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Only a partial!

Posted , 7 users are following.

debs23
debs23

So I had a patella femoral replacement last week. Anyone else who had a partial get fed up of people thinking it's nothing saying it's only a partial. They think I should be back to normal and out of pain!!

Yes im doing really well and getting around well on crutches but it is still painful especially when doing the exercises.

Do you know how long you are on crutches with 'only' a partial and how long it is before you can drive? Also how much time off work. Initially told 6 weeks, but got certificate for 4.

2 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Oldfatguy1
    Oldfatguy1 debs23

    Posted

    Don't let anyone d efine your recovery. I've said it many times, friends and family can be great allies during recovery but they can also be great pains in the a** as well when they start talking about things of which they do not know or haven't experienced. Just smile and give them a "go to he**" stare and get on with your life. Its happened to all of us because people are either insensitive or plain stupid.

  • jenny80029
    jenny80029 debs23

    Posted

    My friend has just had a partial, and her recovery and rehab are line with a TKR so far! (2 weeks ago)

    I told her before not to think the experience was going to have less of an impact overall, because in my reading about it so many people were saying the same thing!

    Everyone is different, just play it by ear.

    In the end it is the same load bearing joint, even if just a bit replaced.

    There was a guy with a partial in my rehab group and at 6 weeks he was similar to me at 10 weeks, so his recovery was a bit more rapid at that stage, but from what he said the first month seemed very similar to me with a TKR.

    My physio said stay with crutches for as long as i felt I needed them. What tends to happen when the time is right is you just end up naturally dispensing with them, and then forgetting to use them!

    But some on the forum have said they had physios who had a very set idea of when they should be coming off them.

    I used pain as my guide. I used supports in various combinations for 3 and a half months, and sometimes beyond that for long walks, but as said, all different.

  • ellen49890
    ellen49890 debs23

    Posted

    I had the same surgery on September 20th and was off work for 12 weeks with no driving the first 6.   Never did use crutches...did use a walker for a bit as well as a cane.  5 months after surgery I’m still fighting swelling, stiffness and pain but that can’t be it was just a partial 🙄🙄!  Really tired of people giving me the look and thinking I’m whining so I just mostly keep quiet.

    From everything I have read or been told the recovery from a partial is pretty much the same as a total and the patellar femoral section is the worst partial with the greatest failure rate....yippee!

    At the end of the day it’s your surgery and your recovery; no two are the same you just need to be and do you and to all those that are saying “it’s just a partial”. Well they can kiss our collective butts!

  • Sue1989
    Sue1989 debs23

    Posted

    My own ortho told me the pain shouldn’t be that bad because I

    only  had a “ uni “. This was 9 days after surgery!  If a doctor can be that insensitive, don’t expect others to understand.  Do what you have to do as far as getting your quads strengthened and listen to your body...not what others say!

    i wish you all the best.

    Sue

  • marilyn10235
    marilyn10235 debs23

    Posted

    Don't listen to anyone who says what you had was 'only a partial'! You have had major surgery, no ifs no buts! The actual operation is not that much different to the TKR I had & recovery much the same!

    You just do your exercises & ignore the nay sayers! 

    Take the 6 weeks off & more if you need it, which you may well do. 

    You will bin the crutches when you're ready. You'll realise it when you haven't immediately reached for them when getting about. If you need them, use them.

    Marilyn 

    XX

  • John5006
    John5006 debs23

    Posted

    Hi Debs

    Y'know, sometimes on here I read a load of crap about partial v total.

    ?At days end you have ..... like it or not ........... been damn well butchered. End of !

    Butchered.

    ?Recovery, it is what it is .......... different for all of us. And it will run its course.

    ?I was 8 weeks on crutches, but when I was progressing through recovery Christmas intervened so I guess I might have been free of crutches at around 6 and half weeks otherwise. I did exactly as my surgeon told me. I was back at work driving a bus at 11 weeks.

    ?John

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