Revised PKR to TKR 3rd Knee Replacement - Am I Bionic yet?

[lionsm13]

We want so bad to be "normal" and think that our recovery should be easy.
I was told by an OS two days ago that after a full revsion which I will have to have in the very near future that I should be able to go back to my part time job in 3-4 weeks.
Can you imagine?

I remember what shape I was in when the original TKR was done almost 10 years ago and I was no where near ready to go back to work even part time.

I went back to my full time job part time after 10 weeks for 2 weeks and then full time and it was still not easy and I had a sedentary job.

These things are not easy on us and they do take a toll and are hard at least it was on me and I'm 10 years older now and not looking at all forward to any of it.

Wish you well, take your time, don't be in a hurry.
Try to deal with your pain the best way you can.
Rest often.

 

[sarahd62]

@lionsm13 Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it! OMG after 2/3 weeks, I can’t imagine, maybe after a partial. My dentist had a full replacement and was back at work in 3 weeks. That seems crazy to me. I am at 9 weeks and know I am no where near normal yet. Mine was a revision for a failed partial I had a year ago and has pins and rods so I expected it to be worse and it definitely is!
When are you due to have your surgery?

 

[lionsm13]

@sarahd62 Not sure yet.
Still trying to decide who I want to do the Revision.
It's between 3 OS's and have seen one for a consultation and have my original next week and 11 days later going to see one that is in the same network as the first one.

Does the hd in your handle stand for Harley Davidson, per chance?

 

[sarahd62]

@lionsm13 Haha. No not Harley Davidson!

The only advise I have is firstly, take your pain to a pain management specialist. OS are notoriously bad at prescribing meds for pain and having a proper pain management Doctor will help keep your conversations with your OS isolated to recovery of the actual joint and not side tracked by pain. I did this with all 3 of my surgeries and it helped me emotionally a lot.

Secondly, check what their bread and butter surgeries are and how many revisions they do. My partial failed, but they did not know how badly until they operated. The X-ray looked fine. My New OS, in his first conversation with me, was very clear that I had never had been a good candidate for a partial and he never would have done one. But, he gave me the reasons too. I had had a knee replacement in the other knee due to arthritis, therefore I had signs of widespread arthritis, I had a tibial
Stress fracture, which meant my tibia below a partial was compromised and would
Most likely fail (he actually had to put a 5inch stabilizing rod into my tibia to support the final TKR), and finally I had had 2 meniscal tears where in each surgery they had smoothed my kneecap. All of this made me extremely high risk for a partial.
What this told me was that the Dr was informed and was very articulate in his reasoning. He also was known for complexKnee surgeries.

Only you can make a decision on your OS good luck with deciding.

 

[Helizabug]

Good advice up there, both about pain specialist and revision specialist. I have great confidence in my surgeon as a craftsman or an engineer, but it’s the PA and the nurse who talk about pain with me. If my pain was persistent, I would ask for a referral to a pain clinic. To be fair, though, I live in an area glutted with university hospitals that are amazing.

 

[Helizabug]

Has your stiffness during the day improved?