We are so honored to have a real jock on this blog. OMG....you are a strong guy. It's such a shame...the surgery only takes a little over an hour and some of us struggle up to a year to recuperate....
I wouldn't be taking the trip for anyone except it is my granddaughter's bat mitzvah and my son would never forgive me.
Thanks....I will get bio freeze and renew the Voltarin and call the airline. I will bring a few of my icebags and ask airline to freeze them. One of my ice packs has a bag with a velcro closing that straps on to the knee. I will bring my cane for support...even though I only use a cane outside to keep people and cars away fro me. I have an end seat so that should help. I was concerned about blood clots.
Thank you shan...my doctor gave me the letter at my post op appt. I already called the airline and changed to aisle seats. For my flight going home they gave me (Jet Blue) a handicapp seat and an aisle seat (I have a layoff for two hours going home)....I hope I survive this....don't want to sound like a victim but this is what we do for kids.....
Think positive Marilyn! You've got 5 or 6 weeks in which you will get a little better each week. Just keep up the good work with exercises n PT. Cheers
I recommend you request wheelchair assistance on your outbound, connections and in your destination city. TSA lines can be long and standing for long periods of time makes my knees swell. They will meet you on the jet ramp and you can tell them you want to walk if your next gate is close and you want to stretch. I purchased compression socks for the flights and they helped reduce swelling. I travelled for over 16 hours 3 months after bilateral TKR. We upgraded but you should be good with a aisle or ask for bulkhead due to your medical condition. I didn't need a note for security. I just told them I have titanium knee replacements and I was sent to the body image scanner. Take your time and be patient with yourself.
Hi and thank you for your suggestion. I called the airline and changed seats to aisle. On homebound flight they gave me a handicap seat for the 5 hour flight and an aisle seat after layover. That flight is an hour. i requested a wheelchair, have letter from doc and all I pray for now is getting the swelling down and a normal bend. I will also be flying one way with my sixteen year old granddaughter and Velcro closing icepacks. Chico suggested bio freeze.
I love this site and thank you all for great suggestions.
You are welcome. I'm in the same boat with the bend issue. We will get there eventually and have accepted it takes dedication, effort and patience. Enjoy your trips.
Hi Marilyn, I was told by surgeon definitely not to fly for at least 12 weeks due to clotting and lack movement. Others here have given you excellent advice on ice etc. I admire Chico and his advice. But check about flying. Def get help. I got assistance before my op and was excellent. I am 18 weeks now and flew first time this week only 3 1/2 hours from uk to Spain, was ok except rather irate security person with my knee. I got an extra leg room seat and just kept moving legs. Got quite stiff after a while but was fine. Take care xx
Thank you so much for your info. Helps so much. I really like reading your info. I am almost 4 mo po. Still have numbness mostly evening. Pain when getting up fron sitting. Basically a lot of what everyone feels. I am over weight, trying to loose. My surgeon goes by bmi, as long as you are under 40 him. Got me. Both of my knees were bad but only had one done, so as I'm sure you guessed, my other knee is worse now. Especially going upstairs. I still try going up normally, may not get better until other knee gets fixed. Then again with fibro, hip pain and back, makes things rough. I'm gonna make it though. I'm 64. Should have had done a few years back. Thank you for all your info
Hip pain? Got my right one replaced 2009. Back pain? Got four vertebrae fused 2015. Knee pain? LTKR 2016. The other knee is on order...not looking forward to it. I'm 68 so I know what you mean. This has been a difficult recovery...especially the first 90 days. After that, I fought through the rest of the pain and feel pretty good now at a little less than 5 months post-op. Everyone's different; I have a history of bouncing back from ops pretty quickly so having virtually no pain and 0/+129 flexion right now may be unusual. But I still have to address the sciatica...therapy pool starts next week. Maybe there's a reason I haven't found a new job yet...The Big Guy Upstairs knows that I'm just not ready yet... PS: Voltaren Gel on both knees...
My pain for my TKR was no where near severe and I was off opiod in 2-1/2 weeks. Do I sound unusual? Hoping it will be the same when I have second knee done.
Great post Chico .. my only problem is I've had alot of issues with my TKR and it was a toss up with the surgeon as to which knee to operate on first. Mine are due to being run over by a truck so have found that I've being unable to perform alot of exercises and pt is having to think out of the square for ideas for me as I can't walk far due to the other knee being so bad. But eventually all will be good and then it'll be onto the left knee and then hoping that with 2 new knees I'll be able to do everything that I need to... at present I have 110% ROM which surgeon is very happy with I'm just on 10mths post op...
Everyone is different and I think "being run over by a truck" puts you in a very special category. From time to time, we all use the phrase "I feel like I've been run over by a truck" but YOU ACTUALLY WERE!!!! Thank God you're still here. Please...take all the time you need to recover.