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6 Month and 1 Year Check Up

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hollie9

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Had an interesting time with Dr. Coon. My XRays looked just fine. This was the
first time I could compare the Zimmer Gender High Flex on left (one year) knee
with the Stryker Triathlon on my right knee.

The bottom part of the Zimmer, the stem, goes way further into the bone than the
Stryker...much longer stem. The Stryker protrubes a bit more on the front,
round portion of the device, giving creedence to my feeling that it felt more
"front loaded" than the Zimmer.

I've been having problems with minor swelling in both knees ever since I
strained something in my newest knee at 7 weeks. It bugs me because the
swelling makes riding my bike (the flexing) a bit painful, and my knees aren't
small like they were. I told the doc "I can't wear short skirts with my knees
like this".

He told me I'm not a kid anymore, that my arthritis is causing the lining around
the joints to be inflamed which makes them slightly swollen. He said he sees
this often, it is not scar tissue, and usually resolves with time.

I told him I want cortisone. He will not give me an injection in the knees of
anything due to the risk of infection. He did give me a shot in the butt,
saying "an old doctor I worked with always said, give the patient what they
want, but I'm not big on injections". So I hope this shot will do what other
cortisone have done for me, sometimes the swelling goes away for years.
Thinking back, I've had this problem with minor swelling since 2006.

My ROM came in at 140 on both knees, whereas my one year knee had been at 150 at
6 weeks. So I've gone backward because of the swelling and that makes me mad.
Dr. Coon was very happy with it though.

He told me to take Tylenol 3 times a day. I can't take any NSAIDS because I am
hypersensitive to them. But doesn't Tylenol eat up your stomach lining?

Then I went shopping at my favorite shop and bought a really cute top.

Hollie
 
Hollie, I think you need to try and be a little more patient with your two new knees. Both ARE new still and some swelling can occur, especially if you are active with them. You should be fine with Tylenol as long as you're not exceeding the dose. If you are concerned about your stomach, take it with a cracker or two. It is a widely used over-the-counter drug that for a HUGE majority of people works just fine.

Glad you got some retail therapy after your doctor appointment. That always helps!
 
Hi Hollie, Sounds like a good check-up! I'm glad your doing well. Tylenol upsets my stomach sometimes, and like Jamie said, I usually have It with a snack or a big glass of milk and It's fine! Best Wishes,
 
Tylenol if taken as prescribed is considered to be safe. Excessive use is associated with liver failure. Usually this is a result of major abuse. You do sound like you are doing really well.

You should be having a big party:thmb:
 
Hey Hoolie long time no see...........glad your doing ok.sorry about the swelling but they say that can happen i still ice sometimes............take care.....i wish you the best.............)
 
Gee, I hope I don't have to go through my life with man-knees! I want my little knees back! Actually they were really swollen before the surgery but I thought the TKR would solve that problem.

I guess this is what arthritis does?

Guess I'll have to get some over the knee boots this year, more retail therapy.

Hollie
 
Sounds like your knees are doing wonderfully Hollie. REtail therapy again sounds like a plan.
judy
 
Hi Hollie, I used to have the tiniest little knees and ankles. Now I just have tiny little ankles. Arthritis has ravaged my knees and now with the surgery scar, it looks really lumpy. I am having my second knee replaced in a couple of weeks.

I think your progress sounds remarkable, but I understand that you are not comfortable with the swelling. When my arthritis first started, I would have swelling and fluid in my knees for no other reason. My OS said once it looked like I had an injury on MRI, but I hadn't, it was just the arthritis causing fluid and swelling.

Each person is different, but Tylenol is considered very safe on your stomach. It is the liver to watch out for. Taking the recommended dose three times daily should not cause you any troubles.

Congrats on your successes, and let us know what boots you choose. We love fashion.

Kimberly
 
Hollie

I sure do have that arthritic inflammation problem. Earlier this year, I stopped taking aspirin and in short order my right knee began very swollen and big and my white blood count went down (sign of chronic inflammation). I finally went back to my 12 aspirin a day and it took 2 months for most of the swelling went down but they are still stiff and I still haven't gotten my lost ROM back. Going to see if they will hold with 8 aspirin a day (when the rain stops).

I also thought the TKR would solve the problem but it didn't.

Simon
 
I still have some swelling from time to time, especially when I'm really active and doing projects that involve knee action. I'm 1 1/2 years out....keep thinking it may stop eventually, but maybe not. My knee does not look the same, but it really doesn't matter to me. I'm proud of my scar and my operated leg is nice and straight...unlike the other knee which is now starting to act up a little. To me, having the mobility is worth anything!
 
hollie9 said:
Gee, I hope I don't have to go through my life with man-knees! I want my little knees back! Actually they were really swollen before the surgery but I thought the TKR would solve that problem.

