Bilateral PKR Bilateral Partial Knee Replacement Advice

Ready2HikeAgain

junior member
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
Messages
62
Age
55
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
Hello All -

I am in my early 50s and have been scheduled for bilateral partial knee replacements on Feb 19 2020 To fix my medial knee issues. I have some bowing and pain in my tibia due to the medial pressure on my lowers legs. I am so glad to have found all the great advice and information on this forum.

I am in a leadership position at work and have been reluctant to finally schedule my surgery due to my work schedule. The pain to walk, especially without my braces is so bad that I decided to pull the trigger and just do it. My doctor/surgeon and his PA are telling me that the recovery time will be the same for one knee or both. I can’t choose only one knee, as they both hurt so much now and I feel exhausted to do anything due to struggling to walk. I feel that I have lost so much of my ability to function and my quality of life.

I am told that I will stay one to two nights in the hospital and ten will be home with home health care (nurse and PT) the first two weeks.

Here are my biggest concerns:
1) Is it really reasonable for me to return to work in 4 weeks? Drive in 4 weeks?
2) I live in a two story house. There is only a 1/2 bath on the first floor. If I stay downstairs for the first two-three weeks, will I be able to traverse the stairs once or twice a week the first and second week with help from my husband? (I will be staying downstairs after he returns to work the first week so I can let our 1 1/2 yr old pups outside.)
3) Is there any other advice you can give for doing both knees at once? I am worried I am biting off more than I can chew, but am so tired of the pain.

Thanks again for all your assistanc, information and camaraderie.
 
@Ready2HikeAgain
Welcome to BoneSmart, glad you joined us! :welome: and:happy-new-year-smiley-emoticon-4:

1) Is it really reasonable for me to return to work in 4 weeks? Drive in 4 weeks?
We recommend most take 3 months off before returning to work with a Phased return to work .
That said, it will depend on the type of work you do, heavy labor vs sitting at a desk. If you return at 4 weeks you will want access to ice and to be able to at least keep your legs up when sitting. The days you work do not expect to do anything else.
You will be able to drive when you are off all opioids and are able to slam on your brakes in an emergency.
2) I live in a two story house. There is only a 1/2 bath on the first floor. If I stay downstairs for the first two-three weeks, will I be able to traverse the stairs once or twice a week the first and second week with help from my husband?
You will be able to do stairs when you return home from the hospital, a PT will be sure you are safe. Advise you stay downstairs to avoid multiple trips in the first few weeks.
3) Is there any other advice you can give for doing both knees at once?
I am going to tag @Roy Gardiner , he had a BTKR and did very with his recovery.

New BoneSmart members like you are in various stages of their journey to joint replacement. Making the decision whether or not to have surgery and preparing for surgery can be easier once you have done your research and know what lies ahead. Here are some tools that can help you decide what is best for you.

If you are at the stage where you have joint pain but don't know for sure if you are ready to have surgery, these links may help:

Score Chart: How bad is my arthritic knee?
Choosing a surgeon and a prosthesis
BMI Calculator - What to do if your surgeon says you're too heavy for joint replacement surgery
Longevity of implants and revisions: How long will my new joint last?


If you are at the stage where you are planning to have surgery but are looking for information so you can be better prepared for what is to come, take a look at these links:

Recovery Aids: A comprehensive list for hospital and home
Recliner Chairs: Things you need to know if buying one for your recovery
Pre-Op Interviews: What's involved?


Regardless of where you are in the process, the website and app My Knee Guide can help you stay organized and informed. The free service keeps all the information pertaining to your surgery and recovery in one place on your smartphone. It is intended to be a personal support tool for the entire process.

And if you want to picture what your life might be like with a replaced knee, take a look at the posts and threads from other BoneSmarties provided in this link:

Stories of amazing knee recoveries
 
My doctor/surgeon and his PA are telling me that the recovery time will be the same for one knee or both.
This is pretty much true, though many bilaterals find that their knees each heal at slightly different timeframes. But it will be great to just have one recovery period.

Did they tell you that complete recovery takes an average of a full year? I have a partial and no one told me that until I found Bonesmart at 4 weeks post op. You will feel better long before the year is up, but this is not a quick recovery. I was led to believe partials were not a big deal, but I found that it was a very big deal! My particular recovery was very long and slow.

Going back to work at 4 weeks could be tough, I know I could never have done it. You might want to plan more time off, just in case you’re not ready by 4 weeks.

