jay3534
Silver Member
Anyone had knee replacement? My wife is going to have it done and I am concerned about the surgery. Any input would be appreciated as I am told it is pretty tough to go through.
Kneee replacement
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Happy Gilmore
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My Mom is going to need both knees done in the future, interested as well.
Bird
Epic Contributor
I had my right knee replaced on August 30, 2010 (almost 6 years ago). I went in Monday morning for the surgery and went home Thursday. There were no complications and I couldn't have asked for any better treatment than I got in that hospital (Medical Center of Lewisville). Doctor say he used a Zimmer brand replacement, and while in the hospital, they used a CPM (constant passive motion machine) to bend the knee back and forth; starting at 50 degrees and working up to 90 degrees, and they gave me a walker to use. But it was a fairly long recovery, home physical therapy for 2 weeks, etc. Now it will never bend quite as far as the OEM knee, but no problems.
IXLR8
Veteran Member
Is it a full knee replacement or a partial? Partials tend to be a no big deal, my wife had a partial and was walking on it 3 hrs after she came out of surgery. The most pain she had was in her hip as the knee being out had thrown her hip out. With the knee straightened back out, her hip was now aligned properly for the first time in 10 years and that is where she experienced the most pain. My mom had full knee replacement and it took her 8-10 months to recover. Although to be honest, most of her issues were her own doing as she refused to do her physical therapy properly. I think the key is to get the knee moving again as soon as possible with as much range of motion as possible. Not doing your PT properly is the worse thing you can do. There is going to be a fair amount of pain, lots of stuff in the knee was disturbed in the process, but you need to work thru it if you want to return to anything resembling normal.
chuck172
Platinum Member
I had my right knee replaced about 5 or 6 years ago. Needed both done but chose to go one at a time. Getting a new right knee took a big load off the left. Manageable pain level there now. The big thing is physical therapy. Not just after but it's real important to start prior to the surgery. I thing pre-physical therapy is the key to having a successful replacement.
My wife had both done (total) last fall. There was certainly discomfort for a few weeks, but it continually got better and by Christmas she was as good as pre-op, except she moved as well as she did 30 years ago. Now, 11 months later, no issues, scars are almost non-visible and no complaints.
Look for a doc with a good track record, usually at a renowned facility. Experience is everything with these surgeries.
Paul
Look for a doc with a good track record, usually at a renowned facility. Experience is everything with these surgeries.
Paul
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
My mom just had a total knee replacement last Tuesday at Tyler Spine and Joint. We have several large hospitals in the area and my wife was a manager at one of them for awhile. She now teaches nursing at UT and is very close to completing her PhD. She knows who the good docs are and who to avoid, Tyler Spine and Joint is one of the best in the nation and people fly in from all over the country. Ten years ago my dad had both of his knees replaced. One a year. His recovery was amazing, so we went into this based on his experience.
My mom and wife did the tour of the facilities, then another meeting on what to expect. They where given a list of items to buy, things like a seat for the shower and stuff like that. She was also given a set of exercises to do beforehand that she did religiously. She is 74 years old, active as she can be with the pain in her knees, and probably 20+ pounds overweight.
The day of the surgery, we all got up at 3:30 am and she was there an hour later. The surgery went fairly quick and by noon, the physical therapist was there to start her therapy. It was very important to get her walking right away. Her first walk was 160 feet, which they said was extremely good!!! Two days later the spinal blocking pain meds wore off and then she was in pain. Until then, she didn't feel any pain.
She came home two days after surgery and my wife is taking care of her. Bathing her, cooking for my parents and doing laundry. We're paying for a house cleaner to keep the house nice since my dad just doesn't seem to be able to see dirt. He's 80 and tries real hard to help out, but you have to really stay on top of what he is supposed to do for it to get done. She has to take pain meds every 4 hours. If not, then we are chasing the pain and it's harder to control. Dad forgets and Mom doesn't like taking them, so we've had a few issues with pain because she went longer then 4 hours in taking them.
We've had the physical therapist out here to their house twice so far and that's gone great. Mom is very determined and really pushes her therapy. When my dad had his done, he set records in his recovery because he did twice what he was supposed to for therapy, and then some.
Mom is scheduled to have her other knee replaced Nov 1st.
And about a month ago, our female Akita blew out her knees chasing a guinea fowl. She had been having problems with knees and we where thinking it was her hips, but the xrays showed that her hips where perfect, but her knees where both horrible. When she blew it out, she was crippled. Couldn't walk on it, couldn't stand on it, and she wasn't able to get into position to go potty.
