Oldmancrash
new member
Hi everyone. I am new here as you can tell. I am 46 and been fighting my knees for about 25 years. I have these nice scares running down both sides of each knee. I have had ligament transplant, cartilage has been removed out of both knees, numerous arthroscopes.
My doctor at the time of all my surgeries told me that I will have pain the rest of my life I just have to deal with it. So in the last 25 years I have learned how to deal with the constant pain. I have raced dirt bikes, stock cars, and about 7 years ago found the love for racing mountain bikes. I am and have been for the last 25 years over weight (girlfriend that turned into wife who makes some good meals) by about 40 pounds which I do know has an effect on my knees.
About 4 years ago I got sick with what I thought was a cold that turned into having a pacemaker implanted as my heart was starting to fail. After the implant I found that there was not to much I could do without being out of breath very quickly. So I started to become a couch potato.
Fast forward to summer of 2008. I started to have more pain in my knees. My wife found a great doc and I went to see him. After some x-rays he told me that he couldn’t believe that I was able to even walk never mind do daily routines. He said that I really needed TKR in both knees but was to young. He suggested that I try synvisc injections.
Well in early August during the first shot in the right knee (the one at that moment that hurt the most) I about cried. The pain was incredible. A couple of hours after I was beginning to notice I did not have as much of the normal dull ach pain. Round 2 and 3 of synvisc injections went pretty easy. But in January I started to notice my pain beginning to rise. Within a few days it was almost unbearable to walk never mind perform my job.
I went back to the Doc in late January and got a cortisone injection in each knee. About mid February I got another injection in each knee. Late February I was going to see my daughter in GA and knew that I would be hurting from being on planes and walking so I went and asked how many times can we do this and he told be about 5 times a year. So I got another round of injections but noticed this time that there was almost no relief from the pain. But came to the conclusion that flying and walking the beach even though I was hurting might have aggravated it so the injection did not work.
Yesterday morning while getting ready for work my wife dropped one of her earrings down the bathroom sink and it went down the drain. No fear I can save it. Well after pulling the sink trap out I was almost unable to get back up off the floor. I went to work and later in the day I got a phone call from my wife telling me that I had another appointment with the Doc. I refused at first and well let’s just say my wife does not take kindly to being told no. I went to the Doc and he again told me that there is not much that can be done. My wife stepped in and said what are our options? She started to explain that the last 3-4 months the quality of my life has almost become none existant. She explained that we use to be real active on our ATV's but I have not had the desire because I hurt to much. See my wife and I ride our ATV's between 2,000 to 2,500 miles each year and ATVing had become a way of life for us except the last few months which I have ridden less then 75 miles.
He said that I may need to consider TKR. I told him that I thought I was to young and he explained that it is about my only option now. The doctor’s office made an appointment April 7th for me with a specialist with the intent of doing both knees at the same time. I freaked out. I still all to easily remember the mass pain after the old surgeries and time off from work which now is not an option. He told me to calm down that DTKR is not uncommon and that I could be back to work in as little as a week or so as I am a network coordinator so I can have seat time and get up and walk time. This just shocked me.
I called the knee doctor and they just returned my call and explained that I could be looking at surgery as early as April 20th and the recovery really depended on me as far as pain control and PT participation.
So here I sit trying to become an informed patient reading the forums of this site that are answering some of my questions. It’s good to be here but still a little ok maybe a LOT scary knowing what is going to happen shortly. Thanks for being here!
My doctor at the time of all my surgeries told me that I will have pain the rest of my life I just have to deal with it. So in the last 25 years I have learned how to deal with the constant pain. I have raced dirt bikes, stock cars, and about 7 years ago found the love for racing mountain bikes. I am and have been for the last 25 years over weight (girlfriend that turned into wife who makes some good meals) by about 40 pounds which I do know has an effect on my knees.
About 4 years ago I got sick with what I thought was a cold that turned into having a pacemaker implanted as my heart was starting to fail. After the implant I found that there was not to much I could do without being out of breath very quickly. So I started to become a couch potato.
Fast forward to summer of 2008. I started to have more pain in my knees. My wife found a great doc and I went to see him. After some x-rays he told me that he couldn’t believe that I was able to even walk never mind do daily routines. He said that I really needed TKR in both knees but was to young. He suggested that I try synvisc injections.
Well in early August during the first shot in the right knee (the one at that moment that hurt the most) I about cried. The pain was incredible. A couple of hours after I was beginning to notice I did not have as much of the normal dull ach pain. Round 2 and 3 of synvisc injections went pretty easy. But in January I started to notice my pain beginning to rise. Within a few days it was almost unbearable to walk never mind perform my job.
I went back to the Doc in late January and got a cortisone injection in each knee. About mid February I got another injection in each knee. Late February I was going to see my daughter in GA and knew that I would be hurting from being on planes and walking so I went and asked how many times can we do this and he told be about 5 times a year. So I got another round of injections but noticed this time that there was almost no relief from the pain. But came to the conclusion that flying and walking the beach even though I was hurting might have aggravated it so the injection did not work.
Yesterday morning while getting ready for work my wife dropped one of her earrings down the bathroom sink and it went down the drain. No fear I can save it. Well after pulling the sink trap out I was almost unable to get back up off the floor. I went to work and later in the day I got a phone call from my wife telling me that I had another appointment with the Doc. I refused at first and well let’s just say my wife does not take kindly to being told no. I went to the Doc and he again told me that there is not much that can be done. My wife stepped in and said what are our options? She started to explain that the last 3-4 months the quality of my life has almost become none existant. She explained that we use to be real active on our ATV's but I have not had the desire because I hurt to much. See my wife and I ride our ATV's between 2,000 to 2,500 miles each year and ATVing had become a way of life for us except the last few months which I have ridden less then 75 miles.
He said that I may need to consider TKR. I told him that I thought I was to young and he explained that it is about my only option now. The doctor’s office made an appointment April 7th for me with a specialist with the intent of doing both knees at the same time. I freaked out. I still all to easily remember the mass pain after the old surgeries and time off from work which now is not an option. He told me to calm down that DTKR is not uncommon and that I could be back to work in as little as a week or so as I am a network coordinator so I can have seat time and get up and walk time. This just shocked me.
I called the knee doctor and they just returned my call and explained that I could be looking at surgery as early as April 20th and the recovery really depended on me as far as pain control and PT participation.
So here I sit trying to become an informed patient reading the forums of this site that are answering some of my questions. It’s good to be here but still a little ok maybe a LOT scary knowing what is going to happen shortly. Thanks for being here!