Hello and thanks to you all for writing such interesting and useful information. Just wanted to write in because I am now at my wits end, I am 45 years old and seem to have suffered with my knees for an eternity, in fact my first problems started at the age of 13 when I remember having my leg plastered as my muscle and bone were separating. I then between the ages of 15 and 17 had three FULL cartilages removed which is the reason I am where I am now. Due to 30 years wear and tear both my knees have arthritis to varying degrees, my right being the worst. Three years ago I was referred to my private healthcare hospital thinking it was my final cartilage causing the problem as I had severe pain on the outside of my right knee, I was shocked to be told that this wasn't the problem. Due to removal of the inside knee cartilage the pressure on the outside cartilage had totally worn it away and now the bones were rubbing causing bone spurs to start to appear at right angle to the bone. I was advised I needed a TKR but this was not covered by that hospital I would have to be referred back to NHS, I was and have been advised by the NHS doctor that yes I do need a TKR but they are reluctant to do it because of my age. This was 2.5 years ago and yes in some ways at the time I could understand the reasoning behind it. I struggled on for another 18 months the pain and the flexibility of my knee getting worse by the day. In March of this year I went back informing them that it was significantly worse although following an X-ray was told that the actual condition had not got that much worse. He suggested we try steroid injections and to be quite honest I was so grateful that something was being done I did not ask as many questions as I should. To my great relief after approx 2 weeks they had a positive effect. It wasn't perfect there was still slight pain but I was ale to walk most of the time without a limp and my mobility increased. This lasted for approx 9 weeks and then back to square one! I waited to have my next appointment until 2.5 weeks ago as I am going on holiday next week and wanted to be able to enjoy reduced pain and increase my mobility of the hol. The doctor asked me if I was desperate for the operation I said desperate 85% of the time he said that was a good answer and when it was 100% he would consider doing the operation reluctantly. I gave this answer with the view that I was going to get relief from the injections, BUT sadly they have had no effect as yet and I am devastated. I can drive for no longer than 10 minutes and even then the pain is sometimes unbearable. My main problem apart from the intense pain is the fact that if I either sit or stand for more than 15 minutes it seizes up and then I spend the next half an hour hobbling around just managing to put one foot in front of the other. The pain wakes me up in the night and just my day to day living is so badly affected.
I am obviously taking pain killers by the box sometimes they seem to help slightly other times not at all. To sum it up I am worried that if I have the operation it will cause me problems in the future as I am led to believe that depending on my life span I will probably need at least 2 maybe 3 TKR but to be quite honest I have little quality of life at the moment due to the pain and limited mobility and I am also worried that my already damaged left knee will deteriorate at an increased rate due to the extra strain it is under. Its my family that keeps me going and I want to be physically able for years to come. Any comments / information / advice are most welcome. Thanks for your time.
I am obviously taking pain killers by the box sometimes they seem to help slightly other times not at all. To sum it up I am worried that if I have the operation it will cause me problems in the future as I am led to believe that depending on my life span I will probably need at least 2 maybe 3 TKR but to be quite honest I have little quality of life at the moment due to the pain and limited mobility and I am also worried that my already damaged left knee will deteriorate at an increased rate due to the extra strain it is under. Its my family that keeps me going and I want to be physically able for years to come. Any comments / information / advice are most welcome. Thanks for your time.