I guess this is what arthritis does?
Click to expand...

It's not only what arthritis does - it's what surgery does as well. You can't have surgery like this and get away with it as if nothing had happened. Just doesn't work that way - sorry! :whis:
 
Simon, I'm surprised and impressed that aspirin can make the arthritic swelling go down. I think I will try your major aspirin regimen today!

I'm so overly sensitive to NSAIDS, I can't take them, but I can take Aspirin and maybe Tylenol.

I'm thrilled the aspirin actually helped the inflammation and made the knees smaller.

Thanks for everyone's input, I thought I was the only one who had continued swelling/fluid on my TKRs, it's comforting to know I'm not alone.

Any other advice will be greatly appreciated.

I'm trying on my skirts and I can no longer wear them above the knee since my knees are so big now. Guess I'll have to wear longer skirts and pants more. I did order some over the knee boots but those will only help in the winter.

I think the cortisone shot in the butt did bring down some fluid in the knee where I can flex without irritation or slight pain, but my knees still are bigger...they might have gone down a bit but not what I was hoping for.

My OS did say this resolves in 90% of his patients in a few years, hope that's right. But since even my fingers are now bigger (have to have all rings resized) I think I"m stuck with arthritis. I hate this!

Thanks to everyone again!

Hollie
 
Hollie, good to hear from you. I hate my post surgery knee too--it is a completely different shape. Since I am a size 12, I hardly ever wear shorts anyway--mostly capri pants and now, all long jeans and pants. I have to skirts in my closet--both, below the knee. But, I can identify with your feelings.

I have a Stryker knee and feel that it makes too many tapping noises--I am going to the doc tomorrow to ask about all of this--I am wondering if my spacer is too small. do you get tapping noises from your sTryker?

Tylenol is not an anti-inflammatory-=it is strictly for pain and personally, I think the stuff is worthless. I have taken four in two years. I take a mobic every day and then use aspirin as needed.j

I also have compression tights--got them ona web site called broken link removed: https://www.discountsurgical.com---has footless compression tights that I use. I notice a difference at the end of the day when I wear them. They also have them with the foot----I wear the mircrofiber ones. which just look like tights--also helpful for coverine up the ugle knees!!! my left one is bigger than my right--and on my right knee you can see the patellar tendon and hte kneecap clearly. On the left knee, you can see the kneecap, but not the tendon--that lower part of the knee is just different. Ugh.

I am getting shots in the right knee--that one will not get done, I am just going to go with pain meds right now. Maybe in a few years when the surgery is better. For now, it will have to gimp along.

I am in a pre ski conditioning class that is gruelling--one and one half hours, I walk out of there drenched in sweat!!! Then on the other days have yoga or a killer water aerobics class. Also, I use the bike or the elliptical for 30 min every day--just to keep the damn thing moving. Mostly I do that on the way to work and then go to the gym after work every day to work out the stiffness.

i will ski in 37 days---last year I skied 120 days---will see how this year goes--last year I was in pain most of those days!!--but, I was abused as a child, so I am used to ignoring pain. I would rather have pain than this new knee to deal with, if the truth be told.

so. tell me more about your Stryker--and sorry about the arthritis--I think that swelling in the joins is a major symptom. You are lucky that it is minor swelling. You must be pretty think if you are into short skirts and boots--I am jealous!!! My size 12 body is so past short skirts!!! But, my new ski pants are a 10--snug but zipped!!! Kelly
 
Not you too, Kelly! Well at least I have company. No, I am not thin, my weight really fluctuates, but I can always pull off above knee skirt/black tights/knee high boots in winter. If the skirt hits at mid knee it has always made my knees look bad, I need to take it above the knee where there used to be an indentation to make the look work.

Sadly, no longer (unless I get the over the knee boots). No more shorts either I guess.

No, I don't hear tapping on my Stryker or my other Zimmer. When I was first recovering I had a lot of clicking from each of them but not lately. Maybe that arthritic inflammation makes them more quiet?

Do you mean the compression tights take the swelling down?

I'm doing weight/resistance training at home, following a new program and riding my bike a lot or walking the dog. I'm mainly trying to get rid of the weight I gained back after I lost so much on my first surgery...I'm about to get out the Darvocet and use it for diet pills since it made me slightly nauseous and I couldn't eat much. I also need to get into my ski pants!

