How can i delay TKR for simply 4 months?
Posted , 9 users are following.
Hello all...im looking for any suggestions regarding my left knee.
I am a 50 yr old teaching tennis pro. Five months ago (Dec 2014) i had major rotator cuff surgery on my right (dominant) shoulder. All went well and I was told I'd be back to work in 4-6 months. My plan was to do the surgery in winter and id be ready to go for the BUSY summer season.
My problem is... all of a sudden, for no reason whatsoever. my left leg, from the hip down to the knee has apparently flared up with the most painful arthritis. I can barely walk, let alone think about returning to work.
- alittle history on my left leg...I've had 3 surgeries on my left knee ending with a total ACL replacement about 20 years ago. I KNOW i am bone on bone on my knee but it has never prevented me from working, running, playing/teaching tennis nor any other physical activity. Every 9-12 months however the knee does fill with fluid and my range of motion becomes hampered. But I simply go get my knee aspirated followed by a cortisone shot and I'm ' good to go' for another 10 months. (all the while i am aware that the day will come that a TKR will be inevitable)
The conundrum is I've been resting the past 5 months. I have placed no pressure on my leg the whole while I've been rehabbing my shoulder and there's no fluid build up whatsoever...yet the pain is excruciating!
So as usual i went to the doctor and while no aspiration was needed i had my usual cortisone shot (Kenalog) injected in my knee and also the hip which X-rays showed some minor new arthritis.
Results-absolutely NO relief! My reliable cortisone shot which has been serving me grandly for years had no effect whatsoever.
I then insisted a few weeks later that a different brand of cortisone (depa-medrol) be used thinking my body has become immune to the Kenalog- NO RESULTS!
Desperate i then had a series of "some new lubricant" injected in the knee one injection a week for 3 weeks- NO RESULTS!
Ok..ok i get it the inevitable has come. It's now time for a Total Knee Replacement (TKR) But it's just not reasonable, i can't wrap my head around the fact that while rresting my shoulder...putting no trauma on my leg whatsoever, my left leg, hip/knee is in soo much pain...let alone the idea of having one major surgery immediately after another...ITS JUST TOO MUCH!
Im desperate. I'm looking for answers WHY this is happening...could there be a simple answer im overlooking? Additionally does anyone have any suggestions as to what i can do to get back on the tennis courts just 1 LAST SUMMER, then i shall acquiesce and do the TKR.
Please PLEASE...someone help! 😟
Sincere thanks,
TENNIS IN CHICAGO 🎾
David
0 likes, 64 replies
martinarvelo david55379
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david55379 martinarvelo
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I think you may be onto something. I've heard the same thing from different sources.
I personally find it hard to believe. It's not as if i was on my back for 5 months. After 2-3 months i even went to the gym to work on my legs with cardio exercise.
But there was something you said that interested me ("...it happens almost immediately") Please tell me about that.
I don't understand why...especially considering the above.
But i do know that i was playing at a high level even with the torn rotator cuffs. When i was diagnosed i was stunned to hear such a dramatic diagnosis...if my cuffs are torn then how could i be playing like i am? They said because the muscles surrounding the cuffs are so built up from decades of playing they are compensating for the torn cuffs underneath.
Id also like to express my sincere appreciation that you were even ' thinking' about [ME]! A big part of my resistance to giving into the TKR is that im alone. It's just me and my beloved dog Venus. I know I'm acting out like a spoiled child fighting this...but im scared. I'm prone to catastrophizing...and all sorts of awful scenarios build up in my head...what will happen to Venus the 3 days im in the hospital? She's everything to me...i can't just put her in some kennel-i saved her from off the streets. What's going to happen to me once i get home- who's going to cook, clean and tend to Venus and me? I like being independent...but what if "they" (a ficticious THEY that i create in my mind) decide to send me away to some nursing home at 50 yrs old never to see freedom again and Venus is thrown to the wolves.
I know...all absurd thoughts. But that's what's going on in my mind...let alone losing my vocation...my means of self support.
Im very grateful Martinavelo for your thoughts. I am in the gym trying to rebuild those leg muscles but-OMG 5 minutes after i stop the pain is excruciating.
I'll end with this...i found a study about something called REGENERX...some kind of stem cell therapy where they rebuild the cartilage somehow. Im desperate i know and grasping at anything and everything to avoid "the death penalty."
But Martinvarelo to think that someone, somewhere over the rainbow 🌈 was actually thinking about my well being brings a tear to my eye.
From the bottom of my heart-
Thank you
martinarvelo david55379
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david55379 martinarvelo
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Chicago is a wonderful place in the summer, and an equally awful place in the winter.
It's one of the few places where it can literally be 80°F sunny blue skies one day and 40°F freezing and windy the next!
Thanks again Martinvarelo, i shall keep in touch.
