United States
Thank God you found out the allergy before having tkr! That saves you a lot of future pain and surgery! This is definitely for the best!
Bilateral PKR scheduled for 3 October
- Thread starter Wags
- Start date
SuperSnapper
post-grad
What a shame but much better to have a short delay and have everything done correctly.
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
@Celle @SusieShoes
It's really odd because I was really nervous about having the op and was getting more so as each day went by but now today I feel really disappointed that it's not happening, thought I'd feel relieved but feel quite down. I know it's definitely for the best as was told what effects an allergy to the implant could have but have to put up with unproductive pain for longer now. Fingers crossed it'll be soon
It's really odd because I was really nervous about having the op and was getting more so as each day went by but now today I feel really disappointed that it's not happening, thought I'd feel relieved but feel quite down. I know it's definitely for the best as was told what effects an allergy to the implant could have but have to put up with unproductive pain for longer now. Fingers crossed it'll be soon
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
So the latest update is that my consultant has referred me to another consultant within the hospital who deals with the non nickel implants, I’ve not heard from him yet but need to have an appointment with him to discuss a new date, so hopefully it won’t be too long to wait
dogluvr
junior member
I'm right there with you on symbols of a new lease on life! I forgot until I was reading this post that when I went to see the physicians assistant 11 days after surgery, he told me I could keep my incisions covered if I was worried what people would think! I think my mouth fell open. I was just so stunned that a professional would say something like that! I think I replied that I don't care what others think ! No matter how my scars end up looking,i won't be embarrassed!
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
Well today I got a letter from the new consultant, and an initial appointment on 3/11, rang up to see if I could bring the appointment forward but secretary told me consultant is on annual leave until end of October and I have one of his first appointments after he is back.
Looks like I may well possibly have my op in November, depending what happens at the appointment. Still extremely worried about having them both done at once, most people seem to have them done one at a time and unsure which option would be best, don’t even know if this surgeon will do them together or if he’ll opt to do them one at a time or whether he won’t think I need an op at all. Have to say if they do them separately and it’s bad then I doubt I’d have the courage to get the 2nd done
Another 3 weeks of worry, apprehension and pain to go, feeling down
Looks like I may well possibly have my op in November, depending what happens at the appointment. Still extremely worried about having them both done at once, most people seem to have them done one at a time and unsure which option would be best, don’t even know if this surgeon will do them together or if he’ll opt to do them one at a time or whether he won’t think I need an op at all. Have to say if they do them separately and it’s bad then I doubt I’d have the courage to get the 2nd done
Another 3 weeks of worry, apprehension and pain to go, feeling down
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Having two knees done at the same time is, as my OS put it, “intense” and recovery is a bit rough at first (no sugar-coating that). It’s quite doable, though.
I too worried my OS would think I didn’t need surgery. It’s funny how we can tell ourselves that when we know how much we’re suffering. My OS took one look at my x-rays and asked if I was using a walker. Nope. A cane? Nope. “How are you walking?” Pure grit, doc. Pure grit.
I feared he would want to do one at a time. Both knees were horrible, but... not all surgeons will do bilateral replacements. But no, he thought I’d do real well with bilateral, and we scheduled the surgery.
All of which is to say your fears are natural. You know what you need, and what you want, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get it. We’re afraid to hope. You’re three weeks away from your appointment. Read up on bilateral replacements. Read about pain control so you can ask pointed questions about how this surgeon handles that. And before you know it, you will have answers.
I too worried my OS would think I didn’t need surgery. It’s funny how we can tell ourselves that when we know how much we’re suffering. My OS took one look at my x-rays and asked if I was using a walker. Nope. A cane? Nope. “How are you walking?” Pure grit, doc. Pure grit.
I feared he would want to do one at a time. Both knees were horrible, but... not all surgeons will do bilateral replacements. But no, he thought I’d do real well with bilateral, and we scheduled the surgery.
