Aprilgirl's pre-surgery questions for OS

[Aprilgirl]

Hi Everyone,
I had my pre-surgical appointment with my OS today and I wanted to come well prepared. I gather my questions from written material his office sent me, from the app "The Knee Guide", from this board and after watching the whole procedure online. (Yes, I really did that) I made two copies and gave one to my doctor. He loved it and even wrote out the answers for me as we talked! He thanked me for being so prepared and wished more patients could put questions in writing. Now I have great notes to refer to as I get closer to this surgery. I am having a revision, so my questions start out a bit specific, but I am posting this hoping it may be useful to someone else.
I really appreciate all the help I get from you all. I feel much better about my upcoming revision.
Lori in MN

Questions for my Orthopedic Surgeon

How/why is my partial 9 degrees off? How could that happen? Something I did?
Is it considered “instability or loosening?
Could it happen again?
How will the next implant be inserted to correct the 9 degrees off? Is it filled in somehow?
How soon can I have the other knee done? Can bilateral be considered?
Will I need a blood check for infection before surgery?
Will you aspirate my knee?
Do you recommend a pre-donation of my blood?
Is there any medications I will need to stop using before surgery? Arimidex, Gabentin, Motrin PM, Tylenol with codeine
Will I have a full or partial?
How long will the surgery take?
What manufacturer of the prosthesis do you use?
Do you use cemented our uncemented prosthesis?
Will the revision be a longer shaft?
Will you be replacing the knee cap?
What is the likelihood of a fracture of the tibia or femur?
Bone graft likely? Mine or a bone bank?
What about the ligaments - how do you work around them?
What type of anesthesia do you recommend?
Do you use a 48 hr femoral nerve block?
Do you use a “hooded clean suit”?
Where will the incision be? How long?
Do you close with staples or a cosmetic closure?
Do you use a drain?
What medication do you use to lower the risk of blood clotting? Lovenox, Arixtra, Coumadin, Xarelto, other?
Will I receive extra oxygen to promote healing?
What type of pain meds will I receive in the hospital?
How long hospital stay? 2-3 days or 4-7 days?
Will you be seeing me in the hospital?
Will I be using a CPM machine in the hospital? At home?
Can I get a Bregg Polar Cube for home use?
Home care thru??? I would like HealthEast Home Care
Physical therapy - where? How often and for how many weeks?

 

[icep707]

Aprilgirl. Is this the same OS as the one who did the first replacement ???? Did you have a partial originally? How long ago ? My joint class answered about 50% of those questions. And hopefully the other half will be answered on my pre op visit. They are all excellent questions. And very wise of you to ask those. when is your surgery? Best of luck to you as I can guess your surgery is fairly soon.

 

[Jamie]

Great questions. I want @Josephine to be sure and see them. I bet your surgeon WAS impressed!!! Good for you!

 

[tashia]

The list is so great. I glad that coming here has helped you. The questions are so good. We can help you thru this. Please keep us posted how you are doing. And any new questions do come up I know someone here can answer it. Take care and good luck. Tashia

 

[1ELISEA]

@Aprilgirl
Woot! Two thumbs up for you!
I am totally impressed with your preparation!

I notice from February Valentine's thread your surgery is Feb 24th. What a perfect day to have surgery in Minnesota. The weather is just beginning to show signs of coming spring, hopefully most of the snow is over, and the crocus are starting to pop up in full color! Excellent!

 

[tashia]

I forgot to say my hip replacement is 25th of February. This is so cool. Have you posted it yet in the month of February. this is great, quite a few of us on that date or near. We will do great. Tashia

 

[Aprilgirl]

Hi Icep707,
My original partial was put in May of 2010. I retired in May of 2011 after 36 years of teaching kindergarten. That helped my pain level for a bit but I continued feeling too much pain for a new knee. My original OS had left the group of surgeons I saw so I met with his colleague. That OS saw nothing wrong and just kept asking me to return every 6 mos. After one year I left the entire group of OS and went with another group.

The new OS took a bone scan, new x rays and a MRI and found the off center implant right away. Now I will be having a revision with a total knee replacement on Feb 24th. The other knee also needs help and I will schedule another TKR sometime in fall, if it can wait that long..

Thanks for asking questions. It is so nice to get support!

 

[Aprilgirl]

Thanks 1Elisea! Yes, it is for Feb 24 but I'm afraid our snowiest days are in March! We can hope for crocus in late April. I plan on watching lots of movies and sleeping!

 

[bottomshollow]

What great questions! You really were prepared. My hat's off to you.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[Aprilgirl]

Okay, so since my last appointment with my OS -for my pre-surgical for my left knee revision, he mentioned that my right knee is bone on bone and I could have that (partial) done any time after five weeks post op. Sooooo today I booked my partial 8 weeks after my revision on Feb 24th..I so want to be done with these sore knees!

I was surprised to hear that a partial is done on an out patient basis!! It wasn't done that way 4 years ago when I had my first one done, granted that was with a different group of Dr. I asked if it could be done in hospital and they said IF I requested it, it could be done with a one night stay.. I am in the Twin Cities in Mn..is this the newer practice elsewhere? I always thought that a partial is treated like a full in recovery. Evidently, this has changed around here! I will be having my partial done in the hospital!

Lori in MN

 

[bottomshollow]

I'm with you @Aprilgirl, I would not want even a partial done on an outpatient basis. It is still pretty major surgery. At least one night in hospital is good---just in case. I think you made a wise decision.

 

[Josephine]

@Aprilgirl , you don't need to quote a post to reply to it every time.
Just scoot on down to the bottom of the page and start typing!

 

[Aprilgirl]

Ohhhhh, thanks Josephine!

 

[icep707]

Well , heres to a successful revision. It wont be long now. Im getting alittle excited. as my tkr is coming up to . Its amazing how time is flying. Heres to a new date for your other knee too. Stick around !! And by all means keep reading .

 

[jeano]

My PKR was done in the hospital but I went home the same day, roughly 12 hours after they wheeled me into OR. My OS was fine with sending me home, he just hadnt done so that early before. If I had had the slightest interest in staying overnight I certainly could have--I was the one wanting to go home the day of surgery. Nary a problem that I couldnt handle at home. It didnt hurt that I am a nurse and the DH is an old EMT. I am now 60 and to date have never spent a night in a hospital when I wasnt on the clock, thank God.