Best wishes!
 
will I be able to traverse the stairs once or twice a week the first and second week with help from my husband?
Yes. I came downstairs every morning, went upstairs every evening. Slow and painful, but perfectly possible and I did it without assistance.
Is there any other advice you can give for doing both knees at once? I am worried I am biting off more than I can chew, but am so tired of the pain.
Just do it. With your husband's help you will have just one recovery. I am 100% for BTKR.
1) Is it really reasonable for me to return to work in 4 weeks? Drive in 4 weeks?
IMO no, it is not reasonable to go back to work. Obviously I don't know your line of work, but you may have to use your leadership skills now so that work can continue whilst you're away.

It might be reasonable to drive short distances - 10 minutes or so - if you have an automatic not a stick shift with full power assistance. The big problem is of course emergency braking.

BTKR is correct IMO because you will only face the challenge once.
 
I have 2 lateral PKRs, done 11 months apart. The PKRs and those surgeries are/were fine. I had and still have some medial issues in the leg done first. (My knee thread details my medial ligament sprain and ensuing issues).
I thought I had kept all my soft tissue strong beforehand, but in looking back, I think the increasing pain had kept me from doing that. So I am now (patiently?) rebuilding all that, especially in the quads. Good luck!
 
Thank you all. It feels so comforting to talk to people who have been through this. I appreciate all the advice and that you are bring real with me. I really like my doctor, but do not feel as though I have been given a whole lot of information with regard to recovery. I lead all of the learning and development for a major soda bottler. I have a huge HR systems conversion to help oversee the first part of the year through June and am concerned about being absent through too much of it. I know, I know...my health should come first, but I have been dealing with my knees for almost two years now, so what is another 6 months. My boss/ VP has been great, but my career and reputation at work is very important to me. I have spent 20 years building that, so I take any time off very serious. Thanks again for all the real talk. I will do more research on here over the next week, read through the links from Pumpkin and I will let you know if anything changes.
 
From my experience, my brain was compromised for a good while; the body takes all available resources to heal. You may want to think of working part-time. Do you have a long drive? Can you get someone to drive you? Can you work from home? You can see where I'm going here; anything to minimise the stress on your knees is good.

When you say 'through June', is it going from now until then, or starting then? You should be in pretty fair shape 3 months after surgery.
 
Yep, I agree. Per my experience, so far, in a way the surgery/ process was easier (minimal swelling/ pain at this point) than thought yet far MORE demanding at the same time. My ability to multitask is a bit off and I tire easily. Body is sending priority energy and resources to the knee withstanding my will to shift attention to other things I'd prefer I'm finding.
 
Last edited:
Difficult to know. I wish I had not delayed my first one, as that ended up with more damage. I did the other much sooner after I felt that bone on bone. The recovery for that was much easier.
 
One piece of advice that you haven't received yet is to make sure that your surgeon is prepared to go ahead and do a Total Knee replacement (TKR) on your knees, if he discovers at surgery that there are any signs at all of osteoarthritis in the other compartments of your knees.

While a PKR works well, it happens quite frequently that a PKR has to be revised to a TKR, because of arthritis spreading to the the other knee compartments.
There is very little difference in recovery time, or in performance, between a PKR and a TKR.
 
One piece of advice that you haven't received yet is to make sure that your surgeon is prepared to go ahead and do a Total Knee replacement (TKR) on your knees, if he discovers at surgery that there are any signs at all of osteoarthritis in the other compartments of your knees.
Thanks everyone. And yes, Celle - in the back of my mind I am prepared that may be the case that they may just do a TKR instead. And I had read now m through the forum, that there really is very little difference in recovery time. It will be what it is, at this point. Thankfully, some of the project has been moved out to mid April, so if I need a few more weeks (6-7 total) then that is now going to be possible. And my boss has assured me that I will not need to travel for work for awhile. I have a few people who can take me back and forth to work and I can work some from home, as well.
 
@Ready2HikeAgain
I've been thinking about your work situation and your concern about taking time off work.

Since many a PKR needs to be converted to a TKR within a short space of time, perhaps it would be better to go straight to having a TKR in each knee, instead of a PKR. That would mean only one period of sick leave, instead of potentially two, or even three.

I had a PKR initially. I'll never regret having it, because it gave me back the life I wanted and saved me from being a housebound invalid.

My PKR lasted for 11 years, which is much longer than most PKRs last. In fact, since coming on BoneSmart 8 years ago, I haven't encountered anyone whose PKR lasted longer than mine. Some of them have to be replaced within the first year.

Before surgery, I was told that a PKR would feel more natural and would allow more activity than a TKR. Well, now I've had a revision to a TKR I can say that those predictions weren't true for me. My TKR feels so natural that I usually forget I have it, and I can do anything I want to with it.