All of which is to say your fears are natural. You know what you need, and what you want, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get it. We’re afraid to hope. You’re three weeks away from your appointment. Read up on bilateral replacements. Read about pain control so you can ask pointed questions about how this surgeon handles that. And before you know it, you will have answers.
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
Having two knees done at the same time is, as my OS put it, “intense” and recovery is a bit rough at first (no sugar-coating that). It’s quite doable, though.
I too worried my OS would think I didn’t need surgery. It’s funny how we can tell ourselves that when we know how much we’re suffering. My OS took one look at my x-rays and asked if I was using a walker. Nope. A cane? Nope. “How are you walking?” Pure grit, doc. Pure grit.
I feared he would want to do one at a time. Both knees were horrible, but... not all surgeons will do bilateral replacements. But no, he thought I’d do real well with bilateral, and we scheduled the surgery.
All of which is to say your fears are natural. You know what you need, and what you want, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get it. We’re afraid to hope. You’re three weeks away from your appointment. Read up on bilateral replacements. Read about pain control so you can ask pointed questions about how this surgeon handles that. And before you know it, you will have answers.
@SusieShoes
Thanks for your honesty about it not being an easy ride, I know it won’t be and I guess much of my fear comes from the unknown
It’s also nice to know that my thoughts are not that different from others, ie will surgeon say he doesn’t think I need surgery, I know how bad my knees are but no one else can feel my pain, my family see me struggle with stairs and see me slow down when walking any real distance because it hurts but I tend to hide a lot because I don’t want them to worry about me, they don’t see me awake a lot in the night because I’m so uncomfortable, they don’t see me cry in the bathroom because I’ve had enough that day. They don’t know just how scared I am at the thought of this operation, again I don’t want to worry them. From looking at me most of the time no one would know if I was in pain, and I often wonder if people think I’m faking, only a fellow knee sufferer understands. When my last consultant looked at my MRI and said “I understand why you’re in pain”, it was such a relief that someone had validated it and I was glad my husband was in the room with me because I’m not sure he understood in the beginning.
I’m scared at the thought of having them both done at the same time but I’m scared that new consultant will say that he’ll do one at a time because I doubt I’d want to go back for the 2nd one
I worry so much about the pain relief side of things too, because of being allergic to so many medications, never thought to ask my last consultant about pain relief or anything much to be honest, I just sat there a bit shell shocked because I didn’t think he was going to say I needed partial knee replacements, I thought he’d tell me I needed my cartilage trimmed or something. Maybe if I’d have thought to ask questions I’d have found out that I couldn’t have an implant with nickel in and would have had my surgery around the original date instead of weeks later, hindsight is a wonderful thing
Despite my fears I still don’t want to wait 3 more weeks, I want to get it all over and done with so the worrying and waiting is over and it’s frustrating that everything is all out of my control. At least I will go armed with questions about what I’m concerned about this time, will sit down with the husband and think of the things we want to know about
and write a list, after all we have plenty of time 
I am 7 months post op with a partial, I had a Patellofemoral. My incision does seem to be shorter than my friends who’ve had totals. Personally I don’t care what it looks like, knees are not fabulous looking even without the incision, in my opinion.
While I have not had any complications I feel my recovery has been very difficult. I was expecting a recovery time of 2-3 months, but it is now 7 months and I am no where near normal. I didn’t know recovery would take about a year until I found Bonesmart at 4 weeks post op.
I didn’t drive until about 9 weeks and that was only because I had to. My leg was not comfortable in the car and because of that I felt it was too distracting for me to concentrate on the road. And it’s my left leg.
I still have quite a bit of discomfort and can’t imagine this ever feeling as normal as the orthopedic websites said it would because two of the compartments are still my natural ones. It doesn’t change the fact that there is a foreign object in my knee. I guess when I am fully healed I will get used to a new normal.
To be very honest, I am sorry I had this partial done. I most certainly don’t want to do this again but I think there will come a day when I won’t have a choice and will have to have it converted to a total. I wish my surgeon had been more informative about that.
