Bilateral Knee Replacement Recovery as a Mom

I know there is no way that I am the first young Mom to get a joint replacement, but when I looked for information and help, there was not much to be found on the internet. I discussed why I needed bilateral knee replacements in THIS post if you would like to start there!

I had intentions to try to do a few update posts as I healed, but to be honest it was so difficult to do the most basic things that the last thing on my mind was logging on and blogging. I plan on talking about recovery here, broadly, and then I plan on doing another post about what was most helpful during recovery, because again I found very little information on this!

Surgery Day and the Hospital Stay

On March 3, 2021 I had Bilateral Total Knee Replacements (BTKR), yep, both knees on the same day at the age of 26. My daughter was a couple days shy of 6 months old when I had the surgery. Due to COVID and restrictions with the pandemic I had to go to OR prep by myself. I sat in the prep area alone for about 2 hours waiting to go back for surgery. It was so scary. All I really remember was crying and being so scared and just wanting it to be over.

They took me back and I woke up in recovery. Again, alone due to the restrictions. I had lost a lot of blood and I also was not handling the spinal well. My blood pressure continued dipping repeatedly to extremely low levels (60/40 at one point) and I kept feeling like I was really hot and going to be sick and then I’d pass out. It was my first experience with passing out, and I truly hated it. It was so scary. I could hear the nurses saying my name over and over telling me to open my eyes and to stay awake, but I physically could not. I remember at one point when I was awake begging them for my phone to talk to my husband because I was scared, they would not get it for me and said I needed to rest. I kept asking. I went back for my surgery at around 8:30 and was not up in my own room until 12 hours later once they finally got me stabilized and I got to see my husband, although he couldn’t stay long again because of restrictions.

I remember that they wanted me to walk that night, but my bp was not stable so I could not even try because again I kept passing out. Due to this issue they could not give me any heavy pain killers, which was brutal to say the least.

I ended up having to stay longer than expected and did not leave until March 6. I was really sad about this because I missed Elsie’s half birthday.

I remember being in a lot of pain at the hospital and being really loopy. It was really so hard to walk and to hold my body weight up even with a walker. I remember getting into the car was extremely painful and I remember crying a bunch. Otherwise this time frame was pretty blurry.

The First Two Weeks

I was finally home with my baby, which did help me feel a little better, but wow those first two weeks are hell on Earth, not even going to lie. I was having a lot of nerve pain and everything was so hard. Again these first two weeks are a little foggy, what I do remember is lots of tears. I just was so helpless and immobilized. I felt like a horrible Mom. I was honestly harder for everyone to take care of than my daughter Elsie.

Everything is so hard. Standing is hard, walking is hard, getting a shower is nearly impossible. It really is all just HARD.

I had in-home physical therapy that came to me, which was essential. There was no way I was getting myself and Elsie in the car to go to outpatient therapy everyday! It was so nice having the physical therapist come to me.

Physical therapy was grueling, but obviously necessary. Word of advice? Do everything they tell you to do. The more you bend at first the more range of motion you will have. Do everything they say and more if you can.

Weeks 2-6

These weeks really test you, and your true grit. You are done being hurt. You just want to be better and feel more normal. Although your pain may be managed at this point, it is still pretty hard to do just about everything. This range of time though is when I saw the most improvement! Things just kept getting a little easier and easier. The pain was starting to subside to a tolerable level and I had my routine down pat at this point.

The mental and emotional side of things at this point was really difficult though. I just felt like I was a burden on everyone. The opioids (although I was taking a ton) were definitely causing some depression and I would often just cry feeling like I was missing important moments with my daughter or in frustration because I could not do things the way I wanted to do things.

I continued physical therapy, but I started outpatient therapy, which was nice. I could get out of the house and I started using the bike at therapy which really helped loosen my knees up.

Weeks 6-12

I felt like at week 6 I was returning to some normalcy, it was still hard, but I was able to push through. I still needed some help taking care of my daughter as I was still using a cane for stability in week 6, but my quad strength was coming back and things were feeling much better. I was experiencing a lot of tightness still, but it was improving.

By week 12 I was able to take care of my daughter independently. She has become quite mobile with crawling so I ended up investing in a playpen to contain her when she is enjoying floor time, but with this I was able to watch her on my own.

At 10 weeks after lots of PT I was able to get to the ground and play with my daughter (granted, me getting back up off the ground is NOT graceful, but it doesn’t have to be) and this made me so happy! The reason for getting the surgery was to eliminate limitations from my life so I can be the fun and involved Mom. Getting on the floor with her felt like such a win. Here is a picture of me sitting enjoying the waves on the beach with her really recently (exactly 3 months post op!)

This journey has been difficult. Within a two year time frame I went through fertility treatments/surgery, a difficult pregnancy, a csection and recovery, postpartum depression/anxiety, and bilateral total knee replacement.

I definitely think after this recovery it is time for a BREAK.

This journey has been hard, but I no longer have bone on bone pain in my knees. I still have tightness and muscle pain, but it is improving. My doctor and physical therapist have reminded me continuously joint replacements (ESPECIALLY TWO AT A TIME) is a marathon, not a sprint. They have told me it takes a full year to feel the full benefits of the surgery and to feel your best.

My options were live with bone on bone paint that got worse and worse, or get this surgery and have surgical pain that gets better! I think the before and after xrays speak for themselves!

If you or a loved one are facing a knee replacement or bilateral knee replacements, please reach out and ask any questions you want! I would love to help this community and provide information based on my own experiences. You can reach me on instagram @kylasieges or feel free to comment here!

Again I hope to put together a post with my must-haves for knee replacement recovery in the future so make sure to subscribe so you do not miss it!