Preparing for knee surgery next Monday

[RSKY]

It did not sink in to me how bad my knee was until I had to quit taking Naproxen Sodium (Aleve) ten days before the surgery. Surgery is the 29th so I haven't taken any since the nineteenth. My knee aches all the time and at times hurts bad enough to bring tears to my eyes. Formerly I would take one pill every morning when I got up. First thing I did. Then another about lunch depending on activity. A third in the afternoon. No more than three in a day.

So here I sit, at 9:30 in the morning, been up since 6, and needing to go out and get some things done and I am sitting here instead. Why, because my stupid knee is aching. Keep telling my wife it is too wet out to mow. It will quit aching in a while but I sometimes can be walking and BAM, pain from my hip to my ankle. WHY have I waited this long??

All you guys with bad knees/joints, try going for a couple days without any pain meds to see how it really is. All the meds do is cover up the problem while you slowly grind the joint down to the point it catches and grinds all the time.

On a positive note we were eating at a local restaurant Saturday when a young lady who was a former student of my wife and the daughter of a former co-worker of mine stopped to talk. (Makes you feel good when a stunningly beautiful lady thirty years younger than you runs up and hugs you!) We caught up a little and my wife told her that I was getting my knee replaced. Now this girl is a medical salesperson. She represents several different lines of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. She got a funny look on her face and asked who was doing my surgery. When we told her who the surgeon was she relaxed and said that she was afraid I was getting another local "yahoo" (her words) to do it. She said that the doctor I am using was rated among the top ten in the United States for joint replacement. I asked her what she meant and she said they are graded on patient satisfaction, infections after surgery, complications after surgery, speed of recovery, and several other factors. She said, as have other medical professionals I have talked to, that he is the only orthopedic surgeon she would let touch her or her children if they needed surgery.

So that made me feel better. And I'm not just talking about the hug either.

I am doing the exercises I was given in the 'Joint Replacement Boot Camp' I had to attend. I think they are designed to show you how bad your knee really is. They HURT. All you do is lay on your back and tense the muscles in your upper leg and hold them for a ten count, release those muscles and tense the ones in your butt for a ten count. Rest for a ten count and repeat.

Makes the knee hurt like He11. But is supposed to help speed recovery.

Other items discussed in the boot camp were diet (lean meat and heart healthy foods that increase blood), and setting up the house to use a walker (use the walker to go thru your house before you need it). They also discussed simple things like which side of the bed to sleep on and which side of the couch do we sit on watching TV. My wife and I are going to swap sides for the duration of my recovery period. Since it is my left knee I need the couch arm to be on my right to assist getting up. Same thing with the bed, need to be where I get up so my right foot hits the floor first. There were other simple things we were told that the lady said had helped greatly in the recovery of joint replacement patients. In fact they are making it mandatory for patients to attend the one and a half hour sessions before surgery.

Anyway, I am dreading the surgery but glad to finally get it over with. If you need to know the doctors name send me a PM and I will give it to you. But a warning, they are already scheduling consultations in January of 2017.

RSKY

 

[zzvyb6]

I play hockey 3 times a week in season at Redford Arena in an Over 60 league. About a third of the guys here have had 1 or BOTH knees replaced and also hips (a bad knee usually causes unusual loads on a hip joint). And they skate better than me.

They play better than before all their problems started. They are not allowed to play unless they can get 95 degrees rotation in the joint. Some say they still have difficulty getting up from falling (can't remember the cause of this).

I kneed one too it turns out. I used a sports medicine doctor. He does 3 or 4 a week in Ann Arbor. If it done in the morning, you will be walking out assisted by the end of the day. Some report pain starting after day 3 or 4, but that's becuase of the brutal therapy sessions. Make sure you don't skip them.