I thought this would take care of things for good since I was “catching it early “
Yes my knees hurt before surgery but only when doing stairs, which I don’t do often because I live in a one story home, and they hurt sitting down and getting up. They did not hurt to walk, and now in recovery walking is still a bit difficult. Before surgery I could bend my knee just fine, and that is not yet the case for me now.
I was not prepared for all the pressure and unrealistic expectations from the medical professionals when it came to being able to bend my knee again. It’s tough in the US as most people seem to think one can’t possibly recover without PT and countless exercises. Thankfully I found Bonesmart which believes in a gentler approach which I am following.
I wish I had known more and waited for the TKR.
It will be a very long time before, or if, I consider getting my other one done.
Best wishes to you as you proceed. Join us on the recovery side, it’s a great source of support and information.
While I have not had any complications I feel my recovery has been very difficult. I was expecting a recovery time of 2-3 months, but it is now 7 months and I am no where near normal. I didn’t know recovery would take about a year until I found Bonesmart at 4 weeks post op.
I didn’t drive until about 9 weeks and that was only because I had to. My leg was not comfortable in the car and because of that I felt it was too distracting for me to concentrate on the road. And it’s my left leg.
I still have quite a bit of discomfort and can’t imagine this ever feeling as normal as the orthopedic websites said it would because two of the compartments are still my natural ones. It doesn’t change the fact that there is a foreign object in my knee. I guess when I am fully healed I will get used to a new normal.
To be very honest, I am sorry I had this partial done. I most certainly don’t want to do this again but I think there will come a day when I won’t have a choice and will have to have it converted to a total. I wish my surgeon had been more informative about that.
I thought this would take care of things for good since I was “catching it early “
Yes my knees hurt before surgery but only when doing stairs, which I don’t do often because I live in a one story home, and they hurt sitting down and getting up. They did not hurt to walk, and now in recovery walking is still a bit difficult. Before surgery I could bend my knee just fine, and that is not yet the case for me now.
I was not prepared for all the pressure and unrealistic expectations from the medical professionals when it came to being able to bend my knee again. It’s tough in the US as most people seem to think one can’t possibly recover without PT and countless exercises. Thankfully I found Bonesmart which believes in a gentler approach which I am following.
I wish I had known more and waited for the TKR.
It will be a very long time before, or if, I consider getting my other one done.
Best wishes to you as you proceed. Join us on the recovery side, it’s a great source of support and information.
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
Thanks @Jockette, I have looked into this op in much more detail and there do not seem to be many positive comments on patellofemoral pkr’s, especially bilateral as I was due to have, it has really put me off, I don’t want to still be in pain after the op and have to wait for a revision to tkr, I might as well stay as I am, really despondent now as have my appointment with new consultant on Friday and was hoping to get a date to improve things for me, instead I could be making things worse. Doubt consultant will go for tkr on one knee let alone two because unless things have changed the other knee compartments are ok.
Seems like I’m back to square one, only positive I can see at the moment is that I didn’t have it done without finding all this out first and been stuck with more suffering for however long it took for them to do revision and then have to go through the whole thing twice.
Unsure whether to cancel appointment Friday and give up altogether, not feeling very positive right now
@Wags
I would think once you recover from the partial, you will not have pain. I am not there yet, but that is what I am hoping. I do not have that arthritic pain right now that I had before, but do still have recovery from the trauma of surgery discomfort. There was quite a bit of pain for a while after surgery but that has lessened to discomfort.
My disappointment with the partial is that it most likely won’t last the rest of my life like I thought it would. I had my 7 month check up last week and asked my surgeon how long he thought this would last and he said about 10 years. I already knew and believed what Bonesmart says, I just wanted to get his thought. I guess I will be lucky if I get 10 years out if it. But it really doesn’t matter, I will have to do this again. It is a very difficult recovery and I don’t want to do it again.
