Revision TKR 2 failed revisions & a stress fracture, all in 14 months

[Ilovecruising]

@sistersinhim thank you for your reply. I was suppose to go to my os last week but I called and rescheduled for October (just in case of emergency). But I have no intention of going back. After 2 failed revisions, doing an unnecessary surgery (suppose to replace with hinged knee implant but he just replaced the spacers with larger ones) and then totally not diagnosing my stress fracture correctly, I have absolutely NO trust in him at all! None whatsoever!

I have not been NWB but I put as little weight on it as possible. I do use my wheelchair quite a bit in my home. I am waiting now to be seen at a very reputable sports medicine facility to get more insight as to what I need to do. And yes I am hoping they might lead me to another surgeon. They do have another clinic about 350 miles from me that I would be willing to go for consultation if possible. They have worked on NFL football players and some famous coaches!

Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[sistersinhim]

You have to be careful with sports injury doctors and PTs. They sometimes treat a tkr as a sport injury instead of a joint replacement. Interview them thoroughly and make sure they will treat you as they should.

 

[kneeper]

Sorry you're having this new challenge.

 

[Ilovecruising]

@sistersinsin I’m sure you are correct about the sports meds doctors. I’ve put out feelers from a lot of my fellow travel nurses asking for the best ortho surgeons and hospitals they have worked at. Getting quite a bit of response so I’ll be checking them all out!

 

[Ilovecruising]

Thank you @kneeper

 

[Ilovecruising]

@Motherbone wow thank you for sharing your story! My problems appear somewhat insignificant in comparison to yours! I haven’t been NWB because no one has told me that I should be. But using my own judgement, I have only put very little weight on it as tolerated and believe me that hasn’t been much. I resorted to using my wheelchair in the house as much as possible. Otherwise, I’ve been using my walker and my cane.

I am waiting for an appointment with a doctor that has finally agreed to see me. As far as a surgeon to consult with me about a possible hinged knee implant, I have to wait until the one year mark which will be next January! But right now I’m going to take your advise and concentrate mostly on making sure I do everything I can to assure that the stress fracture is healing correctly! BTW, my stress fracture is also the tibia bone. And for the first few weeks, the pain was excruciating with even the slightest amount of weight bearing and even moving the toes! I can’t imagine having two stress fractures at the same time!

In the meantime I have a lot of surgeons to start checking out before I narrow it down to interview!

 

[Ilovecruising]

For the past couple days, I’ve got a new problem to add to my list.

My surgical knee pops several times a day. It is not the popping clicking sound that happens after a new replacement. But it’s similar to when you pop your neck or your back but this just happens spontaneously. I can always tell when it is about to pop. It happens when I’m lying in bed or sitting in my chair. It’s when I am flexing the leg into a different position and right before it gets to the point of popping the horrible pain starts and it almost locks up. But I have to push slightly past the point of pain and it pops and the pain goes away. But when it gets to the point of pain it’s impossible to bring it back to a position before the pain and the pain continues until I get it to pop.

Has anyone else had this to happen or have some explanation for why this might be happening.

 

[eaglemom]

Yikes are seem to have similar knee TKR and revision issues. If it were a contest I'd win since I've had 2 revisions - personally its not something to be proud of. And I'm probably looking at a 4th, but I can't even wrap my head around that.

It is difficult to have a surgeon accept you once you've had multiple surgeries on your knee. Been there and done that. I think the "rule" is one year, but I might be wrong. I think you just have to become the very best advocate you can for yourself. I'm a very 'go by my gut' type of person, and if I don't like a facility, office personal, physician I have no problem moving on to another. Matter of fact I've left one knee specialist whom I really liked because his staff were disrespectful, very disrespectful. That and no parking spaces. Hello - we are hip and knee patients we can't walk a mile to park. But I digress. Ask your questions and see how the responses are. You'll know the right person to help you.

Right now I'm 'suppose' to be healing from a stress fracture of my femur. Frankly its no better at week 5 than it was week one. Another thing we have in common.

I have no idea about your latest issues. I've not experienced that, and hope not to!! Hopefully someone will come along and give you some idea's. Hang in there.

