Going in agains

I am do for a revision on Feb 8th and going with my same orth dr because I feel very comfortable with him. I am scared to death to go thru again, but know it must be done. I hope I feel unbelievable different!

 

It's worth it. I too was terrified, but I am only at 11 weeks + 3 days - no pain now, off all pain killers, can go up stairs (but not down yet) - can walk, don't feel tired all the time, & really feel I have my life back. It's still stiff when I get up from sitting for a while, & I still have to ice after walking, but I'm not even at the 3 month stage, so I know how good it will feel by 6 months. I have just booked a walking holiday for August, that's how happy I am with the results of my revision. I was in SO much pain, that even on day 2, obviously still in hospital, I walked to the loo with my crutches & walked out without them - I'd forgotten them! I got told off, as the bones need help in those early days, but that was the difference between operation number one, & the revision operation! Good luck, & keep in touch.

Thank you so much for your encouragement. May I ask why you had to have the revision?

Nightmare scenario that can never be proved - mine was misaligned (an ultra sound at 18 weeks proved that), when finally opened up, it was also mechanically loose. The guy that did it was caught drink driving 5 days after my op., his defence was that he was suffering depression as the unit he worked at was under threat of closure! Did that have an effect on my op? I'll never know. He was only off work 1 month, which I think is SO wrong - if it was depression, then it takes a lot longer than that to be classed as OK again - especially when someones life is in the balance. Unless there are loads of others who had the same problems I had, (& how do you ever find that out?) - all I asked was that it be put right. I still had to wait the full year (to the day) as there is danger of bones being broken getting the 1st prosthesis out, & of-course, they drill in deeper for a revision. Thank goodness I can put last year to bed & get on with my life.

Dear Veronica: Oh my gosh, so sorry to hear about your situation, how horrible! And the doctor, geezz... So, how are you now? I hope and pray you are able to walk properly and feeling much better! Please let me know. I definitely will keep in touch with you. My surgery is scheduled for Feb 8th and honestly wish it were tomorrow to get this over and start recovering to be active again.

 

Yes, the revision seems successful - the 2nd surgeon was so good. I am at 12 weeks today, no crutches, hardly any meds(I took some yesterday, but I have a cold & it helped both matters!). I think it's spot on where I should be. I only needed 2 physio appointments, as the bend & straightening was so good. I am still stiff when I sit & then get up, but at this stage, that's normal, plus I still struggle with stairs - I can now manage going upstairs (my home is on 3 levels) but it's an effort (which I hope will get easier week by week), but I can only come down the stairs sideways holding onto the bannister!! I keep telling myself it's early days. I  still have nightmares about the whole of last year, it ruined holidays, family get togethers, meals out, my confidence in driving  etc etc.

Good luck for the 8th Feb. Think positive, it really is the only way!

Dearest Veronica: Sounds like you are doing awesome! I am very happy for you! You most definitely deserve a healthy recovery. The stairs seem to be the worse for most people..can't imagine coming down sideways - just sounds weird, but if it works for you and your careful, that's all that matters! You will master the stairs when you are ready. Try not to go back to those memories of last year -- think about making this year all and more of what you missed last year! Thanks for your kindness and I'll be in touch after Feb 8th. Take care of yourself!

 

Thanks for your input! Wow sounds like you've been through so much! My bend was always good -am sitting now with both knees up by my chest - leg can press down flat as my good one- can walk up the stairs- just can not walk properly! Will keep in touch!

yep ive been through the ringer thats for sure !!! ha!!  the fact that you can bend soo well and the straightening is so good has me thinking why is your walking giving you trouble   would you be able to get physio to see if they can get you to put your foot to the ground properly ?? god these knees have us having to learn to walk all over again i thought that when we stood up at 1yr olds and took those first few steps that we were sorted for life but not so !!  you dont say if coming down stairs is a problem ? if it is practise it,   that could be your problem  i spent alot of time practising it instead of going down stairs with the bad leg first i do good leg first on every step its difficult at first but worth persisting at it  . mind you i wouldnt advise people who are not long after tkr to do this as your leg will be too weak ,its for people who just are reluctant to move to go down stairs properly after a few months .make sure you have something to hold onto on each side 

If you can get a large container, similar to the size of a gallon paint can, or.....just use a paint can, cover it with a cloth and lay flat on your back with the can under you knee. Then just push against it trying to force it into the mattress. This will strengthen the muscles under your knee and will quickly enable you to straighten your leg.

