Immediately after the surgery yesterday at 10:30 AM and until early evening I felt fine. No pain, just a bit woozy from the light anesthetic that they gave me in conjunction with the local anesthetic in the knee itself. The hospital discharged me and I arrived home by 1:30 PM. I spent the day with my leg elevated on a pile of pillows and running a "cold therapy unit" to reduce swelling.
As the evening progressed I began to feel considerable discomfort and what felt like tightness on the back of leg about 4 to 6 inches above and below where the knee flexes. Still, I passed on the prescription pain killer in favor of Extra Strength Tylenol and got through the night.
Today, same routine, but the pain in back of my leg stepped up a notch or two so I elected to take 1/2 dose of the prescribed Vicodin ES.
Both the hospital and the surgeon's staff called to check in on me during the day. I hadn't had much sleep the night before and both the Vicodin and the Feldene anti-inflammatory medication can make one nauseous, so I didn't feel so well today.
In speaking with the surgeon's office manager I realized that they had wanted me not just to elevate my knee but to elevate the knee at a 45 degree angle while keeping the entire leg straight. Apparently, this promotes drainage of the fluid they inject during the surgery and helps to reduce the swelling following the surgery. If you don't keep the leg straight fluids can collect in the tissue. This likely caused the discomfort I experienced in back of my leg.
My wife propped up an ironing board on some pillows and I've used that over that past 6 hours to keep the leg elevated and straight. It seems to help.
Alpha^2
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