When my other knee needed replacing, I chose to have a TKR instead.

I'm not wanting to upset your plans - just throwing out this thought for you consideration as well.
 
I had a right partial knee and then the left 6 months to a year later. That is all they would offer me because of my age. I was 35 at the time. Too be honest if you are allowed I would get total knees if you can. Eventually arthritis ends up in the whole knee which it did in my case also it is a bit trickier converting a partial knee to a full which is what I am looking at first I right knee then later in left knee. My surgeon said also you don’t get as good of result from conversions as you would from an original total knee surgery. Given that my partial knees made my life better for the time I had them. The right one
lasted 18 years, the left is on 17 years and after a long recovery no pain for years. My recovery was longer because both times they had to go in and scope them to remove excess cement.
 
@Ready2HikeAgain
I've been thinking about your work situation and your concern about taking time off work.

Since many a PKR needs to be converted to a TKR within a short space of time, perhaps it would be better to go straight to having a TKR in each knee, instead of a PKR. That would mean only one period of sick leave, instead of potentially two, or even three.

I had a PKR initially. I'll never regret having it, because it gave me back the life I wanted and saved me from being a housebound invalid.

My PKR lasted for 11 years, which is much longer than most PKRs last. In fact, since coming on BoneSmart 8 years ago, I haven't encountered anyone whose PKR lasted longer than mine. Some of them have to be replaced within the first year.

Before surgery, I was told that a PKR would feel more natural and would allow more activity than a TKR. Well, now I've had a revision to a TKR I can say that those predictions weren't true for me. My TKR feels so natural that I usually forget I have it, and I can do anything I want to with it.

When my other knee needed replacing, I chose to have a TKR instead.

I'm not wanting to upset your plans - just throwing out this thought for you consideration as well.
my partial knees are now 17 and 18 years old. I need them both replaced now though.
 
my partial knees are now 17 and 18 years old. I need them both replaced now though.
You must have had an exceptional surgeon who knew the procedure of a partial very well.

My Patellofemoral partial is almost 3 years old, and it has never felt good. The theory of it feeling more natural because 2 of the compartments are your natural ones, did not come true for me.

Now that I have a lot more knowledge about knee replacements, I suspect my surgeon has not done very many partials. and that’s one of the reasons I’ve had a poor outcome.
 
I did. He was. a part of a group of surgeons in Alaska then did so well he now has his own clinic. His dad was also a doctor a heart surgeon. I don’t live in Alaska anymore though. Mine didn’t feel great at first but when he went back and scoped them to remove the excess cement I had great results. If I had a choice with what I know now I would have gotten a total knee right off. Back then they considered me too young.
 
Hi @Ready2HikeAgain. I had a PKR almost a year ago and had the same concerns about returning to work and stairs. I spent two nights in the hospital and was more than ready to get home and started on my PT. When I got home, I was able to traverse the stairs with crutches only and no assistance from my wife. I transitioned to a cane two weeks post-op and even drove myself to work (and it was my right knee) during the third week. I had to wait six weeks before returning to work but that was due to my company's insurance.
 
My surgeon said also you don’t get as good of result from conversions as you would from an original total knee surgery.
I can't fault the result I have from my revision from PKR to TKR. It works so well that I usually forget I have an artificial knee. I think a lot depends on the quality of the surgeon.

@Username I'm really pleased to hear from someone whose PKRs have lasted so well.
 
@Ready2HikeAgain I had a Right PKR 10/3/2018 I went back to work 11/5/2018 I was allowed a lot of time to elevate and ice during work. One of the biggest challenges at work was brain fog and exhaustion. I was also able to work from home during my recovery, that helped my sanity.

I STRONGLY lobbied my OS for a partial. I do not regret my original decision. Unfortunately my left knee is starting to fail. I will / am faced with the full or partial decision. On X-Rays only the Medial compartment is bone on bone.
My PKR knee is starting to develop pain under the Patella I fear that knee will also need a conversion to TKR sometime soon.

I understand the "get back to work ASAP" need. I should have take at lest one more week, and only worked part time for the first couple of weeks.
Best of luck on your recovery!
Rick
 
I had a left partial in 2016 and a right TKR in November 2019. I wish I had opted for a TKR on my left. My recovery was quicker and less painful for my TKR. The partial does not feel like it as better or "more natural movement" than the TKR.

Good luck with your surgery and recovery.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • Jaycey
    ADMINISTRATOR Staff member since February 2011

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,181
Messages
1,597,066
BoneSmarties
39,365
Latest member
Dave4562
Recent bookmarks
0

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom