TKR Anyone getting ready for your new knee in July?

Tanya

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Mine is July 6th. How about yours?
Is it your first?
It is mine and it won't be the last.

I'm here to chat if you'd like to.

What part of the country are you in?

I'm in Colorado.

Take care!
Tanya
 
@Tanya I noticed you were added to the July Knee group. Check who is on the list there and then go chat with them on their pre-op threads. We have members all over the world!
 
@Tanya I am July 1st. So I will b e a couple of days ahead of you. This will be my 2nd, I hope PKR. There is a lot of knowledge and great support on this forum. Pay close attention to the advice give here! The recovery is not the most fun thing I have done in my life. But, it is manageable, and worth it!

Rick
 
Mine is July 14 I am having a bilateral knee replacement. Mine has gotten so bad I can hardly walk, I know I will have a tough recovery but I’m ready to get this behind me..

Cathy
 
I'm July 6th, too. This is my second knee replacement. Five years ago my left knee needed it and now my right knee does. I'm in Florida. Let's keep in touch!!
 
Just for a bit, I hope!! The misery will fade fairly soon if all goes well!!:fingersx:
 
Hi Tanya

I'm scheduled for my second TKR on July 22nd. I'm having second thoughts about the surgery because my knee is better now than it was last month. I already know I'm replacing my knee much earlier than most other people do. I don't want to suffer for years with a bad knee so I'm being very proactive in replacing this knee before it negatively affects my lifestyle. Last month my knee was very swollen and I had trouble walking a mile (and very slowly). The last couple of weeks I've been able to walk 5 miles with very little pain. It's still swollen and I have limited ROM but not much pain. I'm thinking I should wait for surgery but I know it's just a matter of time.

Hope your surgery and recovery goes well. BTW, lots of people get really concerned with how slowly they regain ROM (range of motion). It took around six months for me to regain ROM after my left knee was replaced. That was months longer than I expected. Don't lose hope if your ROM is slow to improve. It will come back! Just relax and give it time.

-Brian (on the road in our RV)
 
Hi Brian,
First I'm envious of you "in your rv".
Second, I cancelled my surgery after my pre-op on Tuesday. I wasn't thrilled with the surgeon's negativity when it came to what the risks are and what won't be better... I know the risks, but I asked him if he can't take away the pain and I have full range of motion without pain, which will be taken away, then why am I doing this if he can't fix the problem...I've already setup an appt with my second surgeon. If I don't figure this out I won't be able to find a surgeon in denver...I'll have run out of choices...
 
@Tanya, your surgeon has a legal responsibility to tell you about the possible dangers of surgery, but I'm sorry you found his attitude off-putting.
No surgeon can guarantee you that you will eventually be completely pain-free, but a knee replacement will take away most of your pain.

You do need to have the surgery, since your knee will continue to get worse and be more painful without it.
I hope you find another surgeon real soon.
 
Thanks Celle.

I woke up this morning wandering if I even need a TKR. I'm 50 lbs overweight. This doesn't seem to help the problem. It's been a year since I tried to go to a silver sneakers. My knee pain is what has made that decision for me. I use to love to go to classes but I can't do that any more. I've always have had to watch my weight but now I'm so heavy for my body I can hardly get up out of bed because my stomach is so large. It's like I've given up. In between backpain, which is more constant then knee pain, it's so depressing. Gardening is my place of a feeling of accomplishment now. But there are days that it's not fun anymore. I want more out of life but it seems it's just getting more unattainable. I'm afraid of not being able to do what little I can still do after the TKR surgery.

I know healing is at least a year. For me make it two. I havent done well with past surgeries. I've had neck fusion, foot surgery with a little plate in there, breast reduction, numerous scopes of both knees plus a lateral release on the right knee. Outcomes have not been in my favor but I guess ok.

I wish someone could help me know I'm making the right decision...
 
Tanya, I wish there was some way that a person could know exactly what is the right thing to do, but that's not how life works. You look at your options and make the decisions that are right for yourself based on what you know at the time.

