Too fat for surgery!!!!!

[Dawnie]

Well, I eventually saw my consultant yesterday, after a lengthy wait. He examined my knees, asked me a multitude of questions, then asked to re dress and re join him. When i sat down he stated he had not looked at my X rays prior to the examination and was very surprised at just how bad my knees are at aged 49. I am bone on bone on my left knee and not far off on my right. I said that I wanted BTKR to give me back my life. I can not walk more than about 50 yards, I have trouble getting up and down for the loo and going up or down (particularly down) the stairs can have me squeaking with pain. He ahs asked me to go away for 6 months, lose weight (about 4 stone) and do quad exercises, then come back and he will discuss replacements with me.
I am currently 14 stones 4 lbs and 5 ft 4 in tall. I do not want to see another consultant because I believe him to be one of the best in my region. So I am currently sitting here munching on grated carrots and wondering how I am going to get through the next months.:fdbk: Dawnie.

 

[Jamie]

Dawnie, you are in a difficult position. If you MUST have this doctor, then you'll have to abide by his advice and lose weight. But losing that amount of weight in 6 months may prove to be a challenge - especially when you have severely painful knees. It takes both diet and exercise to get the job done. Why don't you at least TALK to another doctor or two. Knee replacement surgery can be done when you're overweight.

 

[Josephine]

Hi Dawnie - and welcome to BoneSmart!

The thing is that many, many surgeons who have no problem at all with over-weight patients for knee or hip replacements.

I myself weigh in at 19 stone (BMI 43) and yet my surgeon has never mentioned it at all. Likewise my sister, whose surgeon has done both her knees and more recently a hip. She weighs the same (BMI 45) and he also has no problem with it.

When I was working in the local operating theatre, we did many, many patients who were all obese and they did very well. One lady weighed 28 stones (BMI 60) and had her knee replaced! Since you have a BMI of a mere 34, I cannot for the life of me imagine why he is imposing this dreadful restriction upon you!

So, although you might rate this surgeon, I think you can do much, much better. Perhaps you would let me know which hospital and surgeon you are seeing and then maybe I can recommend someone nearby who isn't so uncompromising.

Unless you want to spend another year in pain, of course!!

 

[Gringo]

For what it's worth, I just WISH I could have fixed my knee problems by losing weight.

(don't you Brits refer to that as 'slimming'?) In any case, wouldn't taking the weight off make for a much faster and more comfortable re-hab when you do get the surgery?

I wouldn't want to wait for six months, having made the decision though.

But then, I am famously NOT a disciple of delayed gratification.

 

[loggon]

" But then, I am famously NOT a disciple of delayed gratification. " Doh you think Gringo:hehe::hehe:

:pzld:OK need translate What is a stone? :pzld:I can see it is a weight but have no idea what amount. I am really learning
a lot of "English" here. Will help me when we travel there
in a couple of years.

 

[Sticker Lady]

Dawnie-
Welcome to bonesmart! I had BTKR on May 18 and am making a very good recovery in spite of being overweight. At just over a month out of surgery I have 120 Rom in my left leg and 110 in my right. I have a lot of pressure from swelling, but very little real pain. I'm slow on the stairs, but I can get where I want to go. I can go for a walk in the neighborhood with just a cane, and get arround the house without any aids. Life gets better every day!
Listen to Jo and find another surgeon who believes that you deserve to live your life without pain.
That said, it will be to your advantage if you spend the time before your surgery taking the best care of yourself that you can. If you loose some weight and strengthen your muscles your recovery might be easier and certainly won't be harder. You'll also be proud of yourself for doing this--I know I was!
Blessings,
Irene

 

[Jean]

" But then, I am famously NOT a disciple of delayed gratification. " Doh you think Gringo:hehe::hehe:

:pzld:OK need translate What is a stone? :pzld:I can see it is a weight but have no idea what amount. I am really learning
a lot of "English" here. Will help me when we travel there
in a couple of years.

Hi Loggon -
a 'stone' is 14 lbs (pounds)
but often we are weighed in kilograms now
and a kilogram is 2.2 lbs.

Does that help

And Dawnie-
Hope you find a more understanding surgeon because your BMI is not that bad.

Just worked out my BMI and it is also "a mere 34". :D
.

 

[stives]

Hi Dawnie

So sorry you have had the disappointing news from the surgeon. I hope you are able to do what Jo suggests, and look around for a different one. Your weight doesn't sound a lot to me, it's not as if it's massively overweight, surely? What a meanie he is, denying you a new life. I know several folk down my way who have had new knees who are probably much more obese than you, although I have heard that it does depend on which surgeon, or which hospital, you have. Best of luck with finding someone who can relieve you of your pain withouth expecting unrealistic dieting. As we all know, with painful knees it is difficult to exercise, so it is extra difficult to lose weight that way. Do let us know what happens.

