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Do I or don't I?

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Re: Confused, concerned and cranky - possible TKR

Pie Man, In the words of one of America's top comedians...Larry the Cable Guy,,,,,,"Get (h)er Done!!!!I I'm a hippy but the same good sense applies! Trust your hopefully skilled surgeon. This is what they do! And the more they do, the more confident you will be, the more confident you will be, the better you can focus on your healing! Good Luck! Think positive thoughts, And let us know how you are doing! Keep us posted and of course. Welcome to Bonesmart!!!!!
 
Aren't Doctors helpful

Dear Knee commrades (given the recent anti-capitalist sentiment in London),

The answer is no they aren't. Went to my GP a couple of weeks ago to get some different pain meds (suffering from terrible stomach cramps) as i explained it was for my poor arthritic knee that will be replaced this year - going to the Royal National Orthopeadic Hospital on 21st April. He then started to opine that i was too young ( 45 ) and that they would not do the operation- i corrected him - he then helpfully went on to expalin that TKR's only last at max 10years and that some patients of his that have had revisions have had their knee's "fused" !!!!. Needless to say i was gob-smacked and left the surgery feeling very queasy.

I have only just come to terms with attending my forthcoming appointment with the view to going ahead with TKR surgery and he ( said GP ) spouts this this scribble. I'm not sure what or why someone would have their knee fused ( the swine even demonstrated how i would walk with a staight leg ) - though i would canvass some opinion on this issue.

Regards
 
Just looked at the knee photo's

Dear all - i'm sorry but i've just looked at the gallery of photo's and i've changed my mind again about surgery. There's got be another way.
Regards
 
Re: Just looked at the knee photo's

Why? What's the problem with them? You're not telling me the wound from your ACL repair was any more beautiful?!

They all very early and after about 6 months, they're hardly visible. Please don't let it put you off.

Plus we believe in being real in this forum. I'm sure you wouldn't want us to give the impression that everything was rosy from the start!

And of what 'other way' would you be thinking? There's none that I know.
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

Well, Pieman, as you know, I have a not inconsiderable number of years in joint replacement surgery and the one thing that has changed is that there is always an option for revision. That 'last resort' fusion died a death years ago! This GP is not only taking out of the back of his neck but based upon grossly out of date information to boot. Don't believe him, not one single jot! Beats me why these doctors feel it's their remit to put people off a resolution of their joint pain in this way.

I would say again ....

"As for the longevity of the prostheses, official line is 10-15 years, professionals reckon it to be 15-20. Statistics show it to be approaching 20-25 and maybe even more. There are many, many people walking around now, living good, productive and happy lives who had their knee replacements done in the 70s and 80s!"
 
Re: Just looked at the knee photo's

Apologies Jo - just a flippant e-mail - it was just that i had a similar reaction to the photo's as i had when i read about your fall - hand over open mouth with sharpe intake of breath style. The scar for my original knee repair is a rather natty S shape that run's for about 16inches down the back of my leg - the middle being a lateral part of the scar at the back of my knee.
Regards
 
Re: Just looked at the knee photo's

So does that mean you are going through with it?
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

PieMan....listen to Jo. She knows LOTS more about joint surgery than your GP!!! It's a sorry thing when doctors feel the need to upset a patient when they don't have all the facts to start with. Some time reading in this forum should help to dispel any doubts you might have received from this rather backward conversation with your family doctor. I think you'll find a whole different attitude in place when you meet with your surgeon. Go for it!!! Happily!!!
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

Welcome PieMan!!! Yikes!!! Can you get
Yourself another GP? Sounds like you should be RUNNING
As fast as you can AWAY from your current one!!!
Jo should definitely be able to ease your mind!
Good luck & let us know what happens!!! :)
 
Re: Just looked at the knee photo's

What gives? I (almost!!!) Thought you were kidding
About changng your mind!
0forget the way the scars look,,,,we're ALL proud
Of our war scars/battle wounds,,,, But don't you want
Your life BaCK & be rid of that nagging pain?????
Oh well!!!! Thought so!!!!!
 
