TKR Good advice please!!

CT25

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Hello everyone.
I am hoping to get some good advice as I need TKR on both knees. I have had long term problems since childhood and had 12 operations in all since the age of 11 with lots of pain and long recoveries with two of the surgeries to straighten my legs going wrong. Coming up to the present day I now need the TKR’s as mobility and pain are both really bad. I am feeling so frustrated with not being able to walk as I love to and needing to know how near I need to be to everything and where to park and missing out on so much. I am going to attend a knee evening at a local private hospital given by an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in knees to find out more. My childhood fears of surgery are making it so hard to move forward I am just so scared of it all but know I don’t really have any other option if I want to get my life back.

It would be great to hear some good advice!!
 
@CT25 Welcome to BoneSmart! We were all anxious facing surgery. It's totally normal. But please know that the waiting is the hardest part of this journey. If you read on the knee recovery side of this board you will see plenty of success stories. And most members question why they waited so long.

Let us know how your knee evening goes. Have a list of questions ready if needed.

Will you be going private? Having both or just one knee replaced first?
 
Hello CT25 and :welome:

In 2011 I could have written a post more or less word for word like yours. I had both knees replaced, which corrected my bow legs (heels at 'attention' I could shove my fist between my knees no bother).

It was the best thing I could have done. Read my recovery thread from my signature (below). Both done at once means one recovery - really worth it.

As regards finding a surgeon, you could try asking the nurses, they know who’s the best. I went to my local hospital where the surgery was scheduled and walked around the orthopaedic ward looking lost; it went something like:

‘Can I help you?’ a nurse asked/challenged me.

‘Oh yes, I’m here for my knee soon, I just wanted to see what it’s like,’ I replied ‘Dr Jekyll is doing my surgery.’ Rising tone at the end, to prompt a reply, and trying to turn the nurse into a friend (worked at once, nurses are nice).

‘You’ll like him,’ she replied, but adding quickly ‘of course Mr Hyde and the other doctors are very good, but Dr Jekyll is our best.’

That last is the response I got (luck works in life, a very fine surgeon living less than a mile from my house and working in a hospital 200 yards away) but you might get something like 'Yes Dr Jekyll is very good.' in which case you prompt 'But what about Mr Hyde, I've heard fine reports about him too.'

You get the idea. I found nurses and other staff only too keen to help; and they are like the NCOs in the army, the backbone that holds it all up.

Keep doing your research, you can't know too much!
 
It seems to be saturated with Yorkshire folk on here, so I'll make you feel at home by saying, "Ayup Lass"

Whereabouts in God's country are you?

It's easy to tell you not to worry if it's in your nature, but be assured that very few (or any) people on here ever mention the actual surgery. It's really a non event in reality, but don't look on YouTube.

The first week or two are a challenge, but if you stick to the advice you get here re elevation, meds and icing and only gentle exercise, it soon passes. There are lovely folk on here who have done it (and got the tee shirt), they are brilliant at holding your hand during your journey to recovery.

Where's your hospital?
 
Hello Roy
Thank you so much for your reply. It’s so good to hear from someone that understands. I had surgery to correct my knees which were crossing over in 1971 bones broken and staples applied to the bones with a view to correcting the knees. Plaster casts applied for the next 3 months and then removed and further surgery planned a year later to remove the staples. The surgery was not successful and my knees over corrected due to poor aftercare and I was left with bow legs which I was teased and bullied about at school which was very hard to cope with.
It’s those early years and the affect they had on me that makes it so hard to trust again and move forward but I know I must.
It’s great to hear you are doing well .
 
Hi Tykey
I am in West Sussex near Chichester my hospital is St Richards. Great to hear from you and your good advice. It’s one of those things that the longer you leave it the harder it gets and there is so much more I am missing out on. Hearing from Roy that his bow legs were corrected when he had TKR is music to my ears and something that I was not aware of so busy concentrating on all the downsides and not the good.
How has it all gone for you? Are you awaiting surgery or post?
 
Why I thought you were in Yorkshire will remain a mystery, I hope I at least got the "lass" bit right!

I had my first TKR 10 years ago, and the other joined it 5 months ago.

Both have been a great success. I'm now doing lots of DIY, up and down ladders, carrying heavy furniture up and down stairs, this morning I'm scrabbling around the floor doing plumbing.
This afternoon I'm back to moving furniture and then painting it. The new knee gets a little stiff by the evening, but never any pain.

For me, the key has been a positive attitude, with building up the exercise by getting on with my "activities of daily life", doing a little bit each couple of days. If it swelled up, I backed off for a bit then tried again.

If by chance, if anyone tells you that there is a window of opportunity, that if you don't fully bend your knee fully in 6 weeks, your knee will set like concrete, they are talking codswallop. Around the world, there are physiotherapists who would torture you by forcing your knee - never ever let them do this! I, in common with many on here did no physiotherapy just gentle exercises at home, and we are doing fine.

For once, I'm not going to mention my secret British medication which makes full recovery certain. Somebody else might

If you want my description of my surgery experience (I actually found it quite a nice experience) just ask.

