Knee replacement surgery--tell me about it

I have some fairly serious arthritis in both knees but I am trying to avoid surgery. I tried cortisone in both knees but that didn't do much good. Last year I tried OrthoVisc injections (think of WD-40 into your knees) and that helped, but this winter with all snow removal, they were back to not cooperating.

Anyway, I went back in today for two more injections of the OrthoVisc, but I think replacement surgery is coming next.

Any experiences you care to share?

 

I am not a small man 5'11" 245lb and I play a lot of tennis. Had 2 meniscus surgery on left knee and they worked pretty well. I tore the meniscus on my right knee, had the repair surgery and never got better so after a year I had it replaced on 11/11/11
The surgery went well, the only problem I had was that in the rehab I injured my hip and that really bothered me for many months, but after that healed up I am back to playing tennis 3 or 4 times a week with no pain at all in the knee(except maybe a little soreness every once in awhile). If my other knee starts to bother me, I wouldn't hesitate to have it replaced.

 

Hi Joe,

I feel for you as I had also experienced the pain that I believe you are having. I have had both of my knees replaced, one about twelve years ago and the other eight years ago and I now live pain free.

If I can offer one piece of advice, the time that you invest in physical therapy will definitely pay dividends so even though the first two to three weeks will be quite painful, go into it 100% and give it your all. You will be glad that you did!

If you have any specific questions, PM me and I will try to answer them for you.

Regards,

Kevin

 

I am in the same boat, need both knees replaced and struggle on a stick on my bad days.
My issue is I cannot take an anaesthetic as I stop breathing when they put me under.
The only option for me is to get a spinal block and get them done while I am awake which I don't really fancy.
The doc has told me to struggle until I am virtually wheelchair bound then he will look at them again. I am only 51 years old.

 

Haven't gone that route yet but a number of friends and family members have. Rehab. The key piece of advice is rehab. Those who were diligent are now pain-free and fully mobile. One chose not to and might as well have not had the surgery.

 

My neighbor is about the same age as me, almost 67. His wife is a former nurse and convinced him to have both knees done the same day and then sent him to a rehab facility. From what I understand, a crafty move on her part so he wasn't doing rehab/PT at home.

Anyway, both our lots are on hills and he seems to navigate very well with his new knees. Me, grassy hills are a problem.

 

My wife had a partial knee replacement at the end of January.
She was back driving again after 3 weeks and working again in 6 weeks.
She is on her feet all day with no knee pain, more muscle soreness now.
First week is tough and painful, but PT works wonders as said above.
An advantage for her was they put her on an exercise program pre-surgery.
Strengthening the Hamstrings, quads and calfs before hand gives you a leg up after!

 

My buddies and I play a lot of tennis, Most of us are in their 60s-70s and about half have had knee replacements. Those who rehab seriously wonder whey they didn't do it sooner.

Caveat: The one person who didn't rehab says he'll not get his other knee done. (He no longer plays tennis.) Also, the operation is not without danger. I've known two people, both years ago, who threw embolisms and suffered strokes, one ending in death after a few months, the other with vision loss.

 

I've been lucky. No replacement knees yet.

I did have multiple knee surgeries (same knee) decades ago. I was in my 20's when I tore my meniscus playing basketball. They took out the torn area but a year later I tore the rest of the meniscus. In my mid 30's I had a car accident and had to get a replacement ACL. Dr. thinks I probably partially tore the ACL with my first injury but that was in the 80's so knee stuff was only in it's infancy. So strange, my first surgery I didn't do anything so after 1 month my leg had shrunk a few inches (they didn't push rehab in those days) and it was difficult to get the leg rehabbed back to normal. After the second surgery I was on my feet (with crutches) that evening so I was back to walking normal within a month.

Nowadays my knee sometimes get a little sore, especially when it's cold but since I don't do anything active (like tennis) I don't think I will get a knee replacement until I have difficulty walking normally, especially when I go golfing (walking the course).


I had a couple of friends who had knee replacement surgery. As others mentioned, the first week or two are extremely painful. So sore that one guy questioned whether the surgery was worth it. But after a 6 months he was back to walking normally and was happy that he did the surgery because he wouldn't be able to get around without it without experiencing pain.

 

My former boss had knee replacement on both knees (not at the same time) and she didn't follow through with physiotherapy and had to have one of them redone a couple of years later. So do your physio and put in your own work that you've been given by the PT.

 

When they did mine they gave me a nerve block and just kept me asleep with versed or propofol. I worked well.

 

Best of luck Joe, joint replacement surgery gets better all the time. Like everyone says do your pt,follow the docs instructions. I had my hip done in July,doc said no pt ,just walk.
I feel great ,I know hips are less stressful than knees. Amazing,with all the stress I've put on my knees over the years they dont bother me. I'm sure you'll be happy you did it,I kick myself in the butt for putting off the hip replacement for so long.

 

When my dad had his last year, the doctor remarked that it was a shame this hadn't happened about 1-2 years later. Why? Because knee replacements are set to become arthroscopic procedures.

 

Been there, done that - both knees partial replacement on both. Why did I wait so long? Like everyone has pointed out PT is the key to quick recovery. Very little pain and I am overweight so that was a surprise. Way more pain prior to surgery! My surgeries were 3 years apart. I couldn't do both knees at the same time due to work. Looking back I'm not sure I would do that but to each person is different.

Like you I had all the shots multiple times, again looking back I wish I had had the first surgery earlier. The shots are just a band aid. Pre-surgery pain was way worst than the pain from the surgery. I hope this helps, best of luck and a quick recovery!

 

Are knee replacements only done in the case of osteo-arthritis as opposed to rheumatoid-arthritis? Is the body still attacking the joint if you have rheumatoid-arthritis?

 

I think it's so worth it Joe. But what do I know.... it's my husband who had the knee replacement!

You and I have talked about his surgery before but it's been 11 months since he had it and he's doing great. As others have said, the physical therapy is very important to get the best results. The reason I say it's so worth it is because our life has changed since his surgery. Before surgery, I sometimes wondered if the rest of our life would be based on the condition of his knee. We had to stop going to Vegas, we stopped going on any trip that involved hikes, any event that required standing in a line up - forget it. Mowing our small lawn took him 4 times longer that it used to because he'd have to rest his knee. And he was cranky all the time (I don't blame him). So many things we had to stop doing because of his bad knee. Now we have our life back. We went to Vegas last month and had no problems walking between the Plaza and 4Q. That used to require 4 or 5 rest stops before.

I know the thought of surgery isn't fun but think of the quality of your life if you don't get it done? It's awful being in pain every day, all day. That really was the motivating factor for my husband.

 

Dad had both replaced at the same time around 9 or 10 years ago. They were in such bad shape that the surgery took nowhere near as long as they predicted because whatever it is they have to clean out had long worn away. Now he's 83 and comes by every week from spring through fall and push mows my lawn. The neighbors see this and figure that I'm a complete ass of a son

That aside, he said he should have done it years sooner instead of fooling with shots and whatever other treatments he tried. It changed his life.

 

My brother wrecked his knee at 21 and spent 16 months in Cast and braces with increasing motion. 35 years of pain and agony later he had the replacement and wonders why he didn’t do it sooner.

 

My wife needs her right knee replaced, but they won't do it until her BMI is under 35% due to the infection risk. She struggles with that part... can't do the exersize to lose weight that she needs to use to get her knee replaced.

My sister just had her one knee replaced but needs the other one done (scheduled in about three months). Apparently they no longer want to replace both knees at once.

 

All these experiences make me wonder if knee problems are inevitable. Does body weight enter into the onset of the problems or just age?