 

[Budweiser John]

Quit worrying, relax, and just get it done. Been around the horn twice with no issues and no restrictions.
Grin and bare the therapy cause it hurts like he** but only for a shot time.
B. John

 

[dickfoster]

It did not sink in to me how bad my knee was until I had to quit taking Naproxen Sodium (Aleve) ten days before the surgery. Surgery is the 29th so I haven't taken any since the nineteenth. My knee aches all the time and at times hurts bad enough to bring tears to my eyes. Formerly I would take one pill every morning when I got up. First thing I did. Then another about lunch depending on activity. A third in the afternoon. No more than three in a day.

So here I sit, at 9:30 in the morning, been up since 6, and needing to go out and get some things done and I am sitting here instead. Why, because my stupid knee is aching. Keep telling my wife it is too wet out to mow. It will quit aching in a while but I sometimes can be walking and BAM, pain from my hip to my ankle. WHY have I waited this long??

All you guys with bad knees/joints, try going for a couple days without any pain meds to see how it really is. All the meds do is cover up the problem while you slowly grind the joint down to the point it catches and grinds all the time.

On a positive note we were eating at a local restaurant Saturday when a young lady who was a former student of my wife and the daughter of a former co-worker of mine stopped to talk. (Makes you feel good when a stunningly beautiful lady thirty years younger than you runs up and hugs you!) We caught up a little and my wife told her that I was getting my knee replaced. Now this girl is a medical salesperson. She represents several different lines of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. She got a funny look on her face and asked who was doing my surgery. When we told her who the surgeon was she relaxed and said that she was afraid I was getting another local "yahoo" (her words) to do it. She said that the doctor I am using was rated among the top ten in the United States for joint replacement. I asked her what she meant and she said they are graded on patient satisfaction, infections after surgery, complications after surgery, speed of recovery, and several other factors. She said, as have other medical professionals I have talked to, that he is the only orthopedic surgeon she would let touch her or her children if they needed surgery.

So that made me feel better. And I'm not just talking about the hug either.

I am doing the exercises I was given in the 'Joint Replacement Boot Camp' I had to attend. I think they are designed to show you how bad your knee really is. They HURT. All you do is lay on your back and tense the muscles in your upper leg and hold them for a ten count, release those muscles and tense the ones in your butt for a ten count. Rest for a ten count and repeat.

Makes the knee hurt like He11. But is supposed to help speed recovery.

Other items discussed in the boot camp were diet (lean meat and heart healthy foods that increase blood), and setting up the house to use a walker (use the walker to go thru your house before you need it). They also discussed simple things like which side of the bed to sleep on and which side of the couch do we sit on watching TV. My wife and I are going to swap sides for the duration of my recovery period. Since it is my left knee I need the couch arm to be on my right to assist getting up. Same thing with the bed, need to be where I get up so my right foot hits the floor first. There were other simple things we were told that the lady said had helped greatly in the recovery of joint replacement patients. In fact they are making it mandatory for patients to attend the one and a half hour sessions before surgery.

Anyway, I am dreading the surgery but glad to finally get it over with. If you need to know the doctors name send me a PM and I will give it to you. But a warning, they are already scheduling consultations in January of 2017.

RSKY

Well if it goes for you anything like it did for my wife you're gonna be a new person when it's over and you've got all the recovery and PT behind you. She's had two done, a partial for one knee and a full on the other. Her partial is starting to act up again so skip any partial and go right to the the full replacement. Recovery didn't take any longer for either one so the partial really makes no sense.
It's a pretty common operation these days so finding a doc shouldn't be hard for anyone. I think Medicare took care of most of it and her supplemental insurance paid the rest.

 

[k0ua]

Good luck RSKY. I wish you an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery. I am waiting to hear about how well your are getting around when you recover. Take care.

My wife will be following in your footsteps soon. My old left knee is getting better, and I don't have any pain now. I don't take any pain relievers any more.

 

[oosik]

The wife of a life long friend has had both knees totally replaced. Her only problem was she didn't think she needed to "stay down" for so long to heal. Her husband was always having to tell her to stay down, rest & heal. That was three years ago and she is now as active as a teenager. Her only regret - should have had the operations ten years ago. I guess new technology, methods and the replacement parts themselves has vastly improved these operations.

