Age Question

[Thumper169]

Im curious what the age structure is on here having TKR or PTR and the recovery time to get back to a normal life and the cause of the replacement?
I'm 36 and mine was due to a previous injury, i'm 5 weeks or so post op and recovery is going really well.
Tell us about your circumstances so we can shed a little light on all of this.:shk:

 

[cotton1958]

BTKR, 51, twisted knee in mid-2000's. Osteoarthritis. Not yet back to a normal life....still got some serious bending and walking to do. 5 weeks post op.

 

[Judles]

HA! HA! What do you mean by "NORMAL????"
:sct::sct::sct::sct:
:hehe:

 

[Thumper169]

Your 5 weeks as well Cotton, are you walking with a cane or without?

 

[cotton1958]

Actually, I have wheelchair, walker and cane, but not really using any of them any longer. But I get tired easily I guess because I'm not using any help.

I still have a hard time sitting, sleeping....basically uncomfortable. My PT was stepped up last week and am being worked out pretty much so to get the bending going.

 

[Thumper169]

HA! HA! What do you mean by "NORMAL????"
:sct::sct::sct::sct:
:hehe:

Well, good question:hehe: I personally will never be normal due to the fact I wasnt normal to begin with:sct::pnc:

 

[Surfsister]

Massive knee injury in 1980. I had arthroscopic surgery and reconstructive surgery then.

I lived with osteoarthritis over the last 10 years or so. Since the original injury, I've raced bikes, run marathons, swum, hiked, and surfed.

Surgery was on April 20. I got back on a surfboard on July 30. There is still pain, but the brutal bone-on-bone pain is gone. I don't take any pain meds. I am not "normal" quite yet. However, I'm well on my way to my pre-surgery life.

I was 45 at the time of my knee replacement.

 

[loggon]

No normal when it comes to the tkr or thr
Everyone is different. My OS would not let me drive until 6 weeks. I was so ready. By then I was only using the cane for a just in case situation. Did not use it in the house.

As you go through each week you will get better than the week before. I think by 8 weeks I was doing what ever. Just took it slow. By 3 months I was able to go on a long drive vacation and walk around a plaza for several hours.

 

[Judles]

You just KNOW what Jo and Jamie will say......all in your OWN time!!!
:pnc::rant::pnc::rant:

 

[abunnybabe]

Wow, there are so many young patients here. I'm 49, only having a RTKR and was told by my original OS that I was too young. I said, screw that, I am NOT going to live like this for another 10 or more years, so found a new knee specialist. I am so glad that many of you did as well.

 

[Judles]

Wise decision, Terri!! Isn't better to REALLY be able to LIVE!!! Glad you bwere so pro-active!! :evil:

 

[Kimgrif]

Age 45 for the RTKR. Age 46 for LTKR. I have suffered from osteoarthritis for many, MANY years.

I was on a "cane" at 4 weeks following my RTKR. That is in quotes because I never really used a cane, just used one crutch instead. PT said there was no use to buy a cane, just use the one crutch until he deemed me stable enough for walking independently.

I'm not quite 3 weeks out yet on LTRK so am still on two crutches, but am feeling more and more confident to go to one crutch. I can actually walk without assistance whatsoever, but still rather unsteady.

And "normal" is relative because you acquire a new "normal" when you undergo a TKR. LOL I guess I would say "normal" happened after the long winter when I was out walking with my family and my 15yo son observed, "Wow Mom, you don't wobble anymore!" Gee thanks!

 

[Judles]

Well! That settles it! You'RE "there" NOW!! Keep up the great recup!!!:thmb::thmb:

 

[Texas]

Age 42, 6 right knee surgeries 1 TKR and 1 MUA geez I hope it over. Kidding its much better and all worth I cant even tell its not real............Just takes time but the out come is well worth it..........Good luck you ya !!!!!!!!!!

