Yet another knee surgery thread

[Rianne]

My DB didn't stop at the knees, he's on to the hips.

 

[W2R]

My sis in law had her right done in March. She initially said she would not do the other as the rehab was too painful. But she got through it and has the other knee scheduled for replacement in July. So as they say....no pain no gain.

Yeah, I've heard that rehab is tough but if it's got to be done, then it's got to be done. Hope her rehab on the second knee goes easier.

 

[W2R]

Best wishes W2R! I agree it's critical to trust your surgeon. I'm looking at paying for a surgery out of network as I don't trust any in network surgeons.

Wow!! That's going to cost big bux, that's for sure.

 

[W2R]

My DB didn't stop at the knees, he's on to the hips.

Best wishes for his recovery from hip surgery!

 

[bclover]

Yeah, I've heard that rehab is tough but if it's got to be done, then it's got to be done. Hope her rehab on the second knee goes easier.

You know the rehab was tough but I do have to say every day it got a little bit better.

so I guess my second tip was also be honest with you p/t. I let mine know whenever there was more pain than I could stand.

lol, now is not the time to try out to be the new iron man!!

My therapist give me this also.

But again, IT WAS 1000% WORTH IT. I am by no means an advocate for just getting cut, I get squeamish when I give blood but the reality is I've got maybe 30 good years left, God willing, I don't want to be in constant pain.

Now I still have my old friend arthritis so my new knee can still get "creaky" but there are days with the right where I'm popping Tramadol every chance I get. not good.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

W2R,, best wishes on your TKR journey.
It does sound as though it is time for you to embark on it.

I am still in the trying to deal with pain/mobility issues phase without surgery.
However, i do ever now and then spend a bit of time researching the state of such things.
In my most recent such foray, I noticed that thee is now something termed "less invasive" in terms of TKR surgery. Apparently it involves not cutting the quadricep, but working around it instead. This will supposedly make recovery somewhat less painful and the resulting recovered condition of the joint more stable. The drawback is that not as many surgeons have experience with it relative to the traditional method. perhaps something worth discussing at your appointment.

 

[ivinsfan]

That's great, you did an amazing job losing weight and now you can find a doctor you believe in. That can make a big difference.

We think the 70 year old heart surgeon that saved my DH's life during a complicated heart surgery walks on water. And I have never heard anybody from his staff to hospital employees to fellow patients in the waiting room talk so glowingly about anyone. They all loved him. I hope you find a doctor like that.

 

[Idnar7]

W2R congrats on losing that weight, especially in a city like NOLA and going to lunch with F everyday. You have shown admirable willpower and my guess is that will carry through on to your rehab. I had foot surgery last year and I thought rehab would kill me. But at the end of 4 weeks I had lost 40 lbs. and I felt better than I had in years. So with the pain you can get some gain. Best of luck!

 

[W2R]

Now I still have my old friend arthritis so my new knee can still get "creaky" but there are days with the right where I'm popping Tramadol every chance I get. not good.

bclover, I got a big laugh out of that graph, and I imagine it is probably quite true. As for popping Tramadol, I agree that is not good. Hope you can get your surgeon to do your right knee too, before too long.

W2R,, best wishes on your TKR journey.
It does sound as though it is time for you to embark on it.

I am still in the trying to deal with pain/mobility issues phase without surgery.
However, i do ever now and then spend a bit of time researching the state of such things.
In my most recent such foray, I noticed that thee is now something termed "less invasive" in terms of TKR surgery. Apparently it involves not cutting the quadricep, but working around it instead. This will supposedly make recovery somewhat less painful and the resulting recovered condition of the joint more stable. The drawback is that not as many surgeons have experience with it relative to the traditional method. perhaps something worth discussing at your appointment.

So sorry that you are going through pain and mobility issues also. Good idea about discussing surgical techniques with my surgeon to hear what he has got to say.

That's great, you did an amazing job losing weight and now you can find a doctor you believe in. That can make a big difference.

We think the 70 year old heart surgeon that saved my DH's life during a complicated heart surgery walks on water. And I have never heard anybody from his staff to hospital employees to fellow patients in the waiting room talk so glowingly about anyone. They all loved him. I hope you find a doctor like that.

Thank you on the compliment about my weight loss. It was amazingly effective in lowering my A1C, too. Glad your DH's surgeon was that good! It's nice to hear about competent surgeons that can nearly walk on water, like that one, and I hope this new surgeon that I am seeing in 8 days is that good too.