 

[Bird]

I'm sure some doctors are better than others, just as some hospitals are better than others. I didn't really do much "research" about the doctor and hospital that I used for my right knee replacement, but I did ask the doctor how many knee replacements he had done and he said, "More than a thousand." My wife and I, and one of our daughters, went to an "orientation" meeting at the hospital a few days before the surgery, and my daughter said, "They made it sound like a resort instead of a hospital." And I can tell you that I was amazed at how well I was treated, how well I was fed:laughing:, and the incredible lengths they went to in order to prevent any infections. And there wasn't enough pain involved to need any pain medication; in fact, hardly any pain at all. The home physical therapy was a bit uncomfortable at times, but far from being intolerable.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Surgeon should be ok with you taking Tylenol preop...

If anesthesia offers any kind of Regional Anesthesia for post-op pain, do it.

 

[Dutch445]

RSKY I had bi lateral hips done back in 2012, same day, 1 recovery and don't regret it one bit. I also play hockey,
twice a week year round, with guys ranging from 18 to 78, including some D1 players occasionally. The only
thing I can offer is follow the recovery mantra, rest, PT, fuel your body and repeat. Before you know it, you will
be wondering why you waited so long!
Good luck with the recovery
also, if you haven't found it yet, there is a great forum dedicated to knee/hip recovery, BoneSmart: Knee Replacement & Hip Replacement Community & Patient Help
follow that to the knee pre op and then post op area, tons of great info and support there...very good people!

 

[milkman]

Had both knees replaced 9/4/14, walked down the hall and back on the 5th, walked down the hall and up and down two steps twice on the 6th. Left the hospital the 4th day and spent 7 days in rehab. The pain was less and different than before surgery, then at six and half months it was like the pain was switched off. My knees are a little stiff if I sit too long, but wouldn't have the old joints back for anything. Good luck with the recovery and you'll be thankful for the relief.

 

[MossRoad]

Good luck! My father-in-law had his knee done well over 10 years ago. He still mows his lawn a couple times a week with a walk behind mower.... he's almost 89! :thumbsup:

 

[RSKY]

Good for him. My father-in-law had both shoulders replaced at 85 and 86 years of age. His were so bad he had to use both hands to put a fork of food in his mouth. He was in constant pain. The same doctor doing my knee did his shoulders. He now mows his yard with a zero turn and weed eats. They did a "reverse replacement". Instead of the ball being on the arm and the socket on the shoulder it was reversed. They had to do this because there was nothing left to attach anything too. His rotator cuffs were completely gone.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Good luck with your surgery. I am losing weight so I can have a hip and knee replacement. Planning on a January surgery date. Have lost 50 plus pounds and want to lose 30 more.

 

[MossRoad]

Good for him. My father-in-law had both shoulders replaced at 85 and 86 years of age. His were so bad he had to use both hands to put a fork of food in his mouth. He was in constant pain. The same doctor doing my knee did his shoulders. He now mows his yard with a zero turn and weed eats. They did a "reverse replacement". Instead of the ball being on the arm and the socket on the shoulder it was reversed. They had to do this because there was nothing left to attach anything too. His rotator cuffs were completely gone.

YIKES!

About 10 years ago his wife, my mother-in-law, and he were putting up Christmas lights. Mom was coming down the ladder and thought she was on the last step, stepped off hard, only to find she was on the 2nd step.... snapped the ball of her femur. OUCH!!!! Bone was too damaged to set as a broken bone, so she had a partial hip replacement. If it wasn't for her liver transplant 8 years ago, she'd be getting around fine on that leg! :laughing:

 

[spitter]

Had knees done 5 years ago both at the same time .Best thing I ever did !!:cool2:Carpenter by trade played hocky and lax power lifted till I was 48.Knee problems all my Life .Thought I was going to get knee scraped. But the surgen said u r bone on bone no cartlidge what so ever.Right knee wore in so much my right leg was 1" shorter. Best advice I was given was to train aggressively on rehab .Push your self to stay on the machine as much as possible .[knee excisixeor].Walk AS much as possible .People who just sat there and didn't do the rehab took twice as long to recover. everyone would say how can u do that ant u in pain.No wheres near where I was beforethe operation.Take the pain killers.When your in pain u cant train right .They let me out of rehab 2 weeks early because I trained hard . Had as much bend in knee as I was going to get.One month latter Iwas back to work climbing scaffolds ladders .:cool2::drink:

 

[Garandman]

Had both knees replaced June 2015, same time. Spent three days in hospital and 12 in rehab. What they don't tell you is the primary dangers are blood clotting and infection, so picking the best hospital is key, then find a practitioner there. My surgeon did 7 knees that week.

