[escapequeen]

What has your experience been if you have had knee replacements? I need both of mine replaced and I want to find out from others what they think about the ordeal. I appreciate your input.

[villages07]

I had a total knee replacement in Dec '08; fortunately, it all went well with no complications. The first few weeks are tough with pain, irregular sleep patterns, and general confinement. It's a must to do the physical therapy/rehab to regain full range of motion and strengthen muscles. I had 2 weeks of in-home therapy and 10 weeks of outpatient. My knee was particularly bad (very crooked) so I needed more rehab than most.

It's no fun, but, the whole ordeal was not as bad as I had feared. I turned a corner at about 6 weeks post op where life started to feel normal again... better sleep, able to walk around without any cane/assistance, no pain, etc. At 3 months post op I was cleared to do all activities.

Most docs will only do one knee at a time and wait 3 months between knees.

The only caution is everyone reacts differently ... to the surgery, development of scar tissue, amount of pain, etc.

Here is a web discussion board with a lot of information. Please realize that these types of boards get more 'complication' stories than are representative of reality, so, take it with a grain of salt. This board talks about a book on knee replacement (mine's out on loan) that was very informative.

Good luck.... you'll know when you are ready to get it done.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/onourfeet/messages/

[escapequeen]

Originally Posted by villages07

I had a total knee replacement in Dec '08; fortunately, it all went well with no complications. The first few weeks are tough with pain, irregular sleep patterns, and general confinement. It's a must to do the physical therapy/rehab to regain full range of motion and strengthen muscles. I had 2 weeks of in-home therapy and 10 weeks of outpatient. My knee was particularly bad (very crooked) so I needed more rehab than most.

It's no fun, but, the whole ordeal was not as bad as I had feared. I turned a corner at about 6 weeks post op where life started to feel normal again... better sleep, able to walk around without any cane/assistance, no pain, etc. At 3 months post op I was cleared to do all activities.

Most docs will only do one knee at a time and wait 3 months between knees.

The only caution is everyone reacts differently ... to the surgery, development of scar tissue, amount of pain, etc.

Here is a web discussion board with a lot of information. Please realize that these types of boards get more 'complication' stories than are representative of reality, so, take it with a grain of salt. This board talks about a book on knee replacement (mine's out on loan) that was very informative.

Good luck.... you'll know when you are ready to get it done.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/onourfeet/messages/

You had me at your first sentence, that is what I wanted to hear, lol! As for the pain, irregular sleep and confinement, I feel all of those are happening right now, so.......might as well have the surgeries.

I am glad that your surgery was a success, that is always good to hear for future reference. I would like to get them both done at the same time but do not know yet if my doctor will do them both. It is not like I have a good leg to stand on if I only get one fixed, lol!
Thanks so much, I hope you enjoy your new found freedom with your knee.

Take care.

[SUNNYMARYANN]

Originally Posted by escapequeen

What has your experience been if you have had knee replacements? I need both of mine replaced and I want to find out from others what they think about the ordeal. I appreciate your input.

I had both of my knees replaced and on the same day. I had no other option I was in that bad condition.

Having my knees replaced was a rebirth! After the procedure and rehab therapy I was able to walk my dog for an hour with no pain and ride my bike as long as I liked. I could dance again and shop all I wanted to upright on two feet.
The recovery period is a bit long but so worth it. I had therapists with golden hands who did so much to help me gain my independence. Before the surgery in November 1999 I was in a wheelchair. After knee replacement my life changed drastically and I felt so free to be able to do things without pain.

I wish I would have had someone take a picture of me with the two leg supports and walker then the electric wheelchair I was stuck in before I had the knee replacements.

All surgeries are scarey and I know you are afraid of whether or not there will be pain afterward. Take it from me GO FOR IT! It is the best gift I have ever given to myself.

[villager99]

had a total knee replacement 5 years ago. since other leg is paralyzed i needed in patient rehab followed by full two months outpatient. hard work but well worth it.

[hoseman]

87 year old Mother had first knee replaced July 17. She is now at an inpatient hospital getting three hours of physical therapy a day. Knee still very swollen but she already walked up steps, walked 100 yards (with walker), participated in hospital bowling, putt-putt, etc. Knee pain is gone it's just the pain from the surgery... She comes home probably end of this week and will continue therapy three times a week.

Those knee lubrication shots: tried two different regimes of shots over a year while trying to avoid surgery. Neither did a thing. Wonder if those shots ever work for anyone?

[michaelkir]

I had a knee replaced about 11 years ago. Bottom line is that it is the best thing I ever did. Rehab was a bear but if you want all the mobility and more you have to do it and do it right. It hurts so stay on top of your pain medication. I have been absolutly pain free since then and have great mobility. There have been a number of advances since I had mine done and I suspect it is much less invasive and the healing time is down to a minimum. Go for it and Good Luck.

[Carla B]

Although my new knee is painless, I wasn't prepared for the aftermath of the surgery which was done almost three years ago. I went into the operation perfectly healthy, I thought, but struggled for months afterward with my digestive system. Now all is well...I've finally been able to regain some of the 13 lbs. I lost and the knee is painless. If I were to do it again, I'd want to be fit as possible and built up with tonic or something.

[salpal]

As with most surgery, there are lots of variables that determine how easy the recovery is and how well things come out -- e.g age, sex, health before surgery, severity of original knee problems, etc.