But at least you know going into it that it will most likely have to be done again in the future, and maybe it will be worth it to get some relief now, for however long that lasts. I did not know that beforehand. I did try medications and therapy and shots in my knee for several years before surgery but they never helped.
I understand the pain you are in, I had it too. But in many ways, compared to recovery, I was less limited before surgery. Time will tell, when I am fully recovered, if it was worth it. I am not there yet. But at least with totals, they last the rest of your life.
I would think it’s a bit harder to recover from a bilateral than a single, but there seem to be many on Bonesmart who do bilateral, so I’d go for it if they offer it, and you just have one recovery. I’ve read others who do them separaately and some of them feel like recovery goes on forever.
Have you looked at the recovery threads here? That might give you a better idea of bilaterals.
Maybe this new consultant will do totals for you. Just because you’ve been told partial so far doesn’t mean this next one will agree.
I’m sorry that this whole process is not going like you thought it would, and that we have made your decision harder. But you came to the right place for information. I wish I had found Bonesmart before my surgery. But, better late than never.
Keep us posted on how things go, we really do care!
I would think once you recover from the partial, you will not have pain. I am not there yet, but that is what I am hoping. I do not have that arthritic pain right now that I had before, but do still have recovery from the trauma of surgery discomfort. There was quite a bit of pain for a while after surgery but that has lessened to discomfort.
My disappointment with the partial is that it most likely won’t last the rest of my life like I thought it would. I had my 7 month check up last week and asked my surgeon how long he thought this would last and he said about 10 years. I already knew and believed what Bonesmart says, I just wanted to get his thought. I guess I will be lucky if I get 10 years out if it. But it really doesn’t matter, I will have to do this again. It is a very difficult recovery and I don’t want to do it again.
But at least you know going into it that it will most likely have to be done again in the future, and maybe it will be worth it to get some relief now, for however long that lasts. I did not know that beforehand. I did try medications and therapy and shots in my knee for several years before surgery but they never helped.
I understand the pain you are in, I had it too. But in many ways, compared to recovery, I was less limited before surgery. Time will tell, when I am fully recovered, if it was worth it. I am not there yet. But at least with totals, they last the rest of your life.
I would think it’s a bit harder to recover from a bilateral than a single, but there seem to be many on Bonesmart who do bilateral, so I’d go for it if they offer it, and you just have one recovery. I’ve read others who do them separaately and some of them feel like recovery goes on forever.
Have you looked at the recovery threads here? That might give you a better idea of bilaterals.
Maybe this new consultant will do totals for you. Just because you’ve been told partial so far doesn’t mean this next one will agree.
I’m sorry that this whole process is not going like you thought it would, and that we have made your decision harder. But you came to the right place for information. I wish I had found Bonesmart before my surgery. But, better late than never.
Keep us posted on how things go, we really do care!
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Oh, definitely go for your appointment, @Wags. The surgeon is the one who can answer all your questions! Ask if you are a candidate for total knee replacements. Ask if, when the surgeon goes into your knee in the operating room, and the knee shows damage in the other compartments, would he/could he decide to do total knee replacements on the spot? Ask if you are a candidate for bilateral. This is the time and person to address all your concerns and what you hope to gain from this surgery, and how best to go about it.
Also, I had TKRs because I needed them. My knees were totally shot. Some people have good results with partial replacements, as @Celle did. You also know the concerns people have about that surgery. That’s not to say it’s never successful. Don’t give up... get answers, and decide what’s best for you.
Let us know how your appointment goes. We care.
Also, I had TKRs because I needed them. My knees were totally shot. Some people have good results with partial replacements, as @Celle did. You also know the concerns people have about that surgery. That’s not to say it’s never successful. Don’t give up... get answers, and decide what’s best for you.
Let us know how your appointment goes. We care.
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
@SusieShoes
Previous consultant was doing bilateral as both knees were a problem, mind you that’s not to say the new consultant will agree I guess
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
You’re right, I think. I don’t know about the UK, but though I needed both knees done, some surgeons would not do bilateral, and for those that did, I needed to be certain they would do them on me. 
