Re: Cancelled TKR

[Guest guest]

You know, my vision of an ideal world is each being able to take what they

need based on their own definition of need.

This list seems to be an ideal list - each takes what they need and we all

have different needs.

Good luck with it Ann, I think it is better to go later than too early

simply because artificial joints wear out. At 30 saying it can be revised 3

times sounds heaps. 30 years more walking is all anyone will ever want - 60

is such an old age. Now I am getting close to 60 things don't seem so cut

and dried.

That's life!

Aussie Margaret

RTHR 1990 revised 2004

Cancelled TKR

My condition is different from that of most of you. I have grade IV

chondromalacia in my R knee. I've had a lateral release in that knee (which

worked wonderfully for about 5 years), a partial lateral meniscectomy in

that knee, and a partial lateral meniscectomy in the left knee. I still

(after 4 months) have pain in the left knee upon passive bending & when I

drive my truck, which is a stick shift, as if he left something that gets

caught between the tibia and femur upon bending (this doesn't bother me

walking).

After I made the appt for my TKR, and read some of the stuff here, I decided

I'd do what exercising I could to try to strengthen my legs for the rehab.

I found that the more I did, the more I could do, and ended up being able to

walk 1/2 hr at 3.2 mph and a slope of 8 degrees on the treadmill, with 20

min. of exercycling at a fair resistance. Hmph, I thought. Maybe I don't

need the surgery. Maybe previously, I had tried to do too much too soon.

Maybe if I keep at it, I'll be able to do what I want to do, which is hike 6

miles in the hills & bicycle. And not take the risks that come with the

surgery. I waffled hourly.

Yesterday I saw my OS, told him what had been happening, and he said I

should postpone it and get a bicycle. So that's what I'm going to do.

Yesterday after seeing him, I walked several miles & today my knee hurts &

I'm using ice. I wasn't wearing proper shoes and the walkway was blacktop.

I'll just have to see how it goes. He said come back when I'm using a cane,

although I think he should take this pain left over from his partial

meniscectomy more seriously. I may change docs for that.

One of the things I've suspected for a while is that I have scar tissue from

the lateral release. I do know that he (different OS) cut part of the

vastus lateralis. When I do quad stretches, it's extra tight there, like 10

times tighter. I hadn't done quad stretches before my recent exercise

regimen, and I'm thinking maybe those stretched the scar tissue, at least

temporarily each time, so I could do more.

I learned an awful lot here. Thanks for all your answers to my questions.

I'm not leaving the list. Who knows -- maybe I'll be on a cane next week.

Ann S.

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[Guest guest]

Avoid surgery as long as you can....I eventually had no choice due to 25 years of bone on bone pain because of an 'injury' in 1980... >>> I agree and yet disagree in that thought. I would recommend everyone wait as long as their willing to limit their life to the boundaries a bad hip creates~ enduring pain that torments your days and makes your nights sleepless. Granted there are no promises after having surgery that you'll ever necessarily see "pain-free"... but what you have to remember is waiting can create it's own set of problems. Waiting buys you time yes... but you have to ask yourself just what else it's buying you the same time. It buys you a longer time suffering, it makes for bad days that I can promise with nothing done; will only get worse, it can cause additional damanage and make a "smaller problem" per say a much larger one on the scales of "not so fixable now". You have to weigh the pros & cons of the issue for yourself as an individual and ask yourself just what your willing to chance sacrificing.... how much pain you want to endure before taking steps to try to fix the problem and most of all.... just what your quality of life is worth to you~ because your the one that will be living with every detail of what you create for yourself whether good or bad.

I vote exhaust all possible means of treatment prior to opting for surgery... but when the time comes to cross that bridge~ make a well thought through decision based SOLELY upon what YOUR needs are and in that choice... whether you get good results or bad~ least in looking back you'll have no regrets about what you could've or should've done differently.

You bullied your way into arranging a TKR,,, & then had the good sense to cancel it when you found out more information..... >>> That too is a NO NO in my book. I do believe however there are some doctors that need to listen to their patients more when their saying "hey something is wrong with my body". After all no one knows your body better then you do.... but when it comes to opting for surgeries... they carry that MD behind their name for a reason. You can bet your bottom dollar they've seen thousands of cases come and go daily and know what their talking about (least the majority... some don't need to open an ice cream bar much less chop on someones body!) when they say "I ADVISE THIS" they have good reason and more then likely have a reason for giving you the specifics of why! If you push & press forward aways.... then you are one to merely seek problem in my opunion and get what you deserve when things go wrong. Hugest example I can point out is TKR being denied when patients are over weight~ and doctors saying "come back when you've dropped pounds".