BTW they will probably give you opioids. I only took them when doing physical therapy the first few days. For me Tylanol and ice worked just as well. I kept the prescription locked in a safe.

It's important to do the exercises because your range of motion is so diminished by the worn joint. My original left knee would only bend to 100. I got 110 on the replacement pretty quickly and a friend urged me to keep going. He has 145 degrees, I'm at 130 or better in both. Still doing exercises every day. An exercise bike really helps, pretty cheap off CL. It's not the knee joint that's stiff, it's the muscles and other connective tissue.

It's important to pick a top specialist. Had my knees done at New England Baptist, an orthopedics-only hospital. About 30% of their surgeries are repairs of surgeries done elsewhere. I met people there from Maine to Florida.

The swelling can be bad. Knee surgery is more like carpentry than surgery, so your body responds to the trauma. My swelling peaked at 6 days.

I play hockey 3 times a week in season at Redford Arena in an Over 60 league. About a third of the guys here have had 1 or BOTH knees replaced and also hips (a bad knee usually causes unusual loads on a hip joint). And they skate better than me.

Champions. Three knees and a hip between us. Hockeytown, Melrose MA.

 

[Garandman]

I'm sure some doctors are better than others, just as some hospitals are better than others. I didn't really do much "research" about the doctor and hospital that I used for my right knee replacement, but I did ask the doctor how many knee replacements he had done and he said, "More than a thousand."

That's really, really important. Even in a place like MA with a lot of top notch hospitals, you go to New England Baptist or Mass General. That's where the top practitioners are.

Got a small infection at the top of one of the stitches after a week at home and they had me back in the hospital, put me antibiotics, put me out and checked the internal stitches. They're fanatical about infection.

 

[Bird]

We all seem to agree that you need a surgeon with lots of experience. So how does a new doctor get that experience?:laughing:

 

[Turbys_1700]

My selected surgeon has performed over 1200 hip and knee replacements to date. The week I spoke with him he had performed 6. A lady my wife works with is scheduled for hip replacement next month with him. He told her that in over 1200 procedures he's had 1 infection, 1 blood clot, and 1 dislocation. Pretty good odds. The other surgeon I tried to get an appointment with has done over twice that many. He's booked solid for 3 months on appointments.

To answer your question Bird this practice makes an effort to promote fellowship trained surgeons. Both of the surgeons I am referring to are fellowship trained so I guess that gives them added experience in the field.

Ten or so years ago a respected surgeon in our area wanted to replace my knee. If I would have let him do it I probably would have saved my hip. But I deferred since I was only 45 at the time. Did not want to go through it again if possible. Since then he had moved on and I had another surgeon picked out, excellent, well respected, and he left the practice. Talked to another one in this group with lots of experience. He is very good IMHO but he was very rude and curt. Chastised me about my weight. I know I'm too fat. Been fighting weight all my life and didn't need him to remind me over and over. No problem.

My current surgeon is an ex football jock who has issues with his weight and he is much more understanding. After further research his reputation and record is much better than the other surgeon I talked to so I am confident in his abilities. I've been swimming for the past 7 months and the weight is coming off. Starting league bowling last night and did OK. My BMI is down to 40 from over 48.5 in February. Hope to be in the 30 to 35 range by surgery time.

 

[dmccarty]

We all seem to agree that you need a surgeon with lots of experience. So how does a new doctor get that experience?:laughing:

By doing surgery when supervised by a very experienced surgeon? :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan