It has now been over seven weeks since my knee replacement surgery. And I still hurt quite a bit. But most of the pain is not from the knee, it's from my entire leg, mostly the thigh and calf areas. So my surgeon referred me to a pain management doctor. He quickly determined that something was amiss. He changed my pain medication from Hydrocodone (It never really worked very well anyway) to a less potent drug. But he added another drug that addresses the tingling/burning/freezing/numbness in my leg. Then he scheduled me for a bone density scan. I do it about nine hours from now.
If that isn't enough he will use some kind of device to help locate circulatory problems. And if that doesn't work he will schedule me for an MRI. He's determined to find out why my leg hurts so much.
Meanwhile, I finished my therapy. Or I should say my therapy benefits ran out and now my surgeon wants to schedule me for another month of treatments. That's good because I missed a lot during the first two weeks when I was anemic. I would always arrive on time but as soon as the therapist saw me looking pale, or struggling to do an exercise, she would stop the treatment. Most of the time when that happened I was so dizzy that I was close to passing out. I've got my strength back and really need to work on the areas that are still stiff and swollen.
My surgeon told me earlier today that I have good circulation in my legs. He also said the knee surgery and my range of motion is right on target except for about 5° to get my leg straight.
At least I'm recovering from the surgery.
I made a video of my experience and posted it on YouTube if you care to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LMlsl_7N4Y
I'll report again soon.
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