Thanks for the replies. She went thru the fusion of 3 lumbar disks in February and continues to have issues but the pain in her knee is so bad she says "I have got to do it"
Thanks again
Since she is at the point where the pain is so bad she needs the surgery, now is the time.
I was standing around waiting for a meeting a few years ago and a bunch of guys were talking about their back pains, surgeries and doctors. One guy had gone to the doctor and the recommendation was surgery. The guy did not want surgery yet and the doctor said fine, come back and see me when you can no longer take the pain. I think that was a very good point. Put these things off as far as possible, but when the pain is so bad, then it is time for surgery. There might be some circumstances where it would be better to have surgery sooner but in these cases it seems like holding off is a good idea.
Why? Because you really don't know the outcome. Some people wish they had done the surgery sooner but for others it is not so successful. My grand father had both knees replaced and it was not successful. We think he was worse off after the surgery but we also think this is partially his fault since he would not do the PT. Flip side, was we were told that for some reason these surgeries cause a high rates of strokes. My grandfather had gazzilions of strokes in the years after the surgery. Was this a result of the surgery or just life? We will never now the answer but it is why I think waiting as long as possible for these type of surgeries is a good thing.
My mother had had her knee replaced and she did the PT but she still has some pain and trouble walking. Is she better off after the surgery? I think so but not by much. Reading people's results on TBN and seeing family go through the surgery, the out come seems to be a roll of the dice which gets me back to the pain. Once the pain is so bad you have to do something, then you have to do something, and the outcome will be what ever the outcome will be.
What I have learned the hard way with the medical field, is to find the best possible doctor you can, and even if it means travel, go to them. Don't be afraid to "fire" a doctor either. My wife has had three shoulder surgeries, two of which were from a car accident. The third one might have been from the accident or just life. The surgeon said the problem that caused the third surgery sometimes just happens to women of a certain age. No rhyme or reason but she sees the problem frequently. :shocked::confused3: The wifey had been going to doctor that was supposed to be good and he treated her for 12-18 months with no real changed. Went to this specialist at Duke and she immediately found the problem. The ligament in the wife's arm was busted like overstretched spandex. No amount of PT or shots were EVER going to fix the problem. :shocked: All of the pain my wifey had been enduring as a result of the injury, shots and PT should not have happened and was not going to solve the problem.


Find a really good doctor... We don't play anymore and we go to Duke or UNC to find the doctors that really know what they are doing. Problem is, we knew this already, but we went with this other doctor instead of going to Duke or UNC. :confused3:

Later,
Dan