O/T Knee replacement

Wife is going in tomorrow to get a new knee joint installed. Anyone here have that procedure done? This is a stainless steel joint that rubs on a plastic serfice. Might want to say a prayer that everything goes ok. Thanks stan

Prayers sent Stan. Don't know much about that, but they have come very far in medical procedure since the first trial.

It's probably worth the temporary discomfort but those damn grease fittings get snagged on everything. I'd opt for Oilite bearings.

I get mine next week. Lifetime bearings

Stan, I pray that you and your wife are well and that this procedure goes well for her. I am having my 3rd put in on the 24th. My first failed and the second got infected. We have been fighting the infection since May but it finally looks like its cleaned out. Give her my best and I want to pass on to her that it is imperative that she starts working it as soon as possible. She will have to force it and it will hurt, but it will be worth it in the long run. When it comes to the rehab she must work at it like an athlete. You should probably pick up a stationary bike to help her with that range issue. She needs to go both backwards and forwards to get it stretched out. I imagine that the Dr. will give her a cryo unit. Keeping it cold and moving will really help with the healing. He may also give her a CPM machine. Tell her it wont do it all for her. I use it just to help with extending the range of motion but I push it so that I get resistance and rebuild the muscle. The machine won't build the strength so don't depend on it. They most likely already told you this stuff but With this being my third I have had a little bit of experience. I don't want to scare her but it will for the first couple of weeks be the most painful thing shes ever experienced. She needs to make the exercises and pt the most important thing in her life and be totally obsessed with it. If they give her Oxycontin and or Oxycodone, tell her not to try to stop cold turkey. I actually have a Dr. of Pharmacology that has a program waiting for me that we will start as soon as the next surgery is done. I have been on high dosages for almost 2 years now and I hate the stuff but can't get along without it. Stan, you will have to help her and you need to realize that the pain shes going to experience is like having multiple fractures of the knee, tibia, and femur.
My thoughts and prayers are with her and you. Good luck and I will be thinking of her. LarryT

My wife has had both knees replaced, the second done a year after the first one. She was bone on bone with both of them and in pain all of the time. With the replacements, little or no knee pain.

The recovery is not easy--lots of PT and time. But certainly worth it. Now we hope the replacements last the rest of her life. Good luck to you folks!

Thanks Hal.Really appreciate some one that understands. LarryT

had right knee replaced 3 months ago. Used a walker for a week and 2 weeks therapy then walking without anything. Lots of PAIN first week. Now very little--looking back should have done it before I did.

I had one done the 12th of Oct. Larry and Hal have told you what is going to happen . The pain for the first week or two is through the roof , she will be thinking she never should have done it . Like all ready said , keep it moving , the PT is very importian . Just do everything you can for her . Mine is still swelled up alittle and stiff and sore but the pain is gone and I m out feeding the cows again . Doctor is happy with it , I have full range with it , now if they could come up with a metal and plastic spine .

My prayer is sent. Hope everything goes well. Never had it done and I hope I never will, but the people I know who have had knee replacement have come out of it well. Best wishes to her. Jim

Larry,

Could Preston Tucker or any of your family have been related to a Madie Tucker (or her husband), of Noblesville, Indiana. My grandmother rented an apartment from Mrs. Tucker in the late '40s/early '50s. For no good reason that I can come up with, I think I remember seeing a Tucker automobile at her place one time.

It could be my imagination, too, as I keep remembering things from my childhood and then wondering if they really happened.

Getting old is not for sissies.

Stan

Prayers sent.

No one in my family has had it done, but as you can see, many on the board have. They have given sound advice as usual.

Keep us posted.

I am not old enough to have personal experience yet, but will add another word of encouragement...This procedure changed my grandmother"s life. Went from practically bedridden to walking and biking all over town. Changed her whole outlook on life. Will pray for you and your wife.

