Total Knee Replacement Finally

[DistantMidget]

I am finally having my right TKR surgery on 5th February, all being well.

In short when I was 23 I was ‘immortal and bullet proof’ or so I thought.

After landing from a 6/8ft jump straight legged onto concrete, I very quickly learned in complete agony, that I was not.

Two lots of keyhole surgery and fast forward 29 years I now have great difficulty walking, I have a 15 degree deformity of my right leg where it appears to bend inward.

That is due to the bone on bone wear, I had been refused surgery twice before, even though the consultant told my both my knees now appear 20 years older, but with the right one severely damaged.

Cocodamol, Arcoxia etc never really helped. I look forward to being able to go for a walk, to the supermarket a mile away.

It’s not until you can’t even do that simple thing that you realise how much you miss it.

I know it’s harder to recover from than hip replacement, but I am not worried. It’s hurt for 20years so what does 1 more year matter?

I guess the other one will need doing at some point, and as I’ve just turned 52 it isn’t ideal.

What I wouldn’t give to tell my 23 year old self to bend your knees like you did every other jump!

The right time to replace your knees is when it’s having such a negative effect on your life that you need it to improve your quality of life.

I need to exercise, I’m too heavy.

I need to walk my daughter down the aisle in July.

I need to work and pay my way for another 20 years and therefore, for me at least, I need a new knee now, and I look forward to actually being able to walk without hobbling along like an old…

ok much older man.

[BenHall1]

G'day DistantMidget,

I had a partial knee replacement in November 2015 aged 71. Right knee - medial compartment. Here we are, age 79 - going like the leading bullock of a bullock team. No sweat! Mine was so bad that it took me 30 minutes to walk the distance I can now walk in 10 minutes - that's the sort of difference it'll make. Bend it like Beckham .... well maybe not quite BUT if you do what your told with exercises you'll have no problems with yer daughter - mate - you'll be able to gallop her down the aisle !

Look Nov 2015 was the Pre Covid era of the NHS. Now its the Post CoVid era and things no doubt will have changed. There are two elements to this surgery - 1) is the surgeon and ansethetist do their job and 2) post op, you gotta do yours with your exercises. Although I said I had a partial KR, there ain't any difference. I think I was on the slab for about 2 and half hours, then back in my room. I was operated on by a 'Private' surgeon in a 'Private' hospital but as an NHS patient.

I had the added complication of having a heart arrythmia and so was on Warfarin, which presented tricky little challenges ... but no sweat. Sorted! Within a short time of being back in my room I was administerd with two injections into my tummy of Fragmin, a bridging anticoagulant. Sorted. This won't apply to a normal person. BUT THEN, the nursing team started me on exercises straight away and there was no let up. I was discharged home from hospital in 3 days. I was back at work driving a bus 11 weeks later ( but that included three weeks of Christmas 2015 when the surgeon was on holiday. So say 8/9 weeks.

When you are discharged home you'll be given a list of exercises to do and will probably have a session in hospital physiotherapy before going home. A great many exercises can be seen on Youtube as short videos. Its all about pain control so make sure you are prescribed the best ever pain killers that money can buy ( or that the NHS can supply) .... aaaah ! yes pain ......... then you'll bloody wish you hadn't made that jump when you were immortal and bullet proof. Oh yes siree ...... 😂😂

If you don't get the right pain control meds it will restrict you with exercises which will badly impact on your recovery and longer term, your ability to ever walk properly again.

If you wanna know more about post op stuff ask away and I'll disclose all. Lots of secrets. Good luck.