straightening is a killer i have this problem since the revision , a physio told me that alot of people after a revision can have both problems you might get the revision for the bend like i did and after revision the straightening canbegin to be a problem !!! i know that with me i became so obsessed with the bend because thats what i went in for my straightening suffered ,he did reassure me it could have happened anyway .im 16mths post revision and my leg is not straight i thought id get used to not having it straight but its got more painfull as time went on .no way am i going in again to get it straightned so drastic measures got me to take the bull by the horns and im torturing myself to straighten it myself and its improved even after a week .im going to stick with it till it behaves !!! ha!! ive noticed that since the week began i can stick putting the leg up in front of me alot longer before i would have to put it on the ground every so often .. what i do to straighten it is i sit in a chair and put another chair in front of me leaving a gap between so that when i put my foot on the other chair the knee joint is not on any chair i put weights on it i weighed out sand in a solid plastic bag  1kg in each bag i use two you could use sugar or flour but be prepared to do it often to get results i put the weights on the knee and let it there at first you wont be able to stick it for a minuite or two ,thats ok get up and walk about to get rid of the pain ,do it again every few hours ,at the begining i could only do two mins and the leg felt it was burning but now i can do 12 mins at a time ,the leg feels more stable i can walk better .another one i do is lie on the bed face down with the legs hanging over the edge the knee would be just a tiny bit over the edge ,i have a bag (a hand bag or any bag ) i put weights in the bag and leave it hang over my ankle so that it stretches the back of the leg and time yourself  like the other excersise it will be very painfull at the begining but it will get easier .these are worth a try even if you use lighter weights . i also massage my knee a good few times a day and ive noticed the behind my thigh ive a few sore points so i really massage them its a tight hamstring mostly . ohh i forgot to say i warm up the knee before i stretch it and i ice it after it will help the stiffness what have you too lose try it

Thanks Linda.  I did try the laying on my stomach and dangling off the bed before my last operation, as OFG mentioned it.  I must try it again now.  The last couple of days, I have been sat at my desk for an hour or so and my knee is so tight now.  I'm really glad that it's the weekend.  I did an hour on the CPM at lunchtime, trying to loosen it up, too.

It's going to be hard work, I think.

It's funny, but I chose my other knee to have done first, as I considered that to be my worst, but if I'd have had this one done first I don't think I would have even chanced that one...it's been a real nightmare.

Thank you for your concern.

 

oh i know how that feels when i had the bi lateral my right knee was the best of the two both being bad, left one was  the  really bad one . after the op the left one was great and the so called good right was in bits plus broken ,its so annoying .if i went down the road of ifs and buts id go mad !! as you cant turn back the clock and these are the cards im dealt so ive got to get on with it haha!! when you dangle it off the bed warm it up first and try a weight on the foot good luck

Thanks Linda...yes, I have a wheat bag on it now!

Thank you for the advise Linda, I am 10 months post tkr and have only 80% flexion and 10% extension.  My knee is still very stiff, swollen and has fluid on the knee cap, I am still in pain, I go to the gym for about 1 hour and then the hydro pool for an hour, 3 times a week but nothing is shifting, I get very depressed my surgeon told me was nothing else he could do for me and to just give it another 12-18 months and to keep doing what I am doing.  

I had experienced a bad TKR in 2012. After surgery I knew I wasn't rehabilitating as I should despite working hard and doing all they told me to do. I had scar tissue that needed MUI but only found that out after six long and painful weeks of therapy. I gave my healing more than a year and still had too much pain to be normal. I went back to the surgeon and he basically just washed his hands of me and said 'go get another opinion'.

I have yet to encounter any surgeon, (I'm a nurse) that will own up to his failings. It's just something a surgeon won't do because if he did then he opens himself up to liability and negative references. As it turns out that knee was not done properly and will give me pain for the rest of my life unless I go through a revision. My second TKR was done this past Nov. Different doctor, different hospital. This time I researched the doctor well in advance. My knee is doing great this time around.

I think what I'm getting to is that if you are really not happy with how things are going and you aren't getting any resolutions from your surgeon then go to someone else until you get some answers and end to the problems you're experiencing.

Don't be fobbed off. It was my GP who insisted on a 2nd opinion. If it wasn't for him getting involved, I too would still be waiting, as the surgeon who did the primary, told me to wait 18 months & even after an ultrasound showing it was 6mm misaligned, he still said "live with it". The max. they expect us to "live with it" is, I'm told, 5mm - but only when they open it up do they discover other problems (mine was mechanically loose & would never have worked). We really do know our own bodies & strengths, so keep pushing. The revision was 11+ weeks ago for me, & life is now SO good.

yes linda i know where you are coming from .i too go to the gym a few times a week to strenghten the knee ,but even though ive been trying to strenghten it up i now believe that its impossible to strenghten the leg propperly without a pretty straight leg so thats why i have called war on this knee ,im determined to give this a really good go .no matter how much it hurts and believe me it dose . i feel for you my original bi lateral one of my knees would not bend no matter what i did even when i went in for the revision the surgeon could not bend it under anesthetic so what hope had i ,i had to wait for over the year to get the revision because of the fact the bone has to heal for at least a year before replacing again so id say linda its understandable to be depressed ive been in that place and its no fun .id say it must be in the name you sound as if you are giving it all you can ,thats all we can do ,when your doing excersises seperate the times you do bending from the time you do straightening doing both together is hard ..i feel my hamstrings are as tight as the strings on a guitar so by stretching them weather they want to stretch or not wil give me more flexability once they are stretched ,sounds great when i say it lets see if im sucessfull  LETS TRY !!!!!!xx

yes you are sooo right jemma my bi lateral was a disaster one knee was fine but the other was a total f*ck up and im still suffering even though i had a revision with a different surgeon .no surgeon will speak up about another they will even go as far as standing up for each other . i did research the second surgeon but i was only given 15%chance of improvement it was miss alighned and kneecap had to be re surfaced ,it has improved abit,   pain is alot less im off the heavy meds but it still has pain and swelling after 16mths . i agree with you jemma dont take no for an answer  but alot of surgeons dont want to fix a f*uck up of a knee they dont want their name to it

