Steriod shot in knee, ???
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keljan11
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Bocephous
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Copy that. I hope you get your knee fixed soon.
RSKY
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I took steroid shots, lubrication shots, and had a surgery where they put something like cement into the bones in my left knee. I finally gave up and had the knee replaced at age 62. The steroid shots worked for a few weeks but only if I stayed off the knee for a couple days after the shot. It seemed like each one worked for a shorter amount of time until it got to the point I couldn't tell any difference when I got one. This was over about a year. Then I took some type of other shot and it didn't work at all. I had got to the point that I carried a small container of Naproxen-Sodium (Aleve) on my key chain for when the pain got so bad it hindered me in whatever I was doing. Then I had the strengthening surgery which did absolutely no good. I couldn't tell the difference once I got over the surgery. The pain was still there. Aleve or Naproxen-Sodium was my friend and I took one every single morning for a couple years. If I didn't I could not function.
My surgeon was supposed to be one of the best in the country according to a couple of friends who sell for medical supply outfits. It takes four to five months to get in to see him. He is booked up that far in advance. He does not do extensive therapy right after surgery. The home health therapist said he would have a complete meltdown if they forced any movement. He wanted everything to be completely healed before working on getting the use of the joint back. He wanted the joint to heal before working on movement. According to his assistant it takes longer to get over the surgery that way but he has one of the lowest incidences of infection and second surgeries of any knee replacement surgeon in the country. I have no facts to back this up, just what they told me.
I do believe that I delayed the surgery about two years too long and put myself thru a lot of unnecessary pain and inconvienence. I am scheduled for my two year after release checkup in August. I have NEVER regretted having the joint replaced.
What ever you do shot around for a surgeon. I have friends and relatives who just went with the doctor they could get into the quickest or the one advertising on TV and I have seen what they have compared to mine and I am glad I went with my guy. Too many of the friends and relatives have had to have a second surgery.
Three years ago I carried some small items up the steps into the church building attic and had to hold onto the handrail and go one step at a time. About a month ago I picked up a box that weighed about thirty pounds and ran up those same steps without having to think about what I was doing.
Don't wait too long!!
RSKY
My surgeon was supposed to be one of the best in the country according to a couple of friends who sell for medical supply outfits. It takes four to five months to get in to see him. He is booked up that far in advance. He does not do extensive therapy right after surgery. The home health therapist said he would have a complete meltdown if they forced any movement. He wanted everything to be completely healed before working on getting the use of the joint back. He wanted the joint to heal before working on movement. According to his assistant it takes longer to get over the surgery that way but he has one of the lowest incidences of infection and second surgeries of any knee replacement surgeon in the country. I have no facts to back this up, just what they told me.
I do believe that I delayed the surgery about two years too long and put myself thru a lot of unnecessary pain and inconvienence. I am scheduled for my two year after release checkup in August. I have NEVER regretted having the joint replaced.
What ever you do shot around for a surgeon. I have friends and relatives who just went with the doctor they could get into the quickest or the one advertising on TV and I have seen what they have compared to mine and I am glad I went with my guy. Too many of the friends and relatives have had to have a second surgery.
Three years ago I carried some small items up the steps into the church building attic and had to hold onto the handrail and go one step at a time. About a month ago I picked up a box that weighed about thirty pounds and ran up those same steps without having to think about what I was doing.
Don't wait too long!!
RSKY
k0ua
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bigtiller
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RSKY, I remember your thread about before and after surgery. It interested me because I was going back & forth about having mine replaced. Your recountals actually helped me decided to go for it.
EddieWalker
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Finding the best doctor to do the work can be tricky. knowing a nurse that is in the field is what I like to rely on. Fortunately I married one who was also in management at two of our local hospitals and now teaches nursing at our local university. It's rather shocking to me to know how bad a lot of the doctors are, and how few there are that she will let me and my parents go see. The bad doctors stick around because there is such a shortage of doctors, and the hospitals do everything possible to keep it quiet when they mess up.
My dad had both knees replaces with fantastic results. My mom had both of hers replaced, with the first one going perfect, and the second being a disaster, which ended up having to be redone.