John

[Suzie42]

My husband has now had both his knees totally replaced. The first one 2020 and then 2022. He suffered for over 15 years with pain and not walking far. The only thing I can say to you is please do all the pre surgery exercises and post surgery. You will need ice on it post as it takes the swelling down , you also need really good effected pain relief as you cannot do the physio if you're in too much pain.My husband is pain free and has been given a second lease of life. He was 70 when he had first knee done. Good luck with it

[Blackknight1989]

I think (once post-op pain and swelling have subsided greatly) you’ll look back and wonder why you didn’t have the TKA sooner. I know in my case for about 10/12 years post-op it was as if I had decreased in age 15/20 years. Luckily from 2004-2019 I went from moving like, well like I move now at 56 (who cannot walk without the aid of at least a walker and need a wheelchair most of the time) to moving like I did when I was 30. I think we who need joint replacements live with the constant pain, pressure and deformation prominent in advanced joint disease that we develop a tolerance to the worst of the pain and debilitating issues caused by our deformities. As such when that broken down joint, especially a weight-bearing joint is “fixed” the feeling of all being normal (or as close to normal as we have been blessed with in recent years) is tantamount and as such we are once again able to walk normally (somewhat as may be the case) or once again walk a distance as you describe your desire to walk to the supermarket > 1 mile away. So, if your surgery goes well (and just based on the brief information you relayed) I suspect after the first month or so of recovery and PT (to allow for soft tissue healing post-op) you’ll be pleasantly surprised that your knee will allow you to do some things you have missed for several years. Hopefully because you indicate your knee issues were the result of direct injury, you’ll not have (as I and many others here with OA, RA or other degenerative diseases of the bone/muscle have had to contend with) the need for additional surgeries or have deterioration of additional joints. It seemed like your young (relatively) age might have been a concern of yours or your doctors (or that could have just been my perception) but a good replacement done by a skillful surgeon should last close to the 20 years most of the more confident orthopedic surgeon profess. If that’s the case maybe this one surgery will fix you up for life, I sure hope that is your outcome. I had my first knee operation in 1998, had 2 additional operations in 2000 and 2001 in an attempt to postpone my first total knee until I was at least older than 40. No such luck as in 2003 at age 36 I had my first knee replaced, 2008 and 2009 both hips replaced, 2012 and 2013 both ankles fused and finally 2014 the last knee replacement. As such by age 48 I had more than 20 orthopedic surgeries with all the major joints below the waist repaired in some fashion and along with stage 4 chronic kidney disease since 1996 (along with the underlying issue that caused my need for all the orthopedic procedures which is just osteoarthritis, just like the arthritis your grandparents had except mine was on steroids…lol!) I have finally succumbed to having to use a wheelchair about 90% of the time just to walk short distances. I need both ankles replaced, L3-L6 and C1-C6 in my spine and both shoulder replaced. However, I refuse to have any additional surgeries as at this age now with my CKD plus the fact that all those surgeries require a long recovery, if I had them performed now those 6 would cost me the better part of 6 years in some type of post-surgical recovery and that’s just not worth it to me. The pain may eventually win out but I am willing to take that chance and see if I can’t just trade this tired old body in prior as promised by the God I believe in (that all no more of the religious insinuations as I know that makes some uncomfortable) promised.

My apologies as I have drifted significantly from topic so I’ll quickly wrap up. I think you’ll be pleased post TKA and happy with the feeling of your younger days as well as (hopefully) much more ability to walk normally. I think you’ll be surprised the impact this has on your overall feeling of well-being. The post surgery recovery isn’t easy but then nothing worth having is ever easy. I’ve had my share of surgeries as I mentioned and the reason there is a 11 year gap between my knees is the TKA was for me the worst of all both pain wise as well as length of recovery. Most likely that had to do with the fact I was not even 40 or 45 years old and I’ve been told by several orthopods that TKAs are more painful and take more effort in recovery in much younger patients as I was at the time…yet I didn’t regret either replacement (well okay maybe for the first 5-7 weeks post-op I cussed the doctor name…lol!) as both helped me operate much more like a normal person when I had two wonderful kids still toddlers I couldn’t keep up with prior. I got to enjoy “normal” stuff with them that without the TKA I wouldn’t have been able to do and I wouldn’t trade anything for those memories….i wish you the best of luck in your journey BACK to a “normal” life and if you n need anything else from me just let me know! My best!

[Pilky1965]

I’m 58 and had both knees replaced last year, 12 weeks apart. Like you I had fixed flexion deformities, in both knees. The first two weeks after the surgery are brutal, not going to lie, but keep on top of the pain meds, ice and elevate regularly, move as much as you can, then a little bit more and you’ll be walking your daughter down that aisle x