Total Knee Replacement: Please Help Me Plan for Surgery and Recovery

I didn't have knee surgery, but I DID have my gallbladder out and since something in my body doesn't work right, recovery was a bit of a doozy. So I really only have notes for general surgery recovery/cleaning aspects. 1) Definitely have some sort of tray or table. I have no idea about the rolling tray, but even a TV tray would be good. ALSO keep a small trash can near you. It's sooo much better to be able to throw away your trash near you rather than having it pile up around you or on your table. SO MUCH BETTER. 2) Make notes on your meds. Get a sharpie and write or underline if you're supposed to take at night or whatnot. I also tracked my pills on my iphone's notes so I could make sure I was taking them on time or not taking too many. 3) Of course, have a good, big water bottle. Staying hydrated is a big thing and getting up for each cup of water is a pain. And plan for easy food - something you can just reheat or pop in the microwave. 4) I bought a big ice pack at my local grocery store. I'm sure you can pick up decent sized ones. Get like 4 or 5 so you can not have to just switch them out immediately (Again, less things to worry about.) 5) Bathing. I just, once I was feeling well enough, took a cheap folding chair into the bathroom and filled the sink up with water and grabbed a washcloth. It was easy to sponge bath and then I stood up and rinsed my hair. I do have short hair, but that helped de-oil a bit. Personally, dry shampoo just makes my hair feel more gross. Put your hair in a braid or something if you can. Lay out some extra towels so you can not have to worry about splashes if you want to dip your hair in the sink. 6) Calendar - I haven't used it and my husband just stayed home with me, but here's https://support.google.com/a/answer/1626902?hl=en. That might work for everyone

From a general post-surgical perspective, while you're on serious pain meds you probably won't want to do anything too thinky, like read or do crossword puzzles. TV and movies are pretty good, idle internet surfing (like Facebook feeds) is perfect. When I had major surgery last summer I mostly surfed on my phone. It was about all I could handle for at least the first couple of weeks. My mother had one knee replaced about 10 years ago. The pain was pretty bad for the first week. They kept her in rehab because she was in her mid 60s and lived alone. I think if you stress you live alone, depending on your insurance, you might be able to go to rehab. Try to get someone to help you settle in at home and maybe stay for the first day or two once you're out, so they can do the things you've forgotten and so there's a steady arm to get you around your apartment (like to the bathroom) until you're more secure on your feet. DO YOUR EXERCISES AND PT! Even if it hurts. ESPECIALLY if it hurts. Do every single thing. Don't skimp. Especially the first few days. And if they aren't offering anything rehab/PT-wise the first few days, ASK. Because what buoys says above about getting better faster if you work on it is absolutely true. When I had a torn meniscus and had surgery for it many years ago, I got one of those cold water thermos pack things that refreshes the cold constantly around the knee when you lift it up above the packs, and I loved it. It was never as cold as I wanted it to be, but it kept the swelling down to a manageable amount. Mother has a rolling tray table and it was especially useful next to her bed, so she could keep everything she needed close by and not worry about trying to wrench around to the night stand. We bought it at a local medical supply store, and to be honest she still uses it all the time. Position it ahead of time to the right height and location and load it up with remotes, tissues, water bottles, meds, phone charger already plugged in with a nice long cord (available on Amazon), etc. Perhaps put everything in a basket to keep stuff from falling off the edge. Definitely get a good gripper thing. That's invaluable when you're not too flexible. You might set up an account with the local grocery delivery service and try it out ahead of time. Gather any menus to delivery places, too, or set up an account with a restaurant delivery service like Foodler. The less fussing you have to do on pain meds, the better -- if you already have accounts set up and previous orders in there, the less you'll have to think about later. The biggest thing I would have done differently pre-surgery is I would have found out more specifics about my post-surgery recovery. Surgeons are not your resource, here, because they spend about 10 minutes with you total after surgery (over several days!). They say non-specific basically useless things like "there will be some discomfort". Ask the nurses who work the ortho recovery wards. If I had asked the right people, I would probably have bought a power recliner so I could have slept in it. My surgery was on my chest, so sleeping was very uncomfortable. Eventually I slept in a comfy chair fairly well, but getting up was really hard and learning "sternal precautions" was hard once you already have the sliced open sternum. They might have advice for how to prepare your bed, how to get in and out of bed, how to use a crutch or whatever you need. Re: cat. Problematic! How to clean litter box when bending is hard? Might want to see if you can get a pet sitter to come in a couple of days a week and do that for you. Feeding: just feed him/her on the counter. Propriety be damned. ALSO: cat winding under foot might be particularly problematic. Please be careful. No falling!

