u/EAM44 — reddlx

When I was waiting for my surgery I got into the habit of drinking less water because needing to eliminate meant walking on my wonky knee. I got so dehydrated that my surgeon ordered Pedialyte as a preop med the day before surgery.

Drinking less water was useful in recovery as well (same reason), and it became a habit. I noticed especially that the backs of my hands showed classic signs of dehydration. I didn’t worry about it, I figured my thirst would kick in as I got better.

Guess what hurts more than a TKR (because at least we are medicated for that)? A kidney stone.

I hadn’t been feeling in top form, then all of a sudden I had this pain in my right flank that felt like someone had kicked me. I had no idea what it was at first and thought it might be a muscle tear. Then I started 🤮 a lot, so I went to the ER. I could not sit up in the car on the way there, and I could not sit when I got there. I was standing against a wall weeping but bless them, the staff got me into an ER bed pretty quickly. The pain got as high as an 8. They don’t have a 🤮 score, but it was no picnic either. My knee pain - totally different, deep pain that lasts - never got worse than a 6 because I stayed ahead of it with meds which I took for 2.5 months.

So, I now know what Toradol is (NSAID particularly good for stone pain apparently) and I’ve received IV morphine. You read that right, morphine. The thing is, this was completely avoidable. I do not have a genetic predisposition to kidney stones. Drinking a liter of water like I used to every morning could very likely have prevented this. I know elimination can be a pain when you’re recovering from TKR, but you don’t want this - nobody wants this. Drink your water and fingers crossed, it won’t happen to any of you.