Re: Just looked at the knee photo's

BTW PieMan...I'm a hippie!!!! :)
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

Pieman

Your GP was way out of line Josephine is right. I am 46 and just had BI-TKR and was told I would need to replace the bearing at 15 to 20 years barring any extreme problems and then could go another 15 -20 years. There is nothing like a pep talk with some one who in uninformed. Your surgeon should set him straight.

Good luck!

Max
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

My OS told me my replacements should most likely last my entire life. I was 58 when I had BTKR and am coming up to my one year mark this June. My OS will be taking xrays of my spacers and in another 2 years will take another xray, and every 2 years after. He will be keeping tabs on the wear of the plastic spacer within the joint. When it shows too much wear, he will open the incision and remove the old and replace with a new spacer. To me this is being proactive regarding the wear and tear on the replacement knee joint. It should be a matter of healing the incision for the replacement as the bones will not be touched.......
This I can deal with when necessary!
Best,
Crystal
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

My friend had 9 miscarriages in the country with a country gp who had a WONDERFUL(!!!!) reputation. My friend thought he was wonderful and so caring and knowledgeable....eventually she took my advice and saw a city obstetrician....who did all sorts of tests, and then determined that she had a clotting disorder, and everytime she got to the placenta taking over it would clot and she would miscarry....All it required was a simple aspirin each day...This is an example of a doctor not knowing when its time to refer on, and when its time to recognise his own limits. My poor friend has suffered so much loss, and is now too old to have any children...

If what your gp is saying conflicts with the OS, you have a few choices, listen to the gp, do your own research (eg bonesmart and other sources) and ignore the gp, get more opinions, or ditch the gp . I would not go back to that gp simply because if hes getting it wrong with basic stuff, how will he go with more major stuff...you need a gp on board who is supportive of your need to get on with life both before surgery, but importantly afterwards...
Rachel
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

That's so sad, Rachel! Not every doctor is a god!!!!
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

The problem here Judles is that he thought he was (a God) and people were bowing and scraping around him as though he was. Maybe he was good with other stuff, but he stuffed up big time, with my friend....and if he got it so wrong with her what else is he getting it wrong with. When she confronted him with it, he said that SHE should have asked to be referred years earlier....Surely its the dr responsibility to refer on, not the patient, after all thats why you go to the dr, for advice as to what to do.... This guy makes me so angry, when I think of all those little babies who died and the tremendous emotional and physical pain. She had to deliver 9 stillborn babies at about 18 weeks...She then went on to having huge mental health issues....
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

What a wonderful & sensitive friend you are, Rachel! What unfathomable loss!
 
Re: Aren't Doctors helpful

Hi PieMan,
I am new here, but I know one thing...your GP was really out of line. I have an older sister who had tKR over 14 years ago, and at the time they told her most KR's lasted about 10 years...her's is still going strong, and you can imagine how they have been improved over the past 14-15 years. I think one of the startling realities when we"grow up" is that the people we always believed knew everything (doctors , teachers, etc. (and I am not being disrespectful to those or any proffession)) are human just like the rest of us and they make mistakes, or just don't know "everything".
Find a good OS that you are comfortable with, and take comfort in the website. I've not been on here long, I found the site in Jan of this year, and I had RTKR on March 10. This site provides so much insight, and support, I am so thankful that I found it.
I am 62, bit older than you, but there is an autographed picture in my Os's office of a young female tennis player (I can't remember her name), but she appears to be in her 30's.
Good Luck...stay strong.
Marty
 
Re: Just looked at the knee photo's

Judles said:
What gives? I (almost!!!) Thought you were kidding
About changng your mind!
0forget the way the scars look,,,,we're ALL proud
Of our war scars/battle wounds,,,, But don't you want
Your life BaCK & be rid of that nagging pain?????
Oh well!!!! Thought so!!!!!
Click to expand...

No kidding! I am so tired of being in pain, and the last few days of climbing into and out of the back of a Land Rover repeatedly,and driving boats for hours at a time over rough water standing up has left me more determined than ever to go through with it. Only 23 days to go....gulp! I would even do it for a stable knee alone even if I knew the pain was going to be the same.

I don't care about scars. I am thinking I will use them as an excuse to arm myself with a cool cane when I travel.
 
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