Word to the wise: you will be on crutches and unable to both walk and carry anything and this will get really annoying really fucking fast. You can loop a bag through a crutch safely to carry books, sandwiches, etc but that won't work for liquids. My solution was to get a tray, make a cup of tea, carefully lower the cup of tea to the tray whilst balancing on one leg, and then push the try to the couch with a crutch as I navigated my way back to the living room. Repeat for food and drinks as needed. And yes, you really will be up and mobile faster than you think. They won't discharge you without basic mobility for safety reasons. You are unlikely to need a rehab facility.

Ask about the use of a continuous epidural (like women in labor often use) for pain management postoperatively. Unless you have a medical contraindication to one I would really look into it; for me personally I would find another surgeon if it is not an option where you are going; it has been some time since I have been involved with joint replacements though, so it may be standard practice in most places now. I know surgeons I have worked with are really big on it because having an epidural in place allows for early PT including the passive motion machine immediately after surgery, and as others have noted, PT in the first couple of days makes a huge difference. I had a colleague/mentor who had both knees replaced, one with an epidural and one without, and he said there was no comparison; the epidural was far superior for postop pain management.

My good friend had a spiral fracture and subsequent surgery in her right leg, and I helped her out for about a month after the surgery. You can set up a http://www.carecalendar.org/ or https://www.mealtrain.com/ for your friends to sign up and help out during your recovery. Make a list of tasks & their frequency. You can ask a friend with more computer savvy to set it up for you. Since you are diabetic, perhaps you should write up a guide for what foods are best for you and what you like. Make sure you have water and a snack (like a box of granola bars) by your bed so you are ready to take your meds when you need to. My friend would take hers right away in the morning, and then continue to doze in bed until they took effect. Having a journal for you/your friends to record when you took your meds is a great idea. My friend wore a lot of loose stretchy cropped yoga-type pants and t-shirts. She had structured and grippy slip-on slippers, then athletic shoes when she was up to tying her own shoes. She had blankets and extra pillows placed on her couches, chairs and bed to arrange herself comfortably. Seconding the suggestion that you use an over-the-shoulder bag to wear or hang on your crutches for necessities. Both my friend and I really like http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-hot--cold-compress/ID=prod3868366-product. Get at least 2 so you always have one in the freezer. Perhaps plan to use your recovery time to re-read your favorite books and re-watch your favorite movies. You will be pretty groggy at first. As for feeling yourself again, my friend really likes to be outdoors. So we borrowed a wheelchair (can't remember where we got it...) and took her for a spin around the neighborhood. We had lots of laughs trying to navigate the sidewalks and curbs. But she really appreciated being surrounded by trees and wind and green stuff. Also, it's amazing what your body can do! Follow the directions of your doctors and physical therapists, and do your exercises. You will recover more quickly than you thought you could. There's lots of great advice on this thread. Best of luck!

I got nothing for you but a huge, massive, heartfelt thank you. I am a 66 year old elder orphan. My only family is one brother 2,000 miles away. I am also a loaner so no friends to count on. I like it that way, really but... I kind of panic about an inevitable health issue/crisis and how I will handle that alone. Your question (and the oh so wonderfully helpful answers) has given me the most marvelous list a things to consider and plan for and think about that otherwise would have never occurred to me! This whole entry/comments is going into my Evernote In Case Of Emergency Planning folder. I hope your surgery goes swimmingly and your recovery turns out out to be a piece of cake. Thank you!