 

[Ilovecruising]

@eaglemom @Motherbone
These stress fractures carry pain to a whole new level, don’t they?

I was just walking across the room when I got the most excruciating pain just above my ankle! I had never felt anything like it before. It was 5 weeks before it was accurately diagnosed. I had resorted to a wheelchair in my home because I couldn’t stand any weight on it! That’s been 10 weeks ago and it is still painful.

I’m waiting now for an appointment with new doctor. I just hope it is healing like it should be. Do y’all know how long it should take these fractures to heal? This really has me worried because it happened out of the blue with no warning whatsoever! Are y’all’s
fractures in your operative leg? Mine is
but just thinking it could happen to the other leg as well

Hope you both are doing better!

 

[Motherbone]

My fractures are in my non-operative leg, likely due to over-use since I couldn't use the operative leg for a very long time. There was no specific event, I just began to have pain which gradually worsened. Bone density/strength was probably a contributory issue for me; although I had normal readings at my hips, they did not look at the smaller bones further down my limbs and I suspect those aren't really strong. What I've read is that these fractures can take up to 12 weeks to heal and rest/immobilization is pretty important to the process. My X ray showed healing in process but it was too early for me to be taken out of the cast. I go back on September 9. I'm guessing that if he lets me out of the cast I'll have to wear a boot for a while. Oh joy.

 

[Ilovecruising]

@eaglemom yes the one year rule seems to be pretty consistent. Which means it will be next January before I can see someone else for my knee. It took a couple calls from my PCP just to get one to see me about the stress fracture. My OS sent me a message saying there’s was “no definitive” stress fracture and gave me a prescription for VitD! When I looked at the impression on my MRI which the OS ordered, it clearly stated results were “concerning” for a stress fracture. So don’t know how he came up with his diagnosis. Anyway, I have lost all trust in him!

There has to be some excellent doctors somewhere that can help us! Just have to find them!

 

[Ilovecruising]

@Motherbone Do you think that your tibia and fibula fractures actually happened at different times or were
just diagnosed on different dates?

 

[Motherbone]

Based on the way the pain unfolded, I think the fibula happened first and the tibia happened some time later. Who knows the mysterious ways of bones???

 

[Ilovecruising]

@Motherbone I see where you had your revision done only a month after your TKR. I will try to go back and read also but what happened in the first month to require a revision? But I know it doesn’t take long for problems to surface!

 

[kneeper]

When I had a stress fracture in my foot years ago, my GP didn't even do an xray b/c he said they don't always show up on xray very well and can be diagnosed more by symptoms. (And for my foot there was nothing to do but to wear supportive shoes and try to minimize my walking.) Obviously your situation is more serious but I wonder if it wasn't very visible at first--could it have separated more in the time between tests?

 

[Ilovecruising]

@kneeper it’s correct that stress fractures don’t usually show up on X-ray for the first month. But he ordered a MRI which showed “concerning for subacute non displaced stress fracture” which to me meant there was a very good chance and was suspected to be a stress fracture. But the report that I got from surgeon was “no definitive fracture” which to me meant he chose not to treat it as a fracture. Overall, just not happy with him right now! I’ve requested my records be sent to another clinic for follow up care. (Took several calls from my PCP and me to get them to agree to see me. And they will only see me for the fracture and not the knee) There is actually a lump on my ankle where the fracture is that is quite concerning to me. I just want to make sure it is healing correctly and nothing else needs to be done.

 

[kneeper]

Yes,it does seem like you should have been able to get a straight answer on this.

 

[Motherbone]

@Ilovecruising The revision a month later was due to my fracturing my patella and the patellofemoral tendon and rupturing along the line of the internal incision. They did not do anything with the hardware, they just repaired what could be repaired, but it was still called a revision. My last X ray of that knee in June showed the hardware remained intact and in alinement.

On X ray my healing stress fractures show areas of new bone and tissue surrounding them; known as callus formation, they are indicators of healing in process. Ask the doctor you see if that lump you feel could be bone callus formation.

 

[Ilovecruising]

@prairienut i see you had your surgery done at HSS and I am seriously looking at that hospital for my next revision! I know they have #1 rating for the best ortho Hospital in the U.S. do you mind telling me which doctor did your surgery? Thanks!