 

[W2R]

W2R congrats on losing that weight, especially in a city like NOLA and going to lunch with F everyday. You have shown admirable willpower and my guess is that will carry through on to your rehab. I had foot surgery last year and I thought rehab would kill me. But at the end of 4 weeks I had lost 40 lbs. and I felt better than I had in years. So with the pain you can get some gain. Best of luck!

Idnar, thank you. Losing weight is the hardest thing I have ever done, I think, and I am still counting calories and carbs every day just to keep it off now that I have lost it. I usually just get a small caesar side salad for lunch when we eat out, which is just 200 calories. I am so impressed that you lost 40 lbs in just 4 weeks! It took me 25 weeks to lose that much; my goal was 1-2 pounds per week, because for me 10 lbs/week would be unhealthy and ill advised. Also, I am so sorry that your foot surgery rehab was so tough. Ow. I am sure rehab is going to be extremely tough for me, as well. But it will be worth it if I can stick to the rehab requirements. .

 

[Idnar7]

W2R weight loss was easy with the food they offered and exercise. It was not NOLA. I lived on salad. The main thing I hated about rehab was only once a week shower and the tiny twin bed. Nothing to do but wait for the next therapy session. And none on weekend. Do you like soap operas and game shows?

 

[Lsbcal]

Every once in awhile I wondered about your knee issues W2R. How is she doing? Now I know, thanks! Well, if you can loose 53 pounds then you can do anything.

I can't even loose a few pounds .... OK, I'm not really overweight but still one can always wish to look like he did in his 30's

I'm waiting to hear about the next installment in this drama of yours. I'm sure you are up to the challenge.

 

[Ronstar]

W2R - Best wishes for a pain free solution to your knee problems. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Anyone who has the willpower to lose 50+ pounds in a food mecca like New Orleans will easily recover from knee surgery (if that's what the doc recommends). Seems like a lot more knee replacements happening lately. I have several friends that have had knee or hip replacements and they are doing fine.

 

[W2R]

Every once in awhile I wondered about your knee issues W2R. How is she doing? Now I know, thanks! Well, if you can loose 53 pounds then you can do anything.

I can't even loose a few pounds .... OK, I'm not really overweight but still one can always wish to look like he did in his 30's

I'm waiting to hear about the next installment in this drama of yours. I'm sure you are up to the challenge.

Thanks, Lsbcal. That is so nice of you to say. What worked for me was myfitnesspal dot com (or any other calorie counting website you prefer), and completely ignoring advice from others whether in real life or online. What I mean by that is that we all know our own bodies and what works for us, so do that.

 

[W2R]

W2R - Best wishes for a pain free solution to your knee problems. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Anyone who has the willpower to lose 50+ pounds in a food mecca like New Orleans will easily recover from knee surgery (if that's what the doc recommends). Seems like a lot more knee replacements happening lately. I have several friends that have had knee or hip replacements and they are doing fine.

That's good to hear! I am not sure, but hypothesize that the reason for more knee replacement surgeries might be due to big advances in knee surgery techniques in recent years.

 

[Ronstar]

That's good to hear! I am not sure, but hypothesize that the reason for more knee replacement surgeries might be due to big advances in knee surgery techniques in recent years.

That’s what I think too. The medical technological advancements recently are incredible. DW had some knee pain over the winter doing a lot of hiking. Her doc said that she will probably need a knee replacement in the future.

 

[Moemg]

I am so glad you are finally moving forward . You have really suffered enough with this knee . I hope you love the new Surgeon.

 

[W2R]

I am so glad you are finally moving forward . You have really suffered enough with this knee . I hope you love the new Surgeon.

Thank you!! I hope I do, too.

 

[Chuckanut]

What I mean by that is that we all know our own bodies and what works for us, so do that.

+1

Bingo! Truer words were never spoken.

 

[W2R]

UPDATE:
Some of you have asked about my knees and I have been tactfully pretending that I didn't see the posts because I didn't want to talk about it.

So here's what has been going on. I never went back to that surgeon because he wanted me to lose 25 pounds before any surgery, and I was waging a losing battle to lose weight for quite a while due to poor mobility.

