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Observation and Perspective
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The Left TKR turned out to be all I could have hoped for. Next week I'm getting my Right knee done.
There was a point in the progress of healing where, on my own, I began to incorporate one Aspirin into the blood thinning regimen, as a means for cutting back on the Coumadin pills. Aspirin has been part of my self-imposed health regimen for decades. I'm no Doctor, but I figured with the clotting factor testing that was being done twice a week, the nursing practitioner would have me taking less Coumadin to balance things out. It worked out, as they had me decreasing my dose of Coumadin, always maintaining a proper level of blood thinning. No one was the worse of the wiser. I didn't take this aspirin route haphazardly. In fact some Doctors prefer aspirin therapy over Coumadin for blood thinning.
Danger from migrating blood clots is nothing to take lightly, that's why it is so very important to use blood thinners for a period of time during the recovery. My Doctor prefered Coumadin as the compound of choice for blood thinning.
The pain relievers prescribed during my recovery were Dilaudin and Acetaminophen. I was able to stop taking the Dilaudin after about 3 weeks post op.
Instead of the combination of Dilaudin and Acetaminophen, which were necessary for use with the Coumadin therapy, I really feel I benefited from being able to switch over to NSAID's. So getting off the Coumadin was a priority. Coumadin was also an obstacle keeping me from using outdoor biking as part of my therapy.
During PT, in home and then outpatient, there was a great benefit to having just one therapist at a time in each of those situations. I am Grateful to having therapists Cindy "Make-a-Wish", and John "Z". Their help and guidance got me back in pretty good shape after 11 weeks. Being involved with only one therapist at a time to track the therapy process seemed like a good method for continuity of progress.
Most of the outpatient stuff involved the therapist telling me what procedure to do, then basically the therapist would observe and measure the progress. Outpatient sessions lasted about 1 to 1.5 hours, part of the time included heating and icing therapy. The toughest parts in the rehab process have been leg straightening and stairs. John "Z", my therapist has some great chiropractic techniques which were very effective for leg straightening.
Having access to a stationary recumbent bike was a big help in gaining initial flexibility. Six days after the TKR operation, I started trying to crank the pedals around, rocking at first. It wasn't very long before I was able to crank the pedals all the way around. As far as walking as part of my rehabilitation, going shopping and pushing a shopping cart seemed good. Also walking the driveway with a snow shovel seemed useful (especially from my Wife's perspective). LOL!
In spite of the crappy weather, I've been able to bike around the neighborhood when the roads were dry and the temps were able to get above 30 degrees. I would not chance that on Coumadin therapy!
As far as swelling/inflammation, icing is a big factor for control. I also take Turmeric capsules (2-4 grams), Fish oil, and Aspirin every day.
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