Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Total knee replacement

Anyone been there. I go under the knife in 13 days. Somewhat looking forward to getting relief but at the same time they are cutting part of me out and putting in metal and plastic and super glue. I've been out of work since Dec. 16 and looking at 2 1/2 more months till I can get back. I'm finding out "Getting old ain't for sissies" really is true.

My cousin's wife had one a year or so ago. It continued to hurt her and never healed right. They finally figured out that they'd put in the wrong size and a few months ago they had to redo it. I didn't ask who had to pay the bill for their screw-up.

Not personally, but a good friend had it done almost two years ago. He hasn't regretted any part of it. He has mobility again a no more pain. The rehab period was long (seems like it was about six months) but he's active again. Good luck on your procedure.

My mother had both knees replaced at the same time. Rehab was about 3 months IIRC, but she went back to work.

She didnt have any problems.

I know two people personally who died from blood clots and other complications within days of the surgery. One, mrs slumlord's grandfather. Bought himself a pair of knees for the Grand Canyon....never made it outta the hospital

My Mom had both knees done at the same time, about three months rehab, and no problems. You can't tell she is over 80 by the way she gets around.

Ed

My mother had her left knee done about a year and a half back. She is getting the other one done in the next few months. A few days after surgery she swore she wouldn't have the right knee done because it was so painful. She doesn't handle pain well to begin with.

A couple of months after surgery she decided it was worth it and willing to do the other knee. She has had no problems with the one thats been done.

I think a lot of it depends on your age and if the rest of you is in pretty good shape.

Mine was done the 27th of January so a little over 6 weeks ago. There is a good deal of pain the first week and a lot of discomfort for awhile. I was cut loose by the physical terrorist today but I have always done well in recovering from far too many (17) surgeries. When I walk now I still have a little pain but it is not the pain I had before the surgery, so it will slowly go away as I heal completely. When bones are cut up like this, full recovery is a year away. Still have aches and some discomfort but nothing too severe. Would do the other knee if it hurt like the right one but thank God, it does not.

One final note: I went to James Andrews clinic in Birmingham. Andrews is one of the very best Orthos in the country and the Drs. working for him, also some of the best. They probably do more surgeries in a week than the average Ortho does in a month. Lots of GOOD experience helps. Also, do what the physical terrorists tells you. Hurts at he time but long term relief!

I don't know the size of community or hospital you'll have your surgery at but I'd recommend you ask anesthesia (ask the hospital or your orthopedic surgeon how to get in touch with them before hand) for a femoral nerve block coupled with a sciatic nerve block. They will make a huge difference in the 24 hours after waking up. You don't need them but they will help significantly. Not all anesthesia providers (yes, including MDs) are as capable as others, as in any endeavor, but it's worth a shot (pun accepted).

Best to you.

P.S: I do anesthesia for these. It's a big surgery and a painful recovery generally and thus my advice above. We do these blocks for all of our knees.

I had one with less than stellar results. My best advice is research your surgeon! I had ortho done on both knees before this by the same doc and all seemed fine. During that time no one had anything bad about my doctor. In fact it was rumored that he was the best knee guy in that town. After getting my replacemnt everyone, and i mean every assistent,nurse,pharmacist,therapist that i came in contact with had nothing good to say.That rolling of the eyes, or "look" was not comforting... I'll be the first to admit my weight isn't helping things, but i got around better before i had this done. I may get cut again, and it's been almost 3 yrs. I wish you luck, and i assure you my exp isn't the norm, but rather the exception

jimjr, I agree with George De Vries' advice on this.

I had my left knee done without a nerve block in 2004. The post-op pain was very bad... I went through about 250 mg of morphine in the first 48 hours post-op. When I had my right knee done 2 years later, the anesthesiologist put in an epidural block which they left in place for about 36 hours post-op. IIRC, my total morphine requirement was less than 20 mg. The difference in pain was entirely due to this regional nerve block.