Therapy is crucial and it starts the day of the operation. As soon as you wake up after the surgery, they need to get you up and walking. Dad worked with his therapist, and then did more on his own. They said that he set records at how quickly he recovered. Mom did what she was told on the first one and it went smoothly, but then she stopped taking her anti depressant meds on the second replacement and didn't do her therapy like she was supposed to. This led to scarring and a lot of pain. It got so bad that a specialist had to redo it, and this time she took her meds and it all worked out great.
Your comments about not moving the knee goes against everything that I've been told in dealing with my parents knee replacements. I read your comments to my wife and she couldn't even talk at first, then in shock, said that was crazy. That is the very worse thing you could possibly do. Could you have heard this wrong?
Home Page | Baylor Scott & White Texas Spine & Joint Hospital This is a link to Tyler Spine and Joint Hospital. They are partners with Baylor Scott & White. Around here, they are the very best place to go. We have friends in CA that have flown out here to have their knee surgery done there. I'm not sure how to rank them in the country as to being the best or not, but they are at the top end of being the best place to go and an excellent reference to compare to when deciding who to have your surgery with.
RSKY
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I didn't mean to imply that there was no movement or therapy. I was up walking the next day or maybe even the night after the surgery. I don't recall exactly, they kept me an extra day because I couldn't remember anything. My wife said I sang to them when they walked me back and forth down the hall so I know I got therapy in the hospital.
What he did not want was for movement to be forced. The most the therapist would do was have me facedown on the bed with gravity pulling the foot down. Other than that it was just repetitive motions. Over and over again but stopping before forcing the joint to straighten or bend. Other surgeons at the same clinic had her forcing the joint to move. He told me going in that his patients took longer to get back to normal but had less problems in the long run. Less mobility and slower recovery in the short run versus less problems down the road. I took the less problems down the road view. Another surgeon at the same clinic whom my doctor said was going to be an orthopedic surgeon "superstar", his words, has his patients do a very involved, very stressful therapy.
One thing the PA said had cut down the problems was the "boot camp" that was required of any patient undergoing joint replacement surgery. This was a four hour session telling you what to expect, what to do, what not to do, how to prepare your home, etc.. For example, we were told to prepare for coming home after surgery by taking our walkers and getting out of the vehicle, getting inside the house, going to your bedroom, and going to the bathroom. I don't remember the exact figures but this preparation BEFORE surgery had cut their infections and second surgeries nearly in half. Some feedback I gave them that they now supposedly include in the session was not putting the sheets tight on the bed. Before I came home my wife had changed the sheets and had everything nice and neat and tight. She got me into the room and in the bed and I went to sleep on my left side. That was the side that was replaced. A few minutes later I rolled onto my back and the tight sheets kept the foot from turning upright and I thought I had torn the new joint completely out of my knee. Wife said she heard me scream and it scared her badly.
Anyway, I do not regret the surgery. I walked 22,956 steps one day in Disneyland a couple weeks ago with no problems. Well, none with my replaced knee. I had stubbed my middle toe at Yosemite Park so bad the toenail was nearly off and I was favoring that leg over the replaced one. I walk two miles at least four days a week and according to the app on my phone I average between 4000 and 12,000 steps a day. I am going whitewater rafting in two weeks. I could not have done any of this three years ago before the surgery.
I agree about asking nurses and other staff about doctors before having work done. When I had to have my gall bladder removed I was told which doctor at that hospital to NOT let work on me by the tech who did the ultrasound (wife's former student), desk clerk (friend's daughter), and two of the nurses in my doctors office. With the surgeon that did my knee it was the opposite. When registering for the surgery everybody would ask who the surgeon was and when I said Patel they would all smile and tell me I would be okay. Even a former coworker's daughter called me and told me to be sure and get him because she worked in the operating room with all the surgeons and he was the best she had ever seen.
RSKY
RSKY
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WOW. I hope you have had as good luck as I have.
It sometimes scares me how much influence on decisions this forum has. And I just posted my experience.
RSKY
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Yes I have. And to keep it working I do 40 squats every morning and walk a mile as fast as I can every afternoon.