Apologies for dropping out of sight/communication - things were a bit of blur trying to get stuff accomplished prior to my surgery yesterday. Wanted to drop by and thank everyone for their recommendations and support and let everyone know how it went.
As compared to my last knee surgery (lateral re-alignment), it's been an absolute breeze. Was scheduled to be at the center at 8:30 and things moved so quickly at the out-patient ortho surgery center as compared to having had outpatient knee surgery in the hospital last time.
The staff at the ortho center was amazing, patient, efficient and were more than willing to listen to my concerns prior to surgery. I have a big fear of needles if I'm not the one inserting the needle into myself.... The last time around when they did the nerve block on my leg they had to get two orderlies to hold me down even with having dilauded on board. It was a terrifying experience that is still a very clear memory
I'm pretty sure they either gave me extra dilaudid yesterday or made sure to have my prescription pain meds on board early enough that the last thing I remember prior to surgery was them telling me that it's time for the nerve block. I'm entirely grateful that I have absolutely no memory of the nerve block.
Recovery was a bit rough coming out of anesthesia - they had to give me two additional doses of fentanyl before the pain was at least somewhat under control. Similarly yesterday afternoon was a bit rough after we got home but things are under much better control. I'm actually really suprised at how much smoother this knee replacement is going as compared to the lateral re-alignment I had in the same knee back in 2006. Even with the nerve block having worn off I'm in so much less pain and discomfort.
After,? MOVEMENT!
ice for the pain the movement causes. Don't just ice a "resting pain".
CalG, that is actually one of the most surprising things about recovery so far.... movement and gentle stretching/heel slides (in combination with icing) have been absolutely HUGE in alleviating discomfort. Similarly getting up and being weight bearing for a little bit while walking around, while somewhat uncomfortable, hasn't been the issue I thought it would be and has actually gone a long way to mitigating discomfort.
While yes, I'm currently using the prescribed oxycodone it's been more dissociative than being a pain reliever. The biggest difference I noticed in pain management was after the 1000mg of Tylenol I was prescribed starting kicking in. It dropped my pain from a 5-6 down to a 2-3.
Depending on how today goes I'm planning on playing around with stepping down the amount of oxy I'm taking and more generally relying on the other pain/anti-spasm/cramping medications and seeing how it goes. I've hurt myself severely enough times in the past when I haven't had access to pain relief to understand keeping pain under control and have not desire to get behind the 8-ball and fight break through pain. That said this feels qualitatively different than past experiences and thus far I've got a much more positive outlook on recovery. We're supposed to head up to my MIL's today for XMAS week with the family and I was expecting to be out of it and laid up for most of the week and I don't think that's going to be the situation.
Case in point, I'm a side sleeper and had made my peace with the likelihood of having to sleep on my back with my leg elevated. Last night, except for having to go to the bathroom a couple times, I was able to sleep on my side with my good leg down and a pillow between it and my "bad" knee. (That said I am otherwise generally keeping my knee elevated when I'm resting).
In any case, I'm rambling a bit. I do understand that I've got a long road to fully recovery, but I'm feeling pretty confident at the moment and appreciate everyone's support and contributed experiences. They have been huge in helping me get set-up for this and making me feel comfortable with the process.