We had her in for surgery two days later. The next day, early in the morning when we picked her up, she walked out to the car and I picked her to get her into the SUV. She has to be kenneled and on a short leash when we go outside. After a month of this, she wants to run so bad, but we can't let that happen. She is still healing and could injure herself easily.
Cost for my moms knee replacement was $70,000. Cost for our dogs knee replacement was $2,700 done by a specialist that just does knees.
My mom and wife did the tour of the facilities, then another meeting on what to expect. They where given a list of items to buy, things like a seat for the shower and stuff like that. She was also given a set of exercises to do beforehand that she did religiously. She is 74 years old, active as she can be with the pain in her knees, and probably 20+ pounds overweight.
The day of the surgery, we all got up at 3:30 am and she was there an hour later. The surgery went fairly quick and by noon, the physical therapist was there to start her therapy. It was very important to get her walking right away. Her first walk was 160 feet, which they said was extremely good!!! Two days later the spinal blocking pain meds wore off and then she was in pain. Until then, she didn't feel any pain.
She came home two days after surgery and my wife is taking care of her. Bathing her, cooking for my parents and doing laundry. We're paying for a house cleaner to keep the house nice since my dad just doesn't seem to be able to see dirt. He's 80 and tries real hard to help out, but you have to really stay on top of what he is supposed to do for it to get done. She has to take pain meds every 4 hours. If not, then we are chasing the pain and it's harder to control. Dad forgets and Mom doesn't like taking them, so we've had a few issues with pain because she went longer then 4 hours in taking them.
We've had the physical therapist out here to their house twice so far and that's gone great. Mom is very determined and really pushes her therapy. When my dad had his done, he set records in his recovery because he did twice what he was supposed to for therapy, and then some.
Mom is scheduled to have her other knee replaced Nov 1st.
And about a month ago, our female Akita blew out her knees chasing a guinea fowl. She had been having problems with knees and we where thinking it was her hips, but the xrays showed that her hips where perfect, but her knees where both horrible. When she blew it out, she was crippled. Couldn't walk on it, couldn't stand on it, and she wasn't able to get into position to go potty.
We had her in for surgery two days later. The next day, early in the morning when we picked her up, she walked out to the car and I picked her to get her into the SUV. She has to be kenneled and on a short leash when we go outside. After a month of this, she wants to run so bad, but we can't let that happen. She is still healing and could injure herself easily.
Cost for my moms knee replacement was $70,000. Cost for our dogs knee replacement was $2,700 done by a specialist that just does knees.
sd455dan
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Wife had her right Knee done (total) in May, and a couple thoughts
1st there is a Huge difference between partial and full /total.
Hope it just a partial, but if it is a total knee replacement-
It got put off for 2 weeks because of a slight nick in the incision area- so make sure she doesn't shave and just make sure no abrasions happen- docs won't do the surgery if there is any chance of infection.
Get the femoral nerve block - hope I remembered the name right it is a time released pain killer from a ball that lasts for a few days after the surgery -really, REALLY helps with the pain for the first few days and the CPM.
If possible get the after surgery care at a Life Care style facility that offers physical therapy - IT Was worth it for us, we have dogs and ANY thing bumping or running into the Knee area can be excruciatingly painful, It was great to have the extra physical therapy and a doctor available ( swelling , ripped staple and others) . The first few weeks don't expect her to be able to do anything but exercises and rest- especially If she has any other physical things like arthritis...
In the end Full knee replacement was very much worth it- my wife now has full motion and her knee does not sound like it is grinding up gravel when moved also she no longer wakes up at 4 am in tears due to the knee pain every morning let alone when trying to walk.
If your wife is motivated and is willing to work thru the pain (like mine)-should work out great but- some people ( more than a few) get the surgery done, and don't push themselves My friends uncle, is having additional surgery to re adjust the artificial ligaments due to not following docs orders on pt.
ps. they used a new model of a full knee replacement that has replaceable wear discs, this way the bone fused parts do not need to be removed, and should the wearable parts need replacement it is far less invasive than the previous method.
hope this helps
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TnAndy
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Had my left one done in February. In hospital 3 days, began Pt following week, that went on for 6 weeks. Overall, not that bad.
I'm NOT that pleased with the results now months later....joint pops and clicks every step I take....loud enough other people can hear it when I walk by, so it's not just me. Still some pain at night laying in the bed. Personally, I'd have to really think hard before having the other one done.
Surgeon says a year for full recovery, so we'll see....
I'm NOT that pleased with the results now months later....joint pops and clicks every step I take....loud enough other people can hear it when I walk by, so it's not just me. Still some pain at night laying in the bed. Personally, I'd have to really think hard before having the other one done.
Surgeon says a year for full recovery, so we'll see....