Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

@Floridagal I don't know what the implants are all made of but the one I have does have nickel. Most people are fine, but from my understanding, there are a few of us with nickel and other metal allergies. I think they should include a question about allergic reactions to jewelry, belt buckles, etc, in the paperwork before a TKR, or in the verbal questions, to catch the small percentage who do genuinely have problems. The metal test is a lot cheaper than a revision. We did a skin test on me and I was surprised to see a really bad rash form and continue to spread for a while as I'd never had a problem with belt buckles, just severe problems with earrings not made from surgical steel. My ears start itching within a few minutes after wearing them, and within a short time they start oozing and bleeding. I told my OS I didn't think the skin test would be positive, but I was wrong about that. I don't really know if the skin tests are always a reliable indicator or not, as the implant is internal, whereas the skin test isn't, but my opinion is they should strongly consider or just do the LTT test on those who have had a history of severe reactions to nickel.
 
For what it's worth I found this online. It's from a paper titled "Metallic Biomaterials of Knee and Hip - a Review" by Marjan Bahrami Nasab and Mohd Roshdi Hassan written in 2009. The website listed was www.sbaoi.org

Current total knee replacement mainly has three components: femur, tibia (includes tibial tray and tibial insert) and patella or kneecap. The tibial insert and the patellar components are usually made of plastics such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) or crosslinkedpolyethylene. The femoral component and tibial tray are metallic parts and tend to be made of titanium alloys, stainless steel or cobalt chromium with small amount of molybdenum (Co-Cr-Mo) [22, 23].

Of course this is way over my head but nevertheless a littler reassuring. I don't even remember if I told the OS that I was allergic to zinc and nickel but I think it is a common allergy.
 
Thank you for your response, Kim. Your allergy sounds a lot worse than mine. I itch after about 30 minutes but that is it. I have to put tape over the snap on some pants. It is almost impossible to find jeans without that metal piece in the front.
 
Thank you so much for the link. I told my doctor about not wearing cheap earrings when I was young, but all he said was that he'd never had a problem with his implants. I haven't been able to find out which DePuy he used yet, so I don't know whether to worry or not.
 
@Floridagal It's strange, but the metal snaps and buttons on pants has never bothered me. My daughter has always had a big reaction to both belt buckles and the fasteners. Try painting on clear nail polish over your fasteners on the inside-I've heard that helps.
@sistersinhim You can ask your OS which implant he used-I asked mine about the specific implant and the metals in it and he told me.
 
@LoveGiants and all. I thought I'd post a picture of some of the tomatoes I just picked. Our Early Girls have been producing for a while now, but the rest of the varieties are finally ripening also. They are brighter and more colorful than the picture shows-smart phone cameras are nice but not as good as real cameras-but hopefully they are delicious as usual. The pink ones are Mortgage Lifters and are supposed to be pink, the yellow is Golden Jubilee.
 

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Yum, yum! Once you've had a homegrown tomato you never want another store bought one.
 
I have had a lifetime allergy to earrings, with itching, swelling, etc. even so called sterling silver doesn't work, because it has a bit of nickel in it. Only gold, or surgical steel earrings are non-irritating to me. Because I had a friend with a severe metal allergy who needed a revision in an ankle repair I was aware of the possibility.
I did some research and learned that the standard replacements are cobalt chromium which does contain nickel and thus the possibility of allergenic reactions. I specifically requested a titanium implant and the surgeon wrote down nickel allergy. I requested the operative report afterward to make sure it was titanium! He also told me it was. While there is only a small risk of reaction to cobalt chromium, why take the chance? Supposedly the cobalt is stronger than titanium but at an older age I won't be doing marathons...
 
@sistersinhim I agree about the tomatoes. In western Canada you can rarely even get a tomato that is sun ripened. They are hot house...which are not worth eating. I miss those summer sun tip ended tomatoes so much.
 
I agree-there's nothing like a fresh garden tomato! The only store tomatoes I buy are in the winter, and then only the grape tomatoes from Sam's club-they're not great but they are edible. I have never had a summer in our entire 40-plus year marriage without them-I can't even imagine a tomato-less summer, nor do I want to-lol.
 
Shoot, it wouldn't be summer without fresh, vine-ripened tomotoes. We have loads of blooms on our plants, but no fruit yet. A few more weeks and we should have them, too!
 
@sistersinhim You're on the East Coast-our summer planting season starts way before yours, and ends much later. So you likely only start getting ripe tomatoes in mid-August or so. Depending on the part of Virginia you live in, you may not be able to plant them until April or May, and may have your first frost date as early as September, whereas we can plant in March and keep going until October and sometimes into November for some plants. Plus we can grow veggies of some kind year round as we don't really get that cold here, and never get any snow.
 
I'm in central, eastern Virginia and we do get snow, some times as late as March. I got the plants in the grown in mid April. I'm looking forward to that first wonderful juicy tomato right in my back yard!
 
@LoveGiants and all. I thought I'd post a picture of some of the tomatoes I just picked. Our Early Girls have been producing for a while now, but the rest of the varieties are finally ripening also. They are brighter and more colorful than the picture shows-smart phone cameras are nice but not as good as real cameras-but hopefully they are delicious as usual. The pink ones are Mortgage Lifters and are supposed to be pink, the yellow is Golden Jubilee.

While I don't like tomatoes, I can appreciate beautiful home-grown produce. Those are beautiful! I'm just glad I haven't killed my tomato plant yet :rotfl:
 
You mean almost never, we had snow in the Sacramento Valley in 1968.
I remember snow in the San Francisco Bay Area when I was in elementary school (would have been around '75 or '76). They let us out of class to go play in it. We all ran around with our tongues sticking out :spin:
 
Your tomatoes are beautiful Kim! I have been busy the last few days and am just now catching up here. Was so sorry to hear of your challenges. I will be praying for you. I hope things make a quick turn with your knee and quick healing begins NOW!

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