Knee replacement

[whwiechm]

In the past year, I have gone from completely mobile to completely dependent on my walker. I have had bad knee pain, so I saw an orthopedic surgeon about knee replacement, but he said the arthritis in my knees did not warrant replacement yet. However I got to thinking if I were to get the replacement in the future, how likely is it that I will end up in a wheelchair and the knee replacement will have been for nothing. Last week I got cortisone shots in my knees, and that is working for the time being. Any thoughts?

[twooldcrows]

don't you hate it when the doctor says it isn't bad enough ...makes me so mad ...i have a knee that doesn't have a day without pain and he just gave me a shot and thought it would take care of it and i went back for my checkup and told him no ....he just looks at me ,,like why ...some are so stuck on them selves that they think they are always right and don't want you to question them ...so i have to use biofreeze on it daily ...good luck ...love and happiness...i think the other reason is because i am 69 and over weight ...should not be a problem but i figure he wants to save time for younger ones...sorry about that but i am a person....

[mrsmike9 in reply to twooldcrows]

I had a GP once who was a year or two older than me. He told me once when he was younger and older people would come in with their aches and pains, in his head he would think, oh, come on! Not that bad! Then when he was older he knew exactly what they were talking about! Sounds like your ortho needs to have a sore knee!

[twooldcrows in reply to mrsmike9]

i think he needs to grow up ...the first doctor that sent me to the clinic i think he thought i would see another doctor there but instead i got this guy ,so after seeing him the second time i haven't been back ...i need to try and get ahold of the first doctor at my little clinic here in town and let him know what hasn't been done for me ...some doctors they think wow i am a doctor and i can be picky ...well life goes on ...my nero tried to send me to a different doctor but haven't heard anything so i guess i should call her office again and see who it was i was to go to see for she feels it should be replaced ...any way that is life when you get older and you meet these guys that love them selves....hahahahahhahahhah...have a great day ...

[Buttermom]

The answer depends on a lot of things, but it's all really speculation. I had both knees replaced at the same time over 10 years ago and never regretted it. My best piece of advice is, if you have access, do all of your therapy in a pool. It works much better and is a lot easier.

[Jer29-11]

Sorry to hear about your knee! I’m a surgical nurse and do orthopedic procedures often, including joint replacements. Knee replacements are tough recoveries (knees take on lots of our body weight), but most people have joint/arthritic pain relief right away. The recommendation now is to walk and begin physical therapy hours after surgery in the recovery room. I think with the right amount of physical therapy, most do very well. Good luck and I hope you’re feeling better soon.

[whwiechm in reply to Jer29-11]

My real question is will it be worth it if I end up in a wheel chair in another year. I know that no one has a crystal ball and can see the future, I'm just looking for opinions from people who may have had similar circumstances.

[pamgarner]

i went to an ortho dr. about my wrist, and I quote"we.,dr.s, are Great at replacing hips and KNEES.i am sure we have someone out there that has done this.best to you

[jackiesj]

Hi whwiechm...similar friend who was told weight is an issue and around same age...i have yet to find a personal friend who regretted having knee or hip surgery although recoup time is depending on person.How do you lose weight if you cant move without pain?factors(younger less cost better recovery? insurance benefits? Health issues? so much but it is being given a choice that gets me mad.the what ifs are? are you for sure you will be in a wheel chair and getting rid of pain means ALOT.Good luck.

[wolfmom21fl]

yes.. thoughts abound.. Request an MRI of the knee region and ask them to check specifically for AVASCULAR NECROSIS of any of the bones above or below the knee. This will NOT always show up on an xray. what it is, is areas of dead bone or necrosis like a cavity in your tooth. what it does tho is cause the same type of pain that leaves you unable to put full weight on your knee and the entire bone will be in danger of total collapse. Now this can be fixed in one of 2 ways.. there is a procedure where the can go in with a scope and scrape out the dead tissue and fill it with a substance that hardens and is stronger than the original bone, or you can have a partial knee replacement to replace the part of the bone that is affected plus the knee, but why replace the knee if its not needed? Then there is the fact that a knee replacement doesn't last forever. They need to be redone after a certain number of years. I know one lady, she had her knee done 3 times and outlived the life of the joint that many times.. poor thing.. they make them to fail.. LOL.. UUUGH.. anyway.. make sure you NEED one before you push it.. have them do the MRI first

[wolfmom21fl in reply to wolfmom21fl]

PS. Forgot to add in, the reason for checking about the avascular necrosis is because as pwMS we are given steroids for relapses so often and so much. Steroid use causes bone necrosis. Most often in hip and area and long bone above knee. No one tells us this before they prescribe these drugs.

[BlanketTime1]

i'm confused by that. when it came to my hip replacement, they took repeated x-rays. the first was to see what was going on with me. i think b/c mine was close to collapse, it showed up on the x-ray. i was in the stage just before collapse by the time i went to the ortho. nearly every time i had a new symptom for 6 years, my first neuro put me on steroids. even though i told him i had intense bone pain (in my knees, no less), he said it was fine.

the pain was so bad, i lay on my belly and all i could do was make sure i breathed. at one point i spent almost an entire year on steroids, only to find out later i'd developed ataxia. obviously, the steroids wouldn't make that go away.

so because of the steroids, i developed avascular necrosis in both hips. are they telling you there's nothing wrong with your knees and your pain is from ms?

have you considered getting a second opinion? i knew the pain was intense just before my hip surgery (the dr had me come back when the pain got too bad and when i did, the bone had collapsed 😪😱). it won't be the same with a knee replacement, but when i awoke from surgery, my pain had improved so much.

i no longer take steroids. it would have to be a life or death scenario for me to use them again.

ah, i just remembered, i had pain in my knees, but my hips were the problems. the knee pain was b/c of the weird way i walked when trying to accommodate my bad hips. maybe ask for a lower body mri so they can get a good look at all of it.

my mum got the shots in her knees and her ortho told her she would need a replacement at some point. the shots are only a temporary fix. i hope you get that second opinion. if you do, make sure to tell them if you've taken a lot of steroids.🤗

[whwiechm in reply to BlanketTime1]

Thanks, very informative. I've only had one round of Cortisone so far.