Revision TKR Strut graft

lovetocookandsew

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I'm scheduled to have my femoral and tibial strut graft surgery on Nov. 19th. Not looking forward to any part of it except the fully recovered part! And to add to the joy, I get to have a Covid test done.........grrrrrrrrrrrr. Anyway, please add me to the November Nimbles. Thanks.
 
Hello @lovetocookandsew - and :welome: back to the pre-op area.

I'm really sorry you have to have yet more surgery to this poor knee and leg, but I hope the latest surgery will fix it, once and for all.

I don't know much about your proposed surgery, but I hope your surgeon has explained it thoroughly with you, and discussed what he hopes to achieve with it. He should also discuss what he expects recovery to be like for you, whether you will need to be non weight-bearing for a while, and whether you will need to take any additional precautions.
If you learn anything about the details of this surgery, please share it with us, so we can all learn.

I remember that your surgeon had to plan your pain control management carefully, because of your drug reactions, so I hope he'll be as careful this time, too.

I've added your name to the November Nimbles team thread.
:friends:
You know we'll be here to support you through this new surgery. Best wishes.
 
Thanks, @Celle. We have discussed it in length many times. I don't remember all the details, but will be getting them once again from my OS (poor guy...lol). When his scheduler called this am they were scheduling it for the 23rd of Nov, until I asked how many days he has me scheduled to be in the hospital. She told me three days; I realized that would mean I'd have to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital, so picked the option of the 19th instead. It's unlikely I'll be in a full week, so should be home for T-day.

I now remember he had told me three days, and that after those three days we'd see how I was doing and he'd either let me go home or keep me longer if needed. I'll be on an epidural again for pain control, and after a couple of days he'll lower it gradually and see how I tolerate it. If I don't do well without it by three days or so, he'll have a pain ball inserted again, and if that works, I can go home. There's a greater chance the ball won't work this time due to the location of the surgery being partly above where they have to insert the ball, so we are going to be taking it one step at a time. But I won't go home until they can manage the pain, or it lessens enough for me to tolerate it.

The surgery, as I understand it, and don't hold me to the details as it's been a while since he explained it to me, consists of attaching a bone graft and wiring it on to my femur and tibia, in order to stabilize the movement of both bones into the tip of the posts he inserted during the revision. The vast majority (I think he said 99.9%) of people who have this surgery, and end up with some post tip pain, improve over time as their bone remodels and fills in the gap. Mine didn't, so my bones continue to hit the tips, which causes a great deal of pain.

As he explained it, our bones bend a bit, but the posts are solid and don't bend at all, so as I move, my bones hit the post tips. As your bone remodels, the post and bone basically become one and no longer clash.

To top it all off, due to my gimpy walk, some previously unknown spurs that are on the top of my left foot have flared up and are causing me a great deal of pain there too. He thinks they'll settle back down once I'm past the surgery and walking better. I messaged him this afternoon to ask if they'll definitely settle down, or if there's a chance they will remain painful, and if we should, or even can, consider removing them at the same time.

We did talk about recovery, but I don't remember all the details, so will be asking him those questions, along with probably a bunch more.
 
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Thank you for your detailed response, Kim.
Theoretically, it all sounds interesting, but it does sound as if you're going to need to take recovery very slowly and gently.
Hugs!
Elephant hugs .jpg
 
Will be thinking of you, @lovetocookandsew and hope that this surgery will finally lead you back to healthy and happy.
 

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