Recovery/rehab is the most important thing in your life for the month or so after your surgery. Be diligent, fight through the pain (it's not that bad, really) and strive to meet or exceed the physical therapist's goals for you on each visit. Your mobility will improve dramatically.

One thing other folks told me and I found to be true was that you will experience an almost magical improvement in pain and mobility about 6 months post-op. Until then, you'll need some pain meds. Try to get of the narcotics as soon as you can and transition to tylenol and/or ibuprofen.

Getting my knees replaced changed my life. In 2003 I wasn't able to walk a city block, and even then I needed a cane. After my surgeries, I regained my ability to walk, hike, backpack, etc. I was even able to start skiing again.

Good luck with your surgery and don't forget to be a tiger in your rehab!!

I will be getting the block. That's been decided. I've got about the best surgeon here in Montgomery. I've got to have it. I can only walk with crutches now and am in pain with those.

Had mine done almost 8 years ago; mixed results. But that's mostly because my problems were related to a traumatic injury, rather than just being worn out. If you're more the worn out kind of person, you'll probably feel great!

They couldn't get the nerve block on me (thought that was lame). First 24 hours were pretty rough. My nurse just assumed I had the nerve block and so did the doctor; seems no one bothered to inform anyone that I didn't have it. So my pain meds were pretty light, and my pain was pretty intense. Around 2:30am my nurse came in basically to tell me I was whining too much. He went to check my nerve block and you should have seen his face when he saw it wasn't there. "OH MY GOD!!! YOU DON'T HAVE A NERVE BLOCK!!!. I'll get the doctor on the phone right now and get you properly medicated.

Once they connected those dots, all went very well.

I have had 2

It hurts and the rehab is hard

in 6 months you will love it


Snake

Try to be the Doctors first knee replacement of the day. Typically they have one set of tools. Those tools were cleaned and sterilized after his last use of the day. The second time he uses the tools that day they will be washed and flashed in a autoclave. I worked in a hospital for 23 years and the folks in central services where these instruments are cleaned told me this on more than one occasion. I realize this may not make much sense, but I believe it. Infection kills people.

call your doctor and ask him how much movement he expects you to have in that joint after you heal. there are 2 hospitals near me. they both use different knee joints. one usually will give you 90deg movement at the joint,the other will let you kick yourself in the ass. i'm told that the more expensive of the 2 is a smaller joint which gives you more movement. trust me,i have 8-10 friends that have it done. it makes a big differents if you use the smaller joint.most people do really well with recovery . i have a hunting buddy thats going in march 27th for a complete hip replacement. i will be happy to get more deer dragging help this fall.

This is rather complicated but in regard to my previous post and Doc R's, there are mostly equivalent anesthesia techniques and the continuous epidural and the separate nerve blocks I mentioned are an example of this.

Our formula here is : you go to sleep after we put in the nerve blocks. But there are equivalent techniques. Put the questions (pressure) to anesthesia. You are the consumer; make sure you are satisfied with the plan.

Rehab is A-#1 in priority! Work it!

I am always available, if I see it, to a PM.

Had one done in Jan 2010. My advise would be work your but off in therapy. I used pain meds before every session so I could work it hard to get the best outcome. Had a buddy have one done about 6 months before me. He got off the pain meds too quick and had problems with scar tissue and had to go back under to get it broken free. My knee after about 6-9 months felt better than it had in 20 years.

Here is the country I hunted last spring.

I had a total knee replacement 8 weeks ago (yesterday). Knee is still swollen, flexibility is now at 125 degrees (target is 130 degrees plus) and, I walk with a limp. The surgeon told me that I should be at 80% in 4-5 months and back near 100% in a year. I've been going to Physical Therapy 3X a week for the past 6 weeks and it certainly is not fun, but necessary.

My arthritic knee had degenerated to the point that the surgeon had great difficulty removing it after the sawing. A resident later told me that she held the thigh and another resident held the shin while the surgeon wrestled it out. I guess this is where much of he the swelling comes from.

It's slow going, but I hope for an improvement over the next 2 months. I really didn't want to do the replacement, but the arthritis pain was bad and I had no choice.