You may want to check out the Knee Guru forum here as it has LOTS of info in addition to numerous threads from folks with both good and .... well, not so good results.

Here's a bit of recent history from someone who is apparently prone to building up scar tissue.

I went in hoping to get a partial replacement, ended up getting a full replacement on 12/28/06.
- Had some in-house PT until 2/07 when I could drive to PT
- returned to work end of Feb. (8 weeks off)
- got stuck @ 90 degrees range of motion (ROM)
- 3/07 had first manipulation under anesthesia (MUA)
- 3/16/07 got past 90 to ~120 degrees but got stuck there
- lots and lots of PT thru July but no real improvement
- 07/07 MUA #2 but no significant improvement
- 10//31/07 got second opinion but basically he said original OS did nothing wrong and recommended using special JAS brace in addition to more PT and waiting.
- follow ups thru 04/08 but no real improvement. He'd offered to go in again to check things out but may have to replace everything. At this point frustration level was so high, I said go for it and scheduled 2nd surgery
- 07/08 replaced 2 pieces of replacement, not whole thing; easy recovery since it was not as invasive as 1st op; was walking around the block in 3 weeks. More PT....more follow up appts.
- 08/08 stymied again @ around 90-100 degrees so we scheduled:
- 08/28/08 MUA #3
- more PT, more follow-ups throughout 2008 then PT credits expired
- 06/09 had 1 year follow up and he basically said "it is what it is" and that full replacement is only option and gave the caveat that since I'm prone to building up scar tissue after surgery, it may happen again. So I'm most likely going to limp along until retirement in a couple of years.

Hopefully you'll be like the majority and get good results but do go in with your eyes open and do your homework.

Good Luck and Best Wishes!!!

[escapequeen]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words and information. I am currently doing water exercises everyday to keep moving. I have pretty good range of motion in both knees but it is very difficult to get up and down from a sitting position and stairs are no no. dr told t both knees are bone on bone, I guess the only reason I can halfway get around is due to my constantly thinking that if I don't move I will not be able to eventually. I feel terrible pressure in my lower legs and ankles because of all this. Does anyone remember having the pressure and burning in your lower legs and ankles at all? I have ask several people but they never had that so I am wondering if something really bad is wrong.

Thank you again, take care all.

[GatbTester]

I had the right knee total replacement this past Feb. 24th. My surgeon was Dr. Michael Messieh, who is in the Villages on Friday. This was my second surgery with him, in 07' he replaced my left shoulder then. The trick is to do the physcial therapy afterward and do it seriously. The more you put into it, the better you will be afterward. As to having both knees done at the same time, that is something I would not recommend unless the surgeon felt it was really necessary. Best of luck to you and your choices.

[Hawkwind]

My Mother had a total replacement at age 84. A friend told he not to have it done because she was no better off after the replacement than before. Well Mom found out that the lady did not do the physical therapy and that was the results.

Well Mom had the operation on a Wednesday and walked out of hospital on Saturday. For a few days she had her finger on the juice bottle button for another shot of pain medication but that was short lived.

I was shocked that when she was discharged the doctor told her see you in a month and remember to do the therapy. Call if you have any problems. A month? Are you kidding me? I was thinking 3 days for a follow-up.

Well Mom did the therapy and it was painful at first but every day got better and better. Range of movement continued to improve. She could see the progress and that made her try even harder.

At the end of 30 days I take he to see the doctor and she walks in caring the walker as she did not need it. The doctor came unglued at he not using the walked. He wanted her to use it for balance and she thought is was for total support. Well she caved into him and at least used it to get to the car but it saw very limited use after that.

The key to this operation is the therapy. You have to do it or you will have problems. Mom ended up with more movement in her knee than she ever had. She was never active in any sports or anything that required excerise but she knew what would happen if she did not do the therapy from her friend.

Good luck with the replacement.

[Boomer]

Hi escapequeen,

Sometimes I just have to turn into some kind of cyberlibrarian and go into the stacks in the basement of TOTV and pull out an old thread that might help someone who may have missed it.

This thread is from a few months ago and it is about something that happened with a friend's surgery. It had to be rescheduled when she found out, on her own, that the replacement knee contained nickel. She is allergic to nickel. So at the time, I passed this information along here in case it could help somebody else.

Good luck to you with your surgery, and here's the link to the old thread, that has a little added information.

What's in a knee? (maybe better be sure)

Boomer

[Carla B]

All the above comments are very thoughtful and encouraging for going through the surgery. I have two questions of those who have had total knee replacemnt... (1) what is the range of motion of bend (mine is about 105-110 degrees, less than optimum due to my not doing 100% at physical therapy) and (2) can you kneel to do housework or other tasks?

[villages07]

Pre-op; my Rom was -30 extension and 75-80 flexion

Now; < -5 extension 120 flex

As crooked as my leg was, the doc's goal for me post op was 121 so that's as good as it gets...good enough to ride a bike and anything else I need to do.

If I did housework.... still feels funny to kneel on it.

Also, I would like to get back to tennis and pickleball but still haven't conquered (not sure if it's mental or physical) being able to run on my new knee. All in due time.

I walk for 3 miles with absolutely no pain; golf is fine. There's a big chunk of metal where there used to be bone...it does feel different.