Yes, my PKR did last for 11 years and it gave me back the life I wanted. It saved me from progressive invalidism.
However, it was a medial compartment PKR, not a patello-femoral.
@Wags - do go to your appointment with the new consultant. Tell him how you are feeling and ask all your questions - write them down, so you don't forget.
There are some surgeons who are enthusiasts for PKRs and it sounds as if you first consultant is one of those. There are others who will not do them.
Can I suggest you download and fill in this assessment?
Score Chart: How bad is my arthritic knee?
Take it with you to your appointment, so you can show the new surgeon how much your knees are affecting your quality of life.
However, it was a medial compartment PKR, not a patello-femoral.
@Wags - do go to your appointment with the new consultant. Tell him how you are feeling and ask all your questions - write them down, so you don't forget.
There are some surgeons who are enthusiasts for PKRs and it sounds as if you first consultant is one of those. There are others who will not do them.
Can I suggest you download and fill in this assessment?
Score Chart: How bad is my arthritic knee?
Take it with you to your appointment, so you can show the new surgeon how much your knees are affecting your quality of life.
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
Ok so now I’m confused, new consultant is not keen on doing bilateral patellofemoral pkr, he suggests one knee first then the other, can be done 6 weeks apart or longer depending on how I feel, but he did say that if I really wanted them done together then he would do it, but he feels it’s a very hard recovery and said I would not be able to do much, he even joked that I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on!
He said he doesn’t feel there is any hurry to do the surgery! And was debating my pain levels, so now I feel like a fraud and wonder if I’m bad enough to even have this done at all? Other consultant was keen to get both done at once and as quick as possible and on looking at my MRI scan (same scans that new consultant was looking at) said it was no wonder I was in so much pain.
New consultant said he felt a partial was more beneficial at my age rather than a total, as a partial gives a better range of movement as is better for someone of my age that is more active, also the two outer compartments are not showing any signs of damage at present and why replace something that is ok.
He said he doesn’t feel there is any hurry to do the surgery! And was debating my pain levels, so now I feel like a fraud and wonder if I’m bad enough to even have this done at all? Other consultant was keen to get both done at once and as quick as possible and on looking at my MRI scan (same scans that new consultant was looking at) said it was no wonder I was in so much pain.
New consultant said he felt a partial was more beneficial at my age rather than a total, as a partial gives a better range of movement as is better for someone of my age that is more active, also the two outer compartments are not showing any signs of damage at present and why replace something that is ok.
I’m sorry things are so confusing, with conflicting opinions from two different doctors, and my opinion, too.
If a PKR is all they are willing to do maybe it would be good to go for it. You can’t force them to do totals. Just know that there most likely will have to be a conversion to a total somewhere down the line. And the recovery time is very long. At 7 months post op I still have a long way to go before I will feel recovered. Everything I read about partials before surgery said a quicker recovery. Not true at all.
I don’t remember which compartment you would be getting replaced, mine was a Patellofemoral.
In my case I do not have better range of motion because I have a partial. My range is actually less than a lot of totals, but that’s just the rate that my body is healing. I don’t believe that PKR vs TKR makes any difference with that.
Nor does my knee feel more natural because the other two compartments are my natural ones. There is still a foreign object in my knee that is hard for me to adjust to.
There are people on Bonesmart that are happier with their partials than I am. I think @SuperSnapper is one of them.
Hopefully knowing some of these things ahead of time will save you the disappointment I felt when I found them out after surgery.
I’m sure you are in a lot of pain. I was, too.
I hope you can come to a decision that you will have peace with. I’m sorry if I’ve added to your stress by sharing my thoughts.
If a PKR is all they are willing to do maybe it would be good to go for it. You can’t force them to do totals. Just know that there most likely will have to be a conversion to a total somewhere down the line. And the recovery time is very long. At 7 months post op I still have a long way to go before I will feel recovered. Everything I read about partials before surgery said a quicker recovery. Not true at all.