However, in 2018 I decided to ignore what works for other people and cut back on calories and carbs until I found the point where I could lose weight, mobility or not. By ignoring every bit of available advice and doing it my way, I lost 53 pounds (did not want to stop at 25 pounds in the middle of my weight loss to have surgery, because I was "on a roll").

Then on May 13th I started having considerably more pain in my right knee, and for the past month I have not even been able to put weight on it even with my rollator walker. So, as reluctant/phobic as I am to have any kind of surgery, it seemed like now would be a good time for the new, lighter me to triumphantly go back and see the surgeon.

Meanwhile apparently my surgeon retired (how dare he? ) since he was in his mid 60's. Or maybe he was hit by a truck or something. Anyway he is no longer listed by the hospital and when you call his office, the call is forwarded to a pain clinic that is archiving his records. That's OK; I had begun to distrust this surgeon in the meantime for a variety of reasons I won't get into now.

So.... I researched and came up with a different surgeon. Might as well start again with a new surgeon and maybe this one will be more inclined to get this surgery scheduled ASAP (within insurance or Medicare constraints if any). This new surgeon is well qualified too, and in his 40's!!! Let's hear it for young surgeons. Hopefully he will be less likely to retire on me, and surely his knowledge and techniques will be more up to date.

Made an appointment to see him a week from tomorrow. Guess I am starting over from square one.

Well, he had emergency surgery during my appointment time, so I had to reschedule and finally got to see the surgeon for the first time today. This new surgeon confirmed what I had thought; the first surgeon retired.

The new surgeon was terrific. He had xrays done, listened to what I had to say, and spent probably an hour with me and Frank (since I wanted F there for moral support and to help me remember what was said). The surgeon says that just the degenerative arthritis "bone on bone" situation is very bad, bad enough for a total knee replacement ASAP. But also, the additional pain and inability to bear weight in my right knee since May 13th is due to a torn meniscus.

Apparently the orthopedic clinic that the new surgeon works in, has a "knee guy", a surgeon who has great credentials and has been doing knee replacements for 25 years. So my surgeon would rather that this knee guy did my total knee replacement since I am older, diabetic, and have multiple knee problems. Of course, the knee guy doesn't have an appointment available any time soon. So, my surgeon needs to convince him to squeeze me in before too long. They'll call me with an appointment time.

I told Frank I thought I might have just gotten the run-around, but he says no, don't panic. We'll see.

 

[Moemg]

That is pretty typical for Orthopedic groups that they have knee guys and hip guys and shoulder guys . You want the knee guy . Hope they get you in soon .

 

[W2R]

That is pretty typical for Orthopedic groups that they have knee guys and hip guys and shoulder guys . You want the knee guy . Hope they get you in soon .

Thanks. I hope they do too. I appreciate the encouragement so much and I really mean that.

 

[Ronstar]

Well, he had emergency surgery during my appointment time, so I had to reschedule and finally got to see the surgeon for the first time today. This new surgeon confirmed what I had thought; the first surgeon retired.

The new surgeon was terrific. He had xrays done, listened to what I had to say, and spent probably an hour with me and Frank (since I wanted F there for moral support and to help me remember what was said). The surgeon says that just the degenerative arthritis "bone on bone" situation is very bad, bad enough for a total knee replacement ASAP. But also, the additional pain and inability to bear weight in my right knee since May 13th is due to a torn meniscus.

Apparently the orthopedic clinic that the new surgeon works in, has a "knee guy", a surgeon who has great credentials and has been doing knee replacements for 25 years. So my surgeon would rather that this knee guy did my total knee replacement since I am older, diabetic, and have multiple knee problems. Of course, the knee guy doesn't have an appointment available any time soon. So, my surgeon needs to convince him to squeeze me in before too long. They'll call me with an appointment time.

I told Frank I thought I might have just gotten the run-around, but he says no, don't panic. We'll see.

Hope they get you in pronto!

 

[W2R]

Hope they get you in pronto!

Thank you! It's hard to keep my spirits up with all this knee pain. I am resting and icing and using my Ace bandage, and hopefully will be feeling more hopeful when the pain backs off.

 

[whatnot]

I’m sorry this has happened. I have knee issues also and will need a knee replacement one day. I had my 2nd arthroscopic surgery about one year ago and my surgeon said I will need a replacement next. I know that one day it will go out and that will be it. Waiting while you are in pain is awful,and frustrating.
I hope you hear from them soon.