You sure are working out like a fiend. I've never worked out to get into ski condition before, but then I don't teach and won't be doing moguls anymore. I'm just thinking my old strength will be there again like it always has. We'll see, I don't think I'll go till January or February when the better weather and snow conditions are here in the Sierra Nevada, California. It's an up and back drive in one day for me, that's why I moved here...skiing.

I didn't count on these big knees when I got TKR's. Bummer.

Hollie
 
Hollie,

It is so hard with this surgery---I don't like the look of the tkr either--and I hate the idea of a piece of metal in my body--I know that I am neurotic about it, but then, that is the way that I am!!!

I really have to work out--I work from 8 am until 5pm on most days--have two ladies day groups who only ski off groomed trails, so I need to be strong!!! I am starting to feel like my old self--and except for 100 pieces of Halloween candy, have been doing really well with both toning my body and looseing weight!!! I just threw the rest of the candy in the trash can--I figured it was garbage whether I ate it or not!!

Yes, the compression stockings help with the swelling quite a bit---I work in a store in the fall, so I am standing up 8 hours per day--and I have almost no swelling in my legs when I get home. Also, I get into the pool, put on a belt that keeps me upin the water and "run" for about 45 minutes in the deep end of the pool. the bending of my legs and the pressure of the water, removes all the swelling from my legs. When I leave the pool, my kneecap sticks out quite a bit--although it does not look like the real kneecap!!!

So, I find that bending0--on a rowing machine for 30 minutes prior to work and a 45 minute workout in the pool after work (during which I wear compression hose) gives me a nice firm leg--no swelling. I wear the light compression hose--I think they are like 12 to 20 compression--or something along those lines. You can get ones that look like stockings or ones that look like tights or sometimes, I wear the knee hi ones that can have cotton or even wool mixed in with them.

I am going to have a vein ablated on the 11 of Nov. The greater Sapphaneous vein--which has valves that no longer function. The doc puts a laser into the vein and collapses the vein. The other veins from your leg pick up the blood moving jobs--and they have better valves!!! I have had some swelling on the inside of my knee--went to a vascular surgeon who told me that some of it was caused by the varicosed veins. I hope this takes care of it at any rate. It takes two days to recover from the ablation---so I get a week off work!!!

Hollie, where do you ski? I ski at big mountain in Whitefish---I am really looking forward to hitting the slopes this year, my knee is more stable than my old one--I have been doing quite a lot of balancing on one leg while standing on bosu ball. I stand on one leg for three minutes and then, the pt throws me a ball for three minutes--and the ball goes everywhere. I am finally pretty solid on the ball--there were some weird falls when I first started. I can stand on a therapy ball for about two minutes---then it starts to roll and I have to jump off!!!! Oh, my abdomen hurts from sit up and crunches!!! but, things are really looking up.

I have been taking the dog for a three mile walk all summer---just started working out with a group of race walkers---that is really fun!!! I race cross country in the winter--with skate skis.

I hiked up big Mountain last week carrying my skis and boots--which almost killed me!!! I put them on and skied about 100 yards---i wad with a group of ski instructors, we are crazy, but it was fun!! We are going to Lake Louise this week to ski there, so I will let you know how it goes!!! I am just sohappy that I fit into my fancy (and expensive) gore tex Norweigian ski pants!!! kelly
 
Wow, those compression stockings sound great, I'll check that discount place if they can pass as tights too.

I got a cortisone shot in the butt when I saw Dr. Coon last Thursday. It has finally kicked in and my knees and even fingers have gotten smaller, feels great but very different in my knees. It feels like all the fluid left and now they are clicking more but I wouldn't call the sound a tap. I love that they feel less heavy, not compacted, but it's like new knees all over again...they act a bit different.

Anyway, they do look a bit better, I hope this stuff lasts a very long time.

I go about an hour and 15 minutes up to North Star, Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl and some other ski hills on the way to Tahoe City. We don't get your kind of snow, I imagine you get much more, but it's good skiing. I went skiing at Lake Louise, loved it, so pretty. There are many other ski hills there too, good ones. I remember it being very, very cold, more so than I've ever experienced, but maybe in Montana you get that cold too?

Glad you're into your pants,

Hope our knees become normal looking,

Hollie
 
Hollie

It took about 6 weeks for the aspirin to work but the knee was really swollen and had been for awhile so be patient.

The knee is probably making less clunking sounds as your quads are getting stronger. I find if I start missing my exercise, then the knees make more noise. At least with the swelling going down it is easier on the bike. Now if only the stretching exercises would kick in for the hamstrings!.

I haven't work skirts or dress for about 15 or more years (I work from home) so the look of the knee doesn't bother me and I am not big into shorts.

Hope everything works out for you.

Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory agent like NSAIDS so it should take out swelling caused by inflammation.

Simon
 
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