I don’t remember which compartment you would be getting replaced, mine was a Patellofemoral.
In my case I do not have better range of motion because I have a partial. My range is actually less than a lot of totals, but that’s just the rate that my body is healing. I don’t believe that PKR vs TKR makes any difference with that.
Nor does my knee feel more natural because the other two compartments are my natural ones. There is still a foreign object in my knee that is hard for me to adjust to.
There are people on Bonesmart that are happier with their partials than I am. I think @SuperSnapper is one of them.
Hopefully knowing some of these things ahead of time will save you the disappointment I felt when I found them out after surgery.
I’m sure you are in a lot of pain. I was, too.
I hope you can come to a decision that you will have peace with. I’m sorry if I’ve added to your stress by sharing my thoughts.
OP
OP
Wags
junior member
@Jockette
The same as you, the patellofemoral
It’s not the comments on here that have confused me but the different opinions from the consultants.
I could still push for tkrs I guess but don’t know which would be best, is there any one that has had a partial patellofemoral pkr that is happy with it?
I don’t mind it not being bilateral, just worried that I may not go for the 2nd one if the first is too painful
The same as you, the patellofemoral
It’s not the comments on here that have confused me but the different opinions from the consultants.
I could still push for tkrs I guess but don’t know which would be best, is there any one that has had a partial patellofemoral pkr that is happy with it?
I don’t mind it not being bilateral, just worried that I may not go for the 2nd one if the first is too painful
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
I can only speak as a bilateral total knee replacement recipient, but in my opinion the recovery is just as hard, not harder than, a single knee —the difference is you have two knees recovering, two recoveries going on, not just one. So no good leg to stand on, yeah. But, for me anyway, both knees were so shot I didn’t have a good leg no matter what! So was it tough? Yes. It’s a little harder getting around those first few weeks. But having just one tough but doable recovery was really good. I’m glad I did it that way and really glad I didn’t have to do it twice.
So if you need bilateral, don’t not do it because of no leg to stand on.
Some surgeons won’t do bilateral replacements. They have their reasons. Find the best surgeon you can and go with the way he or she best likes to do their thing.
I hope you get some replies from people happy with their patella-femoral PKRs to help you sort this out. There may not be an absolute answer, though.
So if you need bilateral, don’t not do it because of no leg to stand on.
Some surgeons won’t do bilateral replacements. They have their reasons. Find the best surgeon you can and go with the way he or she best likes to do their thing.
I hope you get some replies from people happy with their patella-femoral PKRs to help you sort this out. There may not be an absolute answer, though.
I don’t think pushing for the total will help, the surgeon will do what he thinks is best during surgery (not that you have to agree with him) and if he doesn’t agree with taking out the good parts to do the total, then he’s going to just do the partial.
If you do bilateral you have one recovery time frame. Doing them separately but close together is almost the same thing, but it adds time as the second one needs the year or more recovery also. So the first one is a bit better, but still not super strong, then you’re back to square one with the second one.
There are people on here that have done bilaterals and did well with recovery. I’m not sure of bilateral partials, but @SusieShoes did bilateral totals. She did very well!
You could try doing a search on here for bilateral PKR and see if any are the Patellofemoral ones. If I was on a computer I would be able to post a link to the partials, but I don’t know how to do that on this phone.
If you do bilateral you have one recovery time frame. Doing them separately but close together is almost the same thing, but it adds time as the second one needs the year or more recovery also. So the first one is a bit better, but still not super strong, then you’re back to square one with the second one.
There are people on here that have done bilaterals and did well with recovery. I’m not sure of bilateral partials, but @SusieShoes did bilateral totals. She did very well!
You could try doing a search on here for bilateral PKR and see if any are the Patellofemoral ones. If I was on a computer I would be able to post a link to the partials, but I don’t know how to do that on this phone.
