DW Needs Knee Replacement

[Wayne M.]

Just catching up here.
Ron and Ms. Ron, good luck to both of you. I’ve seen knee, hip and even ankle replacements do wonders in improving your life. The only caution, and I’ve witnessed this too, is the possibility of infection or rejection. Be sure to have her really scrub up head to toe the morning of. Sometimes they give you a special soap packet to use.

 

[RUSSELL5000]

Sorry to hear that this has become necessary, but best of luck to you both. I have two replacement hips and different metal strips and screws from broken bone repairs as well as a couple of tendon/ligament repairs. Nothing works like what God gave us, but I wouldn't be able to do much of anything without the surgical interventions. It is indeed miraculous.

My suggestion is to seek out a good physical therapist after and do all that is directed. I see mine regularly. When I do what she says then I feel much better and can do much more. When I slack off and become undisciplined then the pain and stiffness come..... Of course, you would think I'd learn, but.......

Praying for you both.

 

[Wiredawg]

Friends,

Great surgeon and DW worked out to take shots every 3 months until pain is too bothersome. He doesn't like to operate until patient can't deal with the pain. We like that approach ad are planning to leave May 3ish on next long RV trip. Gotta like surgeons who aren't in the hurry up and let's git'r done mode.

More to come in th he upcoming months.

Cheers, Ron

 

[BSeyler]

Ron,
I just visited my friend who had his knee replaced three weeks ago. He uses a cane outside, but goes without inside. He said the pain today is less than what he had been putting up with prior to the surgery. He is following the rehab plan diligently. I hope your bride does as well.
Bud

 

[Wiredawg]

Bud,

Thanks! I'm thinking she'll be ready in the Fall or early Winter. Rehab is huge in speeding up full recovery.

Sorry to hear that this has become necessary, but best of luck to you both. I have two replacement hips and different metal strips and screws from broken bone repairs as well as a couple of tendon/ligament repairs. Nothing works like what God gave us, but I wouldn't be able to do much of anything without the surgical interventions. It is indeed miraculous.

My suggestion is to seek out a good physical therapist after and do all that is directed. I see mine regularly. When I do what she says then I feel much better and can do much more. When I slack off and become undisciplined then the pain and stiffness come..... Of course, you would think I'd learn, but.......

Praying for you both.

Apreciate it... unfortunately, neither of us are new to surgeries, but always good to hear positive comments.

Thanks, Ron

 

[BigPapa]

As I mentioned, my father has had both his replaced, and as BSeyler said, and like you and your wife, he put it off till he couldn’t stand it anymore. After it was done, he said the pain after was less than he had before the surgery and he should have done it years sooner.

 

[Wiredawg]

As I mentioned, my father has had both his replaced, and as BSeyler said, and like you and your wife, he put it off till he couldn’t stand it anymore. After it was done, he said the pain after was less than he had before the surgery and he should have done it years sooner.

Yep, I hear ya. Funny thing is the need to replace it is less about pain and more about the condition. It really doesn't bother hers lot, she actually torqued it doing yard work and thought she sprained it. Her Mom had both replaced as well, so she's familiar with the pain to activity relationship. I truly think she's like me and wants to go on this month long RV trip, then I believe she's going to do it. Last long trip we took was back in 2018; 2019 I was down all year with my ankle fusion, and of course 2020 was ruined by Covid. We pretty much do the disabled version of our trips due to my mobility issues, so that will benefit her too. I think we may go out on total of three trips Spring to early Fall, then back in for surgery (IMHO) in Oct.

We're both excited to be going out again. Thanks for the info... absolutely great to reinforce what you know. I'm pretty sure I'll post the trip in either my existing "Bought Another Cummings" or start a new one specific to the trip.

Cheers, Ron

 

[Jim W]

Friends,

Great surgeon and DW worked out to take shots every 3 months until pain is too bothersome. He doesn't like to operate until patient can't deal with the pain. We like that approach ad are planning to leave May 3ish on next long RV trip. Gotta like surgeons who aren't in the hurry up and let's git'r done mode.

More to come in th he upcoming months.

Cheers, Ron

Ron, I really have no faith with the injections in the KNEE joint. I had just one injection from my surgeon who also suggested going this route. Will all this did was provide the surgeon and his office a source of income from Medicare. I did not feel anything different before the injection or afterward! He did say that that might be the case some people do not feel any improvement when given the injections.

I too wanted to postpone the surgery because we were taking a trip out west in the fall of 2015. I ended up hobbling around the Grand Canyon with a cane and other places that we visited that trip.

My wife also went the injection route for her HIP joint, but that did not do the trick either!

So, good luck and take along either plenty of Tylenol or Ibuprofen depending on what see can take. I was using 600mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours on that trip, so I could hobble around (walk).

 

[Wiredawg]

Ron, I really have no faith with the injections in the KNEE joint. I had just one injection from my surgeon who also suggested going this route. Will all this did was provide the surgeon and his office a source of income from Medicare. I did not feel anything different before the injection or afterward! He did say that that might be the case some people do not feel any improvement when given the injections.

I too wanted to postpone the surgery because we were taking a trip out west in the fall of 2015. I ended up hobbling around the Grand Canyon with a cane and other places that we visited that trip.

My wife also went the injection route for her HIP joint, but that did not do the trick either!

So, good luck and take along either plenty of Tylenol or Ibuprofen depending on what see can take. I was using 600mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours on that trip, so I could hobble around (walk).

