Total Knee done Aug 16

[David Ragan]

Hi

I was finally out of options, and after three years of daily unremitting pain (and very few pain pills), I finally had my left knee done w Conformis System-that is a custom "resurfacing" of the articulating surfaces of the joint-in my case, all three.

Had to wait 6 weeks for the 3-D printed titanium appliance to arrive from Germany.

It was done Aug 16.

I'm 59. Got real familiar w the PT staff, exercises, etc. in my attempt to wiggle out of this. The PT lady comes to the house M, W, F. I will start seeing my favorite PT, Maria, down @ her place in a week or so.

Today was my first day back down to bsmt shop-doing what I was many weeks before surgery-staring @ my tools.

Tomorrow, I start on the Schwin Airdyne daily, or at least 5 days out of the week.

What are you-alls experience w total knee replacement?

The surgeon has admonished me to take the pain meds, and be more active.....Heartless fellow.

Patience was never my strong suit.

Thanks, David

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Glad to hear you are on the mend David!

While I haven't had a total knee replacement, my youngest sister has had both knees replaced and she says it's the best thing she ever did. My sister who is 18 months younger than I just had hers replaced on the 12th of August and she's still fighting through the post surgery pain along with her problems with pain meds.

Both of my knees are candidates but I am able to continue for now.

[Matt Day]

My father had his knee done last year and stayed with us for a couple months during at home rehab until his first follow up with the doc.

What I observed was that he didn't do all his exercises and stretches like he could have done and now he doesn't have the flexibility he could have. He's better than he was before surgery and is happy he did it and in a good place, but I would strongly suggest you do everything possible post surgery from a PT/stretching standpoint. It will pay off down the road.

[Larry Frank]

The road to recovery is thru the exercises and therapy. I have not had the knee butt have had two hips, back and both wrists. I understand that the knee takes lots of exercise and stretching. If your doctorates you to do the therapy and take meds so you can do them....follow his instructions.

It sounds like you are recovering well....good luck.

[Frederick Skelly]

Get well soon David. Do what they tell you and you'll be better off for it. (Of course, you already know that but I've heard Doctors and Nurses make tough patients )

Best wishes,
Fred

[Jim Becker]

My mother had her knees done and my dad had a hip replaced. I know many others who have had similar, including one woman who had BOTH knees done at the SAME time. No matter how much of a "pain" doing PT is, the radical reduction of actual joint pain is pretty amazing... 'Glad to hear you're on the mend!

[Bruce Wrenn]

4+ years out from Bilateral knee replacement. Had to have both of them done, so did them at the same time. Left one works great, and right one can be so-so. Funny thing is my disability insurance company sent me a notice that they were stopping to pay me as doctor and my employer said I could return to work. Called doctor's office to find out who told them that, and answer was NO ONE! As for employer, I'm self employed and I sure didn't say I could return to work either. A real moment of victory is when you can put on your under ware standing up!

[Dave Zellers]

The road to recovery is thru the exercises and therapy. I have not had the knee butt have had two hips, back and both wrists.

Wait- there is wrist replacement surgery? That's a new one on me. Wow.

As I approach 66 my knees are not the best and I'm hoping against hope to stave it off...

[John Terefenko]

My brother just had one of his done about 3 months ago or a little longer. He has been doing all the exercise and stretch which is very important. Had to take pain killers for a few weeks and now is off them. Yes there is still some pain especially at night but it gets less and less. Everyone is different but he said that when he needs his other knee done he will wait as long as he can stand the pain. Not much fun. He is 56 and has just gotten OKed for full disability retirement. Can't do what he use to do which was construction work.

[Larry Frank]

Wrists were not replacement the bones rearranged to provide a new surface. Surgery was called four corner fusion and took over 3 hours. The result is mostly pain free and good range of motion. Not very many orthopedic surgeons do this surgery but I was fortunate to have a great one.

[BOB OLINGER]

Interesting - my wife had total knee replacement also on August 16. She's doing daily at home exercises and physical therapy appointments 3 times per week. From all aspects, she's doing above average. She's looking forward to getting all of this behind her.

[Jim Becker]

Wrists were not replacement the bones rearranged to provide a new surface. Surgery was called four corner fusion and took over 3 hours. The result is mostly pain free and good range of motion. Not very many orthopedic surgeons do this surgery but I was fortunate to have a great one.

I had my left wrist done on 22 June and was able to have the proximal row carpectomy procedure (removal of the first row--three bones) rather than fusion. I'm sure my recovery has been very similar to yours and like you, was fortunate to have an excellent surgeon. The only motion I'm still struggling with a little is flexion, but the rest of the "directions" are where they need to be, considering. Hopefully, over time, the flexion will get more toward the 30º that the doctor wants, rather than the 16º it's stuck at right now. Regardless...it's wonderful to not have that "bone on bone" pain anymore!

[Dave Zellers]

Wrists were not replacement the bones rearranged to provide a new surface. Surgery was called four corner fusion and took over 3 hours. The result is mostly pain free and good range of motion. Not very many orthopedic surgeons do this surgery but I was fortunate to have a great one.

THAT is just seriously awesome.

Wowsers.

And for JB too. Incredible.

[Larry Frank]

My 4 corner fusion was completed with no metal hardware left in the hand. I did have pins in my hand for 8 weeks with the wrist in a cast. The 4 corner fusion is a more complicated surgery but does not have the potential of developing arthritis down the road that is associated with proximal row carpectomy.

My flexibility in both wrists is quite a bit better than what Jim is reporting.

I did intensive reading about the procedures and found a doctor who has written numerous peer reviewed journal articles. He is also the nicest and easiest to talk to doctor. However, this was the most painful surgery I have under had. It was worth it.

When facing any type of surgery, it is well worth the time to read as much as possible about the procedure and the surgeon.

The wrist surgeries are why I do not do a lot of Neanderthal woodworking. My wrists were fixed once and I can not afford to damage or wear them

[Jim Becker]

I'm really glad to hear your flexibility is great, Larry! I'm only a few months in, so I suspect things will improve on flexion over time...my surgeon has stated numerous times that 6-9 mos isn't unusual. I see her tomorrow for my last post-op followup, so I'm sure this will be discussed.

{We now return you to your regularly scheduled knee replacement topic. }