 

[FrogFeathers]

Im curious what the age structure is on here having TKR or PTR and the recovery time to get back to a normal life and the cause of the replacement?
I'm 36 and mine was due to a previous injury, i'm 5 weeks or so post op and recovery is going really well.
Tell us about your circumstances so we can shed a little light on all of this.:shk:

I had my left total knee done in March 2009. I'm 39 (I'll be 40 this Saturday). I first injured my knee at age 18- classic "blowout" while running (during a snowball fight, no less). I subsequently injured my knee 8-ish more times over 20 years. March 3, 2006, I slipped on my back porch and tore it up all over again. The doctors (grr) took three years of jerking me around before they let me get my knee done.

However, the one that needed the work was NOT the injured one- it was the opposite one. My recovery has been slower than I had hoped, but that is because I spent three years trying to get the other knee fixed/healed, so I'm out of shape. If they had helped me when I needed it, I wouldn't be in such a squishy shape as I am now.

 

[Max Wallace]

47. Both knees high school football. Surgery 10 months ago back to work at 7 weeks. At 6 months I had days when my knees were as they were before the injuries other day stiff and sore but 1000 times better than before surgery. At 10 months post op all days are GREAT!!

 

[ship4]

I had BTKR at age 58. I just turned 60 a couple of weeks ago. I was an athlete in HS and in college. I taught K-12 Physical Education and coached Varsity Women's Basketball and Softball for 5 years. I continue to run a broken link removed: https://www.crystalskinnerchildcare.com business from my home (last 28 years), was a ski instructor @ Loon Mt for 7 years until 1996 when I hit a tree after catching an inside edge and losing my ski. I broke the top of my left tibia off (tibial plateau). I then tore the meniscus and had a ruptured Baker's Cyst in my right knee in 2006. Thus my BTKR in 2008!
Best thing I ever did. I had 9 children at my home 12 days post op. I also had a parent client friend who essentially ran the business for me while I recovered by 9 weeks. Then I was on my own. I returned to alpine skiing on Feb 1, 2009 and plan to ski this coming winter. I have been able to garden, and do so much more than before my surgery. Last weekend on Saturday, I grocery shopped, and helped stack 2 full cords of wood into the basement, picked raspberries, and played 13 holes of golf. Definitely a full day.
Golf is a new endeavor for me this year. My husband and I got a group lesson package of 5 lessons. We still have 1 left for tonight. We have learned how to hold the clubs, swing each one properly, how to line up the golf ball, how to figure out how far we hit with each club. We had a green chipping lesson. I even chipped into the hole once! Shocked me! I do get a cart and ride, there is plenty of walking even riding from hole to hole. We got an end of season membership as a couple for $250.00 and have already gotten our money's worth. The course will stay open until the snow sticks to the ground. We will mostly play on Friday nights and weekends since we both still work full time. Life is good! What I described is normal for me, busy!

 

[Josephine]

Good for you, Terri!

 

[Thumper169]

This is all great info and it proves what I was thinking, more and more 30-50 olds are having this done, I too was told I was too young but I didnt want to go through life in pain. I would rather be a semi pain free young person and a legless old biddy, thats my thoughts any way.

Great stuff folks!!!!

 

[backbay38]

Wow -- Terri -- great question. I've been on this forum for months and had no idea so many of you were so young! I am older but only in years And I never pay much attention to math anyhow ---. My surgeon said he median age of his patients is now in the low to mid 50's. That means half are younger. And the new materials make the replacements last for far longer than they used to; perhaps, my doc said, as long as 40 years but no one can say that yet because there are no studies (obviously). Anyhow as far as I'm concerned I'm going to do everything I want to do and if I should need a revision or another replacement in 10 or 20 years -- so what? By then the procedure should be much better anyhow.
Why worry about what happens when you're reallly old? Live now - right???? I've been very lucky with my recovery - no problems. Walking unaided about 10 days after the operation, driving in 2 weeks as soon as the staples were out, and reaching my goal at exactly 3 months of being able to go with my husband when he ran the Boston Marathon last April (for both of us since I used to run marathons too). I was able to walk all over and stand for hours and do the subway stairs and generally bounce about Boston. It just got better ( and keeps getting better) from there.... Like a lot of people here I worked very hard and for a few months made recovery my "job" before going back to on site work. So Keep up the good work, Terri!!! You'll do everything you want to do too ----each of us in his/her own time.
Stephani