I hear ya, injections don't do squat for me... DW said it made her feel better. We went to ,Home and Garden Show Friday and could tell from the all the walking she was favoring it. I mentioned AGAIN we could call the surgeon and schedule the surgery. She's strong willed, so I'm gonna go along with her. If we get out on the road and she starts having problems, we'll turn around and get back skosherroo. I have a couple tears in my right knee that aren't bad enough for a replacement, but I'm due a fluid drainage procedure. See the Doc next week. Went to Er/acute care last week, but they don't do that procedure... I did get priority referral into orthopedics, so be nice if they can do it then... had one a few years ago and helped a bunch. We did the Canyon about a month after I had my ankle scoped.... it was fun walking the rim, but most painful... most of the cartilage was already gone.

Found our 80 gallon solar HWH storage tank had minor leak on bottom that required replacement... I decided to decommission the system and replace with dual 5500 watt smart electric unit today... my BIL and niece saved our butts today... took about 6 hours to complete. Covered solar panels with tarps and going to see if there is any salvage value on the controller, pumps and panels. We love our family and they love us. God Bless them

Worst case is I'll plumb to our swim spa and save some $$ heating it.

EDIT: I mentioned this as I'm seriously wooped. Way more work than normal HWH change out. My knee and ankle reminding me about climbing ladders. DW helped move all the stuff off the bar and I used tractor to lift the old HWH/Solar storage tank down off bathroom in shop.

So thanks for sharing... Ron

 

[Jim W]

Ron, It is hard getting older as we age we are no longer our younger self's, but the mind still thinks we are!

Side note: I spent the last week getting the yard ready for summer, with 12 lawn bags full of yard waste. Put down about 5 yards of mulch, cut the grass and fertilized the yard also putting in a new mail box and post. I hand dug the post hole Saturday and this is when I knew I am getting old. This just whipped my but. This is spring clean up week in my village. Were the village will pick up yard waste and bulk items for free, so we had to get everything out to the street for pick-up by Monday the 19.

 

[BigPapa]

Well, I was told yesterday I need both my knees replaced, zero cartilage left on the inside of both knees and the bones are wearing down. They've really been bothering me the last 6-8 weeks. Weekend before last the left one hurt bad enough I didn't feel like doing anything and last weekend it was the right one. By the time I got home from work Monday I couldn't hardly put any weight on the right one. I'm hoping to do one now and the other before the end of the year due to insurance deductibles. We'll see.

 

[GCroyle]

Get the rebuildable ones with zerk grease fittings.

 

[Mark31]

Factors in knee replacement considerations: 1. A bad right knee will wear out a left hip. Fix if possible whatever prevents a normal walk. Supportive shoes with good arches and level heels. 2. Slim in-shape legs with good tendons and ligaments will have a much easier time in recovering. Extra pounds will drastically slow down recovery and might limit long term benefits. 3. Pain tolerance (management) and mental toughness during rehab are critical.

 

[BigPapa]

The surgery went well. It was on the 22nd.

I had a severe reaction we THINK to the pain meds. Hives and CRAZY itching.

The first one was at the hospital about 18 hours after the surgery. Finally got a Benadryl and it eased off. The next one was 24 hours later, took two Benadryl and it eased off. The last time was 24 hours later. Benadryl didn’t do anything and we went to the ER. After four hours they gave me a Benadryl injection, a steroid injection, and a steroid prescription. They also suggested I change from Oxy to Hydro on the pain meds. Haven’t had a reaction since.

The only other problem is the swelling and bruising. They didn’t send me home with compression socks nor was I told to use them. I called them on the 10th day and she couldn’t believe I’d not been told to use them. It’s helped and I can’t help but think the swelling and bruising would have been better if I’d worn them from the beginning.

Therapy’s been hard but it feels better the day after. I can walk on it and put all my weight on it, it’s just very tight and doesn’t want to bend.

Thanks for all the prayers.

 

[Wiredawg]

Glad everything turned out OK. Wish you quick and complete recovery.

 

[GCroyle]

Scott

Holy cow! That’s some reaction said the I know nothing about guy. Hope the worst is over and you can start kicking butts instead of being kicked.

Gary

 

[endoscott]

Dermatologist can possibly do patch testing to confirm if it's a medication and which one. If you are taking antibiotics, those are much more likely to cause allergy than pain meds. Worth finding out since future use could cause anaphylaxis.

 

[BigPapa]

They initially thought it was the antibiotic, Ancef (cefazolin). I had taken it at 1:00am and had the reaction at 5:00am. I had the second reaction 32 hours after the last antibiotic but @ an hour after taking Miralax which I’d also taken @ an hour before the first reaction. When I had the third reaction it had been @ 60 hours since the antibiotic and 26 hours since I’d had Miralax. I plan to have the testing to determine exactly what it was. I don’t want it to happen again.

 

[Timd32]

Hope you heal up quickly.

 

[Jim W]

Scott, glad you are doing better.

If you are still using compression socks, if you haven't been told to do this. I would place a gallon plastic bag (ZIPLOCK) over your foot first, sock must be opened toe to do this, then pull on the compression sock. Once the sock is over your foot and pulled up as far as the sock will go, remove the baggie. I had a home therapist showed my wife and me how to do this. This help tremendously with sliding on the sock every morning. Doctors do not tell you this tip. Also, make sure you elevate your leg when sleeping.

Some more of advice make sure that you bend your knee has far as possible in therapy and learn to kneel on the joint replacement as soon as possible.

Both my wife and I have gone through a joint replacement, and we found that the leg elevation was very important. Neither of us had the discoloration nor the leg/hip area swelling that you have exhibited. But we were told to wear the socks from the first day of surgery, in fact we were sent home with the socks on us from the hospital. Just saying.

BTW growing old is not for sissies.
Jim