Consultant said yes to knee replacement, now it's a no

Can I ask when in the UK you are?

Dear Kayley
have just read your post and its a mirror of my situation until last November when I had a TKR which I may add took  2 years to come to this decision as in the end I could not walk without crutches.
My knee problem was originally caused by a motorcycle accident when I was 16 - I am now 67 years old.  I lived off of 800mg of tramadol each day, which is not a healthy situation as you are probably aware, it’s of the opioids family which does become addictive. You must or your husband must insist that he has the TNR I could not recommend it strongly enough. It has completely changed my life back to what it used to be when I was in my early 60's - I lived with increasing pain over the past 7 years till in the end you can't walk. This reason to delay the operation was due to the fact that my Surgeon Mr. Bradley who works our of the Royal Surrey County Hospital probably gave me too much information and in doing so rather put me off the operation.  Over the past 5 years I've had Synvisc injections and as a last resort a cortisone injection that did absolutely nothing - all this injection achieved was to delay my operation by 6 months due to the fact that the Cortisone reduces to immune system in your body and any Surgeon worth his salt would refuse to operate until at least 6 months has past. I am now 3 months post op and the initial pain that lasts about 2 weeks is more than worth it. No Pain No Gain is very true.
As to your husband being too young at the age of 57  what on earth is this man or woman talking about. Go and see someone else who has a brain and understand s the TKR process- For example the Knee replacement that I've just had has a lifespan of 25-35 years and if the patient is still around the planet after this time then they can have a remedial replacement which is removing the first TKR  and replacing it with a another new knee. I did ask all these questions prior to having the op - so whoever the Doctor is that is saying your husband is too young is talking total rubbish. 
They are obviously not up with the latest technology that is now available for TKR
I do not know where you live UK or another country but if your live in the UK you can always come down to Guildford in Surrey where Mr. Bradley operates from - He is both NHS and Private and  TKR are all he does - In my opinion he is the top man for this kind of surgery in the UK -  Google him Neil Bradley -   hopefully the info I've given you in this post  will help  you and anyone else who reads it who is in the same situation also. 

Hope my   info will help you and I hope  you and your husband  get your lives back on track by insisting on having a TNR –

as with life we only get one shot at it !!

Best wishes Jude (UK) 

From your description of your husbands pain and poor quality of life I'd say he's reached the threshold of UNBEARABLE. I had to see a consultant privately as my locum gp refused to refer me as I'm too young (56) The consultant I saw said age isn't the issue the pain, loss of sleep and poor quality of life is. I saw the consultant 4 weeks ago privately and I'm attending his nhs clinic tomorrow for hip and knee X rays and possibly an mri scan.

Hope you get the result you want. Deb

If you read the NICE Guidelines (NHS guidelines)that cover TKR state that age shouldn't be a contraindication to perform this surgery. If you google that,there is a simple form of the guidelines and perhaps you could print it and take it with you to the surgeon. Good luck.

Kayley I think this is another example of a consultant playing God. I had TKR at 66 in November which is 7 years older than your husband but my disability all came on within a year to 18 months so your husband isnt going to get any better. I have met more than one person who had this operation in their 50s so would say its perfectly feasible for your husband. 

My day with MY consultant is rapidly approaching. He thinks he is God also. I see him on Tuesday. If I dont get some answers I will report him. Thing is I am in Westfield and will probably see somebody for around 200 pounds for a 2nd opinion. Not telling you what to do but maybe would be worth that. BUT I would go the GP route and explain your case to him. These people think they are so much better than us and they are not. Makes me so angry.

Hi Kayley

like your husband l suffered with severe pain leaving me house bound and felt my husband was suffering as well as l was with no social life. 

When l eventually went to see my GP following my retirement at 65yrs he was very reliuctant to refer me and said to return in 10yrs, l was so angry by his unsympathetic attitude l refused to leave the consulting room stating I wasn't prepared to suffer another 10yrs and more importantly would l be fit for surgery then. 

I had my first TKR in July 2014 and 6 weeks post operatively felt great my second operation is taking a bit longer to recover but l'm positive. 

Tell your husband to be insistant when he next sees his Dr. X

Hello Kayley

I have just had my knee replaced, 13 wks post op and no OA pain hoorah!! I had been in pain since 2013 and yes ditto ditto O/A effects everything

I am 58 and the medics said you are too young , 60 being the benchmark age for a TKR. . on the NHS - what rubbish if you have a knackered knee it will not get better !!

So the only way forward is press forward and keep on at the medics after all if the medics had the horrible pain they would have the OP.

I would ask your doc for a second opinion and to refer you to another consultant pronto!!!

I hope your hubby gets sorted soon.

Regards

Janeyt34

Rather shockingly he has had an appointment letter come through for 3 months time (usually at least 6) Maybe that's a good sign?

I am 54 had my first tkr done last March and having the other one done in 3 weeks doctor kept telling me I was too young in the end I asked to be referred to the hospital had x Ray's and knee was bone on bone consultant said if I wanted it done he was happy to do it . Tell your husband not to give up keep on at them  good luck 

 

Hi Kayley

my heart goes out to you and your husband, I wonder what part of the world you are? I am in the uk ans my girlfriend who lives in Wales and is only 55 had her tkr last year. She like me had very bad arthritis in both knees and I had no problem getting it done, the X-rays for both of us showed bone grating on bone. I assum your husband has had many X-rays. I admit it does seem odd to be offered a tkr then the offer taken away seems very cruel! Maybe a silly question nut was there a reason why he didn't have it done when it was first offered? Also has or rather is he able to get a second option? Really wish I could offer more help but just hope all works out in the end, this site I am sure will be very supportive so keep in touch and try to keep positive X