I struggle to know how people can choose the surgeon who does their replacement. Always of the opinion that you chose the hospital and then took pot luck,unless you are prepared to pay. And Ive heard thousands quoted for a knee. My surgery was done on the NHS in a private hospital,and if I had paid,which is academic because I couldnt afford it,I would have been very upset. My one weeks rehab was a totally different story. I saw a 90 year old man who had had a hip operation the day before have to wait 2 hours to go to the toilet. And only then because I pressed the buzzer. Must add that this is in the UK.

PS. Let me add that the toilet incident was in the private hospital,not rehab. They were great.

WOW JEMMA, we have had similar experience with doctors washing their hands of you.... I spent a year with a second doctor trying to figure out what was going on (now 2 years plus since TKR) and they finally did a scope debridement and synovectomy (4 wks ago) and said I have PVNS- a rare joint fluid disease I guess, still havent told me what to do for that, but finally, 4 weeks later I can walk without a crutch. it hurt more than ever after the procedure and I thought this was the new normal, it is still stiff but not as swollen and fluid filled.    Good luck with yours

After a bad TKR in 2012, and being ready to have the other knee done, I went to the internet and googled 'orthopaedic surgeons' in my State. Then I narrowed it down according to independent patient reviews and the type of knee replacement they do. The surgeon I liked happens to be only one of two in my state that takes the longer route, but more conservative method of preserving muscles and tendons and moving them aside rather than cut the. He also uses pinless navigation which means the alignment is done by computer measurement and not a stabilizing rod up into the marrow of the femur. He also operates out of a hospital that was about an hour from where I live, but the hospital had one of the highest ratings in my State for patient satisfaction and lowest rate of infections. It took me weeks to filter through it all and in the end was well worth the extra trouble. I was more than happy with the outcome.

Great stuff Jemma. Im glad this has worked out for you but it looks like you have been through the mill. Im assuming youre in the US. As far as I know,as said I dont think we get a choice in the UK unless we are prepared to pay. Of course,I have heard stories where people have some kind of personal connection to the surgeon and then its wheels within wheels. Over the last few days I have developed a kind of rash at the right hand side of my kneecap . I will see my GP tomorrow. Hopefully it is nothing to do with the surgery but if I have to visit the surgeon again I will want more than the 3 or 4 minutes he allowed me last time. If not we will be falling out.

I'm in the UK John, & when mine went wrong, I was given the choice of 2 surgeons who specialised in revisions. I looked them both up on line - you can see how many they have done, any deaths (!) etc. When I made my choice - he couldn't see me for 6 weeks, so reluctantly I went with the other one (his stats were still good but he was younger, & I was put off slightly as it was the suggestion of the 1st surgeon who had put me through the year of hell). I'm so glad it went that way - fate  if you like, as he has been brilliant. The outcome has been far better than I ever imagined, & if there was a pedestal - I'd put him on it! He was laid back - refused to measure (too much presuure on us he said) - doesn't use touriquets (repairs along the way, says they cause more harm than good) - I could go on but won't. I'm 12 weeks post revision on Wednesday, & last night sat curled up with both legs tucked under me on the settee, never, ever, did I think I'd be able to do that again.

Hi Veronica

Sounds good. Once again you went through it but it looks like the outcome was good. Im just hoping this rash is not a sign of something having gone wrong. 

It struck me when you said "I will want more than the 3 or 4 minutes he allowed me last time". I realize you have a NHS in the UK but people that are putting their lives in the car of any person should at least have the right to spend enough time to ask the questions they have. I always remember the amount of time that I've spent sitting in a waiting room reading year-old magazines waiting to be seen by a doctor. My time is worth something too, not only his. And guess what, they are not gods, they are humans just like us. We deserve THEIR resect as well. Take a 'cheat sheet' with you and list all or any questions or concerns you have. Trust me, he will respect you for demanding the few minutes of his time, and you will have the answers to the questions you have, even the tough ones.

Sorry for the misspelling of some worse, like 'care' but something in what you said just made me angry about surgeons. Lucky for me this time around, my surgeon is also a very successful and busy surgeon and I might wait 30 minutes in the exam room for him to appear. But I can hear his voice in the next room speaking with a patient and he will never rush through the appointment and will take all the time he needs in order to answer each patient's concerns. That to me is a consummate surgeon. One that's skilled and one that also cares about people.

Thanks Jemma. Sounds like hes the exact opposite of the one I saw. The secretary in the hospital informed us he would be half an hour late coming in. He walked in,no apology and the most time he took with ANYBODY was 5 minutes. I will do as you advise next time. What threw me was that I wanted the form signing saying he reccomended physio. He didnt even want to sign this but i insisted. Next time I will be going in with a pen and a question and answer pad. Believe me I will not be treating him like any kind of God

Thanks jemma.