LATER: My wife has just returned from shopping with another shipment of my secret meds
 
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Hi again Tykey
Yes you got the “lass” bit right!! It is so good to hear such positive news and how much you are able to do with your new knees. You are right a positive attitude really does help and I agree with taking the recovery slowly and doing what you can, slow and steady wins the race as they say.
I have been doing exercises to strengthen the muscles round the knees etc trying to help when I finally do have the surgery. I have an evening on the 16th March which is all about knees presented by an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in knees so l hope to come away with a lot more knowledge as there will be Q&A’s and s chance to speak one to one with the surgeon.
Yes I would love to hear a description of your surgery experience
:)
 
Okey dokey,

Arrived at hospital 6.30am.
After checking many times that I was the right person, and they had put a cross with a felt tip pen on the correct leg, had a quick kip.
Then the call came, and I limped down to surgery prep room. They painted my leg with something, fitted a cannula and put a dose of happy juice in me. I started floating off, then it was time for my spinal injection. This isn't the greatest part of the whole thing, but with aid of the happy juice I just thought of something nice, like going for a walk round Buttermere.
By that time, I was sharing jokes about Brexit with the tech staff, as they put my knee in a support.
Then through the door into surgery proper to share a few jokes with the surgeon who was French. They put a cloth screen up around my waist.
Then he was away, I was awake for part of the time, it was fascinating to hear the noises as he worked away. For the first one, I slept through the whole thing, although I tried not to.
Before I knew it, I could hear the staples closing the wound.
Some people take their phone in with them and play themselves music.
You might not believe it, but it really was quite a nice experience.
Then I was wheeled out, back to ward for a nice cuppa and some sandwiches.
With the spinal, there was absolutely no pain, and as the spinal gradually wore off, there was still no pain.
The same afternoon it was time for a walk to the toilet, and then snooze time until dinner arrived with treacle pudding.
Home the next day, still no pain unless I walked about, which I did often to make a cuppa or a sarnie.
So all in all, no problem, going to the dentist is worse for me.
Hope this helps, don't worry about what might happen, because it very rarely does.
 
OMG that is such an amazing account of your surgery day. If mine is half as good I will be more than happy. I have been reading about spinal for the surgery and that it can be very useful for pain relief after. I think I would need to also have good sedation as I would not want to hear any of the noises etc during the operation. It is so good to hear such an upbeat account as so many stories are so negative I know everyone is different, pain levels, recovery etc but it has really made me feel very positive that all could go really well on the day.
Thank you so much :)
 
Spinal + light anaesthesia = oh you tee for the surgery, worked for me.

Finding the absolute best surgeon is IMO now your challenge, I suggest talking to several. If it costs money, hey it's what money is for!
 
Yes that sounds like a good cocktail :). And I believe good pain relief after. When I attend the knee evening I will be seeing one surgeon and I will have a lot of Q&A’s for him and I have already seen one surgeon and he has carried out arthroscopy’s on both knees which went really well and diagnosed my end of the road knees for me. That was a few years ago now and I have struggled in thinking it will all go away...but it doesn’t it just gets worse and more life limiting.
Thank you for your advice l have only joined today but already I don’t feel alone with all this my husband is great but unless you have all the pain etc it’s hard to know how it really feels.
 
my husband is great but unless you have all the pain etc it’s hard to know how it really feels.
Friends and family want to support you but their approach is trying to make the pain go away. Pre-op that's impossible. Post op - you will need to manage pain with medication and icing.

In the end it is very comforting to go through this with other members who know exactly how you are feeling and can give you practical advise on how to move forward.
 
Hi Jaycey
Yes I quite agree I have had so much help and reassurance on my first day of joining and this is definitely the place to be for good, sound advice. It’s just so good to know you are not alone and there are other lovely people taking this journey on and for the best part winning. You asked me a question earlier but as this is the first time in a forum I wasn’t sure if I was posting correctly. To answer your question I will be having my right knee done first followed by the left at a later stage. I am not sure yet if the hospital will be private as both surgeons I am interested in work at my local NHS hospital as well.
 
To answer your question I will be having my right knee done first followed by the left at a later stage
I urge you to consider having them done together. One surgery, one recovery. Worked for me.
 
To answer your question I will be having my right knee done first followed by the left at a later stage
I urge you to consider having them done together. One surgery, one recovery. Worked for me.
It’s something I have thought about as both knees are as bad it’s not like I have a good one to help out while the “new knee” is recovering. I will give it a lot of thought and will ask the surgeons when I see them.
 
I think I was sleeping under sedation before I got the spinal because I missed that part.

My day of surgery wasn’t terrible though it wasn’t as easy as Tykey’s.

I think you have to look at this as a project, with many phases and lots of different challenges. Some of the challenges are really manageable and some are much tougher. What helps is having people to share your progress with, people who really know how hard it can be AND how great the successes are.

I hope it all goes better than you expect!
 
Hi Helizabug
That sounds nice being already sleeping from the sedation I had epidural for my children’s births so I guess the spinal is similar? Did the spinal work for you with pain relief after the surgery? It defiantly is a project and having all new people on board to chat to like yourself is really nice. This is something you have to go through to really know what it’s like and to be able to understand all the highs and lows along the way. I started today feeling really scared and nervous about the whole thing and wanting to be able to move forward then l joined this forum and now this evening I feel more chilled than I did this morning so that’s a massive step forward :)
 
Hi @CT25 - This article may help you with some of your questions about spinal anaesthesia:
Anaesthetics - spinals, femoral blocks, GAs and everything else

The spinal provides good pain relief in the first hours after surgery, but it does wear off within a few hours, so you will need a different type of pain relief as well.

Have you looked at the section on Pain Management? It's in the blue bar at the top of the page.
 
Good morning Celle
Thank you for your post. I will be clicking on the link and reading about the spinals etc. So much good information coming my way l certainly had a better nights sleep with all the help and advice I received yesterday. Also it was great to learn yesterday that this forum supports a steady recovery and not a no pain, no gain philosophy as that was really playing on my mind. It’s made feel empowered that when I finally get to the post op phase I would remember the slow and steady and not the fast and painful.
 

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