffens up and it makes me feel tired. I know some of this is just down to practise but walking any kind of distance brings to an end any hope of a productive day.
Limping which no doubt is connected to walking but as the day go on my limp becomes more pronounced. By the evening Mrs K can be heard regularly shouting “pick your leg up you pirate.” With this I don’t know whether its down to general tiredness or the fact that my knee gets stiffer during the day or if its the fact that I have been limping for so long both pre and post op its just and default position. Either way its something I am concentrating on, even if it means I am doing an exaggerated march to stop the limp (I don’t know which is worse!)
Sleeping is still not amazing primarily down to the fact I find it hard to get into and maintain a comfortable position. My memory foam support helps to keep my legs from banging each other but still my knee gets bumped in my general moving about. I also don’t like bedding on my leg whenever I have anything on it, although not painful, it constantly feels tingly. This is down to nerve damage from the surgery which is healing but is still distracting all the same.
The Things I Wish I Knew Before Knee Replacement Surgery
- It’s tough, really tough for those first few weeks. You are going to be reliant on other people doing almost everything for you (thank you Mrs K, you were amazing)
- You will be making frequent visits to the hospital for physio and check ups, so you will need to make provisions for transport. Getting back to driving (and you need to get signed off for insurance purposes) took me 5 weeks and that was only because I have an automatic car and my knee replacement was on my left knee. So whilst I am driving my operated leg doesn’t do anything. With a manual I don’t think I would be driving yet as the test to be signed off is “Are You Able To Carry Out An Emergency Stop”
- For some reason everyone is an expert on Knee Replacement Surgery and they all say “I hope you are doing your exercises.” Please don’t attack them through frustration. I would ask that you vow when you are recovered and you meet someone recovering from knee replacement surgery, tell them they will get there and things will get better and never ask them about their exercises!
- The recovery is not linear you will have good days and bad days and good weeks and bad weeks. It will frustrate the hell out of you but remember the bad days are getting slightly less bad and the good days are also getting slightly better.
- Listen to your body, you will know better than anyone when you can push with your exercises and when you need to slow down a little. Most times after I visit the physio I have a few days where I cut back massively on exercise, mainly because I have pushed myself too far. You will know when you are ready to go again. Part of the recovery process is going to result in pain as you build up your muscles and you will learn the difference between good and bad pain.
- Try and get some fresh air, its hard when you are in pain and your mobility is impaired to get the energy to even stand outside for a few minutes. Trust me its worth it. Fresh air is natures recovery drug and its free!
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