Btw...you never explained what that cartilage replacement injections were about
martinarvelo david55379
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david55379 martinarvelo
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In about 2 wks i have an appt to take part in a study that sounds very much like what you were talking about. It's something called REGENEREX...they take "cells/marrow?¿" from your spinal cord and inject them into your knee (or something to that effect) so I'll let you all know what becomes of that too#
sarah87162 david55379
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I have sent you another longer post
Sarah xxx
david55379 sarah87162
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I'm afraid of everything... lol
I live alone
I have a dog im afraid they'll take away from me..
Ill wake up from surgery with only one leg..
IM A BIG BABY 🚼
lol
Awwe Sarah...thank you for your advice.
But why does the cortisone after working sooo great for sooo long just STOP working?
susan20089 david55379
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david55379 susan20089
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It's rediculous i know, but its real.
Additionally ...what about my job?
As i mentioned in my introductory message im just now in my 5th month of recovering from major rotator cuff surgery. I had planned to be back on court in June. NOW for no reason whatsoever my knee gives out??? ITS NOT FAIR!!! How can i go from one major surgery to another? Does God hate me? I'm a nice gent...lol
I laugh only because it's the only thing that keeps me from crying.
Tennis has been my career for years...its all i know. Im no doctor, no lawyer, no butcher or baker or candlestick maker...lol...it's funny but its not....i want to work 😢 i don't want to be alone again recovering through ANOTHER major surgery after another!?
It's bloody ludicrous!
Ok David...stop crying...lol
Thank you all for your support
David
susan20089 david55379
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sarah87162 david55379
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Ofcourse you are afraid that's OK.
Let me tell you a story.
When I saw my consultant before my operation he ws pointing out to me the risks of the operation. He siad it was possible that my new knee would start dislocating again. He saw the look on my face of COMPLETE TERROR11
I WAS NOT BOTHERED ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE AND WAS ACTUALLY AWAKE WHILE THEY OPERATED, JUST HAD EPIDURAL
When I had my follow up appointment six weeks after op I said to consultant "You mentioned that my new knee might start dislocatlng again. What do you think now that you have done the operation?"
He siad "I think it is very unlikely that will happen I've dealt with it!!"
MY ONE AND ONLY FEAR, HE COMPLETELY DEALT WITH IT!!
Out of all the patients he sees he had remembered my fear and dealt with it. 3 years down the line and my new knee has never dislocated.
Take heart and courage
Sarah xxx
david55379 susan20089
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But what really eats away at me is the fact that im just coming off the 5th month of a major rotator cuff shoulder surgery. It all is so overwhelming.
I know there care soo many people in worse situations...young men coming home from Afghanistan with missing body parts, people suffering with cancer, people losing their jobs and homes.
I need to count my blessings. Look at all the positive things in my life. Life is suffering.
Aging isnt fun.
And look at all you folks across the proverbial pond sharing their experiences, support, concern and love.
Thank you Susan...sincerely thanks!
susan20089 david55379
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david55379 sarah87162
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WOW...you are a strong woman!
You're beyond strong...you're my hero
Thank you Sarah! I shall take heart and courage and keep you in mind whenever the terror starts to rear its ugly head within me!
Xoxo
David
sarah87162 david55379
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Be awake now there's a challenge!!
susan20089 david55379
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david55379 susan20089
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Id just faint at the sight of the OR, so id be asleep anyways.
I think you ladies are used to epidurals from giving birth.
We men ( I'll speak for myself) are big babies. I ask my dentist to put me to sleep when he does work on me.
Lol...thanks Susan but that's not a challenge I'll be taking on anytime soon
Oldfatguy1 susan20089
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Last two times I was eating full menu meals within hours. The hospital I go to offers menu service from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. so the most you have to wait is 30 mins after calling room service. I was still in recovery the 1st time. The old being sick and feeling terrible is almost a thing of the past with the new anesthetic cocktails they use. Of course, abdominal surgeries are a whole different situation. Had a whole different 3rd overt with colon resection
susan20089 david55379
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david55379 susan20089
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susan20089 Oldfatguy1
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susan20089 david55379
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martinarvelo susan20089
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susan20089 martinarvelo
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martinarvelo susan20089
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susan20089 martinarvelo
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martinarvelo susan20089
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mary0606 martinarvelo
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martinarvelo mary0606
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Oldfatguy1 mary0606
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david55379 Oldfatguy1
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It kept me pain free for 48 hrs also, but they were adamant about staying ahead of the pain by starting up on
susan20089 martinarvelo
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Oldfatguy1 david55379
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martinarvelo susan20089
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susan20089 martinarvelo
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mary0606 martinarvelo
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pits a known fact the better pain relief you get the better the recovery, it's documented,..
martinarvelo mary0606
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