However, with arthritis....as Celle says it doesn't ever get better - only worse with time. So if you are having problems now with your knee, you do know it will not improve unless you take some action. Of course losing weight might help things, but it doesn't sound like that's been easy for you to do. That happens to many of us when joints start going bad, so you're not alone.

I'm glad you're getting a second opinion from another surgeon as it doesn't sound like the first one you met with was a good match for you. Be sure and share all your reservations with him during your consultation. I hope this doctor is more tuned to his patients' needs. Most people need a little reassurance.
 
Thanks Jamie,

This surgeon is no a new guy to me. He knows me well unfortunately. But when it comes to asking questions, I must ask them in the wrong way because I get the feeling he doesn't get the question. The response I get doesn't even answer the question. It so frustrating.

It's almost like they (the surgeon) evade the question.

Is this the norm for surgeons now. This is not my first rodeo. They word the answer that makes no sense to me...

I think I'll ask to record the conversation so I can remember the questions and answers when I get home.
 
I think I'll ask to record the conversation so I can remember the questions and answers when I get home.
Write down your list of questions and then write the answers given during your appointment. I always do this. Writing means I remember the answer better. And if I don't remember it, then it's on paper.
 
Hi Tanya, I just joined the group but saw your story before registering and looked for you to reply what I know about surgeons in Colorado. I believe you were trying to find a different surgeon due to your answers not as you like.

We just moved from Cheyenne in March but before leaving, I was diagnosed with loosening of my left total knee. I was going to travel back for the revision but fortunately found a surgeon closer to home by 1200 miles! Anyway, I research with my work and when it was for my own knee I searched carefully. Dr. Dana Clark in Fort Collins is a great choice for orthopedic surgeons. Colorado Orthopedics of the Rockies. I understand turmoil as I am scared myself about the revision. Good luck.
 
Weight and bad knees are really a double edged sword. It's hard to exercise because of the knees but when you can't exercise it's harder to lose weight--and amazingly easy to gain it. I've been there.

I wonder if you could try to lose some of the weight and build some muscle over the next several months and then revisit the idea of the surgery when you feel a bit more confident about the whole thing?

Now, this is more in the vein of "do as I say, not as I do" because I'm not always so good at following my own advice on the exercise front, but I wonder if you could even do some seated exercises. There are some pretty good ones you can find on youtube.

Something I learned from my doc when my knees were bad also is that even gentle things like isometric exercises (just squeezing those muscles around the knee--sometimes called "quad sets" post tkr) can be helpful to shore up the muscles around the bad knees, taking a bit of pressure off the joints. It won't cure the problem but every little bit can help while you're waiting for surgery.
 
I went to PT for "before surgery" exercises. So I'm trying to do them every day until I have my surgery.

I'm on WW (lifetime member) but I have to say it's not working with the worries of covid and the protests. I get up every day with intention to track. Then there goes a cookie with coffee then another then oh why not you've already screw up your day then it's all downhill from there. Plus the worry of knee replacement at the top of my list.

I appreciate your input and advice. Thanks so much for being there. I'm pretty much on my own for help with decisions.
 
I hear you on WW and the tracking. It's so easy to go off the rails--the call of the cookie, :heehee: just getting annoyed with having to keep track, or whatever. :(

The before surgery exercises sound good. Do as much as doesn't give you too much pain. And you can ice your knee (which I'm sure you know).
 
Tanya; I'm just like you. way overweight and scheduled for my 2nd tkr on the 30th of this month. I had my 1st tkr on the 13th of February. I did a lot of stretching and walking in the pool and jacuzzi at the YMCA. I am a 5ft7in. Male and weigh 170lbs. I have to be at 265 by my surgery date; so I know what you're going through. maybe you could try the water approach and it might help. it's a lot easier on the joints. hope it gets better soon
 
Tanya; made a mistake; my weight is 270 not 170. I wish it was 170.
 

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