[Guest guest]

Re: Re: Cancelled TKR

SassyLou -- I'm not sure you were here when I was posting a lot. My knee situation was grade IV chondromalacia that kept me from doing the exercise I needed to keep fit (for 6 years). I also had two partial meniscectomies, so my menisci are falling apart (I'm 64). I'd been quite inactive for those 6 years. After I got the OS to agree to surgery, I decided to do what I could to strengthen the leg, and the more I did, the more I was able to do. I had to conclude that I hadn't started slow enough before, & that was what caused the very painful reaction. During my prep, I could walk half an hour at 8 degrees on the treadmill and exercycle at a fairly high resistance for 15-20 min. I would have pain in my knee that night but be OK the next day. I exercised every other day. Then one day I went out for a walk. Ended up walking about 4 1/2 miles. Had knee pain that night & the next day but then it went away. That was when I began waffling about whether to have the surgery or not. If it wasn't exercise per se that was disabling me, it must have been the level of exercising I had (for the 6 previous years) tried to get back into. More below.

Avoid surgery as long as you can....I eventually had no choice due to 25 years of bone on bone pain because of an 'injury' in 1980... >>> I agree and yet disagree in that thought. I would recommend everyone wait as long as their willing to limit their life to the boundaries a bad hip creates~ enduring pain that torments your days and makes your nights sleepless. Granted there are no promises after having surgery that you'll ever necessarily see "pain-free"... but what you have to remember is waiting can create it's own set of problems. Waiting buys you time yes... but you have to ask yourself just what else it's buying you the same time. It buys you a longer time suffering, it makes for bad days that I can promise with nothing done; will only get worse, it can cause additional damanage and make a "smaller problem" per say a much larger one on the scales of "not so fixable now". You have to weigh the pros & cons of the issue for yourself as an individual and ask yourself just what your willing to chance sacrificing.... how much pain you want to endure before taking steps to try to fix the problem and most of all.... just what your quality of life is worth to you~ because your the one that will be living with every detail of what you create for yourself whether good or bad.

This was why I didn't want to wait till it was bone on bone.

You bullied your way into arranging a TKR,,, & then had the good sense to cancel it when you found out more information..... >>> That too is a NO NO in my book.

I'm not quite sure what's a no-no in your book, but as you know, doctors can't be bullied. I think whoever wrote that was exaggerating what I had said. I persisted. I cried. I pleaded. The OS saw my logic and agreed to do the surgery.

I do believe however there are some doctors that need to listen to their patients more when their saying "hey something is wrong with my body".

This doc had done a partial lateral meniscectomy on me (other knee) in June. I've had pain there ever since. He always pooh-poohs me when I tell him about the lingering pain. He also doesn't like to do Synvisc injections. So I'll probably see someone else for that. But I'm very frustrated that he won't address the lingering pain from his meniscectomy. I had one in my other knee with no followup pain. I think he left a piece of knee stuff in there & it rubs on the tibia & femur. It's not disabling, but I kind of worry about what it may be doing to me.

After all no one knows your body better then you do.... but when it comes to opting for surgeries... they carry that MD behind their name for a reason. You can bet your bottom dollar they've seen thousands of cases come and go daily and know what their talking about (least the majority... some don't need to open an ice cream bar much less chop on someones body!) when they say "I ADVISE THIS" they have good reason and more then likely have a reason for giving you the specifics of why!

I've found that some docs just don't think outside the book. Most want to wait till you've been crippled for several years with bone on bone. When I get to be bone on bone, I won't be waiting several years for my knee replacement. In later life, you don't really have 10 years to waste. My school of thought is that OS's school of thought should be to help you. I came to agree that it's too early for me, given the bad outcomes I read about here. But the day I go bone on bone, I'll be back, either in his office, or someone else's with a more open mind.

If you push & press forward aways.... then you are one to merely seek problem in my opunion and get what you deserve when things go wrong.

I think "get what you deserve" is a little harsh. All we all want is to have normal knees again. If doctor just says no, with no explanation, in my opinion it's incumbent on the patient to persist until she's satisfied that the doctor isn't just being overly conservative.

Ann S.