Good Luck,

Kirk

I had my right one done in 2007. Best thing I ever done. Pain depends on the person. I had a reaction to the stuff they sent me home with so I didn't take any. Didn't seem to bother any. Do the PT and excercises. That is the key to good mobility. I had mine done at three in the afternoon and was in a room at seven. At nine pm I walked to the bathroom with a walker. Used the walker for a day, one crutch for a day then a cane for a few weeks to learn to walk without limping. One week after I walked a mile and was on the M(tractor related) two weeks after I helped the vet castrate a couple calves and five weeks after I went bowling. I was thirty seven with that one and the next one is on March first. The last three years have been like heaven on earth. I wasn't able to walk right in twenty years. The doctor xrayed it after three years and said there is no sign of any wear yet(good thing cause I don't baby it), and I should be able to get twenty years out of it before the plastic insert needs replaced.

I've had both mine reconstructed following an accident. They say Im 'too young' to get them replaced yet so they go in about once a year and tune them up. What I've learned after 5 knee surgeries so far is that as you are waking up from anethesia you have got to start flexing your quad muscle to extend your lower leg. Neurological atrophy sets in almost immediately and your brain literally forgets how to make that muscle set work. Physical therapy doesnt do much until you can figure out how to work that muscle.

Hope all goes well for your wife.

Keep us posted.

Had left knee done fall of 2007. Had right knee done Nov 22nd 2010! Both were total joint replacements with titanium. Tomorrow will probably be my last outpatient PT session, and I have an 8 week checkup tomorrow afternoon. I'm walking and working better than I was before the surgery! As for pain, Vicodin is your friend! I came through the whole convalesense with very little pain! I kept cutting back on the Vicodin as I found I was experiencing little pain, and have not taken any for over a week!
Good luck & GOD bless, Dave
PS: I got Stryker joints, not DePeu, and I'll be 72 Sunday.

Prayers sent, goodluck and she will do fine, take care of yourself with the extra duties you have now inherited and give her good TLC.

MIL who is now 81 had both replaced. MUST DO the Rehab by the book or you will have trouble as long as you live "pain". She did the rehab by the book and can not tell they were placed. Know a person who had it done and failed the rehab due to disconfort and now ride in a wheel chair. The operation has come a long way for the start years. No problem and good luck.

Hi. My dad had both knees replaced at the same time three years ago. One right and one left handed Dr. He was a tough old goa and out of the hospital in less then a week and driving in about two. He was 68 at the time. The only problem he saw with it was he was about 3" shorter and had to buy new jeans. He grew up on a farm and like the old farmers he was not going to stay down long. Prayers with all that have it or going to have it done. Keep faith and no matter the pain you feel the next few weeks you will be better in the long run.

Todd

Rehab MUST be done, and not skimped on! My Dad had both done in 1980 at age 67, then farmed for another 8 years. One done in May, the other in August, and by early October, he was climbing all over the grain bins again. Sometime in early November, I came home to find him playing touch football in the barnlot with my son and three of his friends! Mother ratted him out to the surgeon about that, and the doc was NOT pleased!
Mother had both knees repalced in the late 1980s. She would NOT do her exercises as prescribed, and never did get full use of the new knees.
I've got one that's about shot, and my doc says he'll put in a new joint when I get tired of gritting my teeth.....

Thank You Dr said go do the therapy or you wont be happy.

he did and he hated it but in the long rong it was great. the pt will hurt you and you will hate them but you will be fine

good luck and don't push to hard. you will want to but I had a knee surgey to repair a acl and I drove the same day. But the pain was so bad the next few weeks because I did not listen. Just relax it is winter and no need to push it

Had left one done three yrs ago. PT and back to work in 3 mos. Back to bowling after 1 yr (sliding leg) No pain whatsoever now. I was 57 when done. 60 now. Age may have made my recovery quicker than older people. Never any regrets. As others said , no pain no gain when it comes to physical therapy. Have her take whatever pain relief she needs an hour before pt. They NEED to STRETCH those muscles and they will hurt you if you don't "load up" so to speak. Trying to be brave won't get it done. Mine was titanium and high density polyethelene. Now that they don't "cut" the muscles it has made it ten times easier to "heal up" Best wishes to both of you (you will be involved when she gets home) All will be well. Randy.