For you Americans, over here we usually still weigh in stones and pounds, although in hospitals now they seem to have moved to kilogrammes. There are 14 pounds in a stone. 16 ounces in a pound. I wonder whoever thought up such a complicated system - I'm sure there was a very good reason at the time, but I can't remember it. What do you weigh in - is it just pounds?

 

[orion]

Pounds...

 

[Judles]

Welcome to Bonesmartn Dawnie! Why wait that long? You're stressed enough! There are some brilliant surgeons in the UK....why don't YOU look around!

 

[FrogFeathers]

I'm gonna poke my chubby head in here and second, third or fourth seeing another surgeon.

I just Googled to see what I weighed in stone the day I was admitted for my surgery- 24 stone! (that's 336 in pounds). Its the biggest I've ever been (a portion of that was water weight as I had a problem with edema that came out of nowhere). How I'd LOVE to be at 14 stone (in fact, I WAS there, before the knees were so bad I had to stop exercising. I was a size 12 in jeans and downright skinny!). I've lost- according to the scale at my mother's house which is infinitely better than the one I have here- 34 pounds since my surgery. Even if what I lost was mere water weight (and I believe it was), I still fit into jeans two sizes smaller than I did when I went in for my surgery.

I'm just stunned that a doctor would thing that someone who weighs over 100 pounds less than I did at my surgery is too fat to have the same surgery! (I'm 5 foot 4 inches tall too).

 

[Texas]

I agree I would get someone else. When the surgery is done and your more active you might be able to move around better and lose some weight. Staying in PAIN DOESNT SEEM LIKE THE RIGHT THING TO DO. After surgery you will want to go try your knew knees prob become more active again........Good luck, post anytime.....

 

[JudyS]

Dawnie
Let Jo find you another surgeon, plain and simple. No reason to stay in pain. Don't you guys have quite a wait anyway when you say go? Could be 6 months anyway and you could try your best to loose some in the meantime. We will help too!!!
judy

Oh Welcome to the best support group in town :hehe:

 

[Dawnie]

Thank you all.
Josephine, I live near Newcastle, in Washington, Tyne and Wear. The surgeon I'm referring to is Mr O'Brien. I do wonder if it was solely my weight because he last comment was that when I go back in 6 mths time hopefully I will have turned 50 and he wont feel as guilty removing my knees, although he had stressed that he not age prejudice! As it is I wont have turned 50 until next March, so now I'm concerned that he'll make me wait until then.
I have another question, my knees, as you would expect are swollen with numerous lumps and bumps, but I have a large hard swelling on the outside top of my knees and this is sometimes what gives me extreme pain, especially when lifting form a sitting position. Is this common? It feels muscular.
Thanks again for all your support and advice.
Dawnie.

 

[Judles]

You gon Girl!!! Get someone else and start living life again!!!! You deserve it!!!

 

[Texas]

I 2nd, 3rd, and 4th that.....It is so much better !!!!!!!!

 

[Josephine]

Thank you all.
Josephine, I live near Newcastle, in Washington, Tyne and Wear. The surgeon I'm referring to is Mr O'Brien.

Well, golly gosh! If you live in Wash, you're only a few miles up the road from me as I live in Philadelphia! Hello, neighbour!

You mean Shaun O'Brien - from Sunderland Royal Hospital?

Jeepers! He just did my knee! I can't believe this - I have never ever known him have issues with patients being overweight! Well, naturally I'm not going to suggest you upgrade from him (as if that were possible!) but you could push him - a lot. Put the pressure on and say you can't possibly wait that long.

I have another question, my knees, as you would expect are swollen with numerous lumps and bumps, but I have a large hard swelling on the outside top of my knees and this is sometimes what gives me extreme pain, especially when lifting form a sitting position. Is this common? It feels muscular.
Thanks again for all your support and advice.
Dawnie.

Well, could be a couple of things; my first guess is that it's bony lumps called osteophytes which the arthritis causes to grow on the sides of the bone. If there are osteophytes on the thigh bone (femur) as well as the shin bone (tibia) or knee cap (patella) then they bump against each other in movement which is extremely painful. The other might just be fluid from the joint and/or excess/swollen synovial membrane which is a lining membrane of the joint. Or could even be both!

btw, do you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis?

And next time you see Mr O'Brien, you might give him my regards! :evil:

 

[Judles]

Small world!!!

 

[Dawnie]

My word, it certainly is a very small world!
Thx Josephine, yes it is Shaun O'Brien. He is sending me an appointment for 6 mths time. I tend to think the real issue was my age and the weight was an excuse to put me off for a short time.
I am thinking of writing to him and asking him to bring the review forward to 3 months, if I am really good I could shift a couple of stone in that time. That should counteract his weight issues.
Thanks for your reassurance about his abilities as a surgeon, will keep you posted with my progress, both on the weight front and his decision.
Dawnie.

 

[Dawnie]

By the way, nobodys ever actually confirmed what type of arthritis I have. But for some reason I tend to think its OA.
Dawnie.