An update from my recovery of my knee replacement#2

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Well, my recovery has hit a brick wall. I was being a good patient, following all the physical therapy requests, everything I can think of. I was starting to feel pretty good (Ha!) Then I started bleeding from between the staples - it looks like I have broken one or more of the inner stitches. I am out of pain medicine and because of my kidney disease I am not allowed to take any kind of Nsaid medication. If I bend or move my knee at all, it begins bleeding. If I don't move, my knee stiffens up and hurts more. I just don't know what to do. I see the surgeon on September 5th and I know he will be disappointed in my progress, but I have no idea what else to do. Does anyone have any ideas? I do ice my knee and although I still cannot exercise, it does help with the pain.


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Recent Comments

16

I'd get in touch with the doctor asap.....all the best.
Debbie

Thanks Debbie! That's the plan.

Thanks for the update, Rae. I hope you have a speedy recovery.

I hope I do also! :D

My mom had both knees replaced. Having the appropriate pain meds is very important. You can do physical therapy properly if the pain it too bad. Let them know you are out of pain meds and need more. Some bleeding is normal, a lot of bleeding is not. You may want to call the surgeon again and ask him what's a normal amount of bleeding.

My mom walks fine now. It was worthwhile doing it, the recovery was not so much fun. But it will heal.

Hi Wendy,
Thanks for the positive response. I put on a silver nitrate wound dressing that is antimicrobial and about1/4"thick. Within 5 minutes I can see the blood through the bandage and if I don't move (next to impossible) then re bandage takes about 20-30 minutes to become saturated. It isn't infected I'm told because of the colors that aren't in the blood. So, I guess time will tell.

It sounds like it's bleeding quite a bit. I would call the Dr asap for advice. You don't want to lose you much blood. Keep pressure on it. I've and elevate. I am not a dr. This is my suggestion.

Thank you Pat for jumping in. The doc had the phlebectomy department draw blood every morning at 4:30 so he would know before office hours if I'd lost too much blood during the night. I hadn't thought about it but it is possible I need something done for that pretty soon. Hmm... Not good.

Just take care of yourself.

Oh Rae, I wouldn’t know what to suggest except don’t run any Marathons until after you have seen the surgeon but that advice won’t hep you yet! Lol

I guess you have to listen to the experts and let the surgeon assess the situation on 5th and hopefully the bleeding will have slowed and you get it all freshly cleaned.

It sounds like a bit more time and patience is necessary before you start jogging again! Lol

I can only imagine the frustration! You will work through this.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne. This is so frustrating

Can you not call the surgeons office? I’d suggest that’s the first course of action.

Ice always and elevate it.

Keep it clean as best you can.

Lastly, try not to move much at all, as you want it to try to heal. This is one of those times you should stay in bed and be pampered.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Dave, I hoped you would chime in. I've called my surgeon and he said he wants me to continue with the physical therapy and he expects me too be able to bend my knee 90 degrees by Wednesday , September 5th. He doesn't want the nursing staff he requested to change my dressing but I'm bleeding so much there isn't any option but to change the dressing at least once every day. So what do I do??

That seems really odd, you should be bleeding so much. I'd hazard a guess he doesn't know just how much you're bleeding?

Is it swollen more than usual?

I think it is very swollen and still very bruised but the nursing staff and physical therapists all say it looks great. He knows its bleeding but possibly not how bad. I only talk to the nurse, i dont know what she tells the surgeon or what he tells her. Honestly, if I had known it would be like this, I never would have had the knee replacement.

It shouldn't be bleeding like what you're saying it is. Any chance you have a medical clinic or anything near by that you could likely get to?

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