Hi!! I'm Pokey and I have ....

[pokey]

Some questions concerning knee replacement procedures.
I have so far only seen my family Dr. but have been referred to an Orthopedic Surgeon and my appt. is the 17th of March.
I have had knee problems for about 10 years now, and have an extremely high tolerance to pain so have been putting this off for quite some time. However last year both my knees began to let me know that they were not going to go away!! ha.
My husband & I are avid bicycle riders (both road & mountain) and I was unable to ride at all last year. I also greatly enjoy gardening and again was unable to do that last year either.
This past winter the pain even started to affect my ability to do my job.
I am not at all affraid of surgery or any resulting discomfort. I to be quite honest am not exactly sure just which questions I should ask when I go in on the 17th.
I would really appreciate a little help on this as I really want to ask the RIGHT questions to get the proper answers.
Thanks in advance for any help, and hope I don't sound like an idiot!!

 

[beachcomber]

Hello and welcome! You have come to the right place!

There are actually two "sides" to this forum--- one side is very helpful for people who are contemplating knee replacement. The other side is primarily made up with people who are in the process of *recovering* from knee replacement.

I found this site after my partial knee replacement and have mostly spent my time on the *recovery* side, but I believe that our fabulous moderator Josephine has posted a list of very important questions to ask your OS when considering a knee replacement on the *other * side of the forum.

Isn't that right Josephine?

So, you might try looking around at her past posts. I know that list would be very very helpful to you!

Congratulations for finding this forum before surgery. It has been a godsend for so many of us, but many like me, stumbled upon it later in the recovery process. I wish I had known about it earlier.

Best wishes to you!

 

[Pattipoo]

By the time I went to the OS, I had exhausted every other treatment...like most of us had. I knew when I went in I would be picking a date for surgery. He took one look at my xrays...said "there's only one treatment left - TKR".....I said...let's DO THIS. SO glad I did. It's a long haul - you need to realize that going into this....but it's going to be wellllll worth it and I've met the coolest group of friends that I will NEVER/EVER forget! I've got pics of most of them....and I feel like I could have anyone of them over for dinner and carry on with our conversations!

 

[Josephine]

I think I'm going to post those questions as a sticky!! (that's if I can find one of them!)

.

 

[pokey]

This message is to Josephine.
I am sorry it has taken me so long to send you a thanks for the sticky you sent reguarding proper questions to ask on my first trip to the OS.
My appointment was this morning and as it turned out, my OS took new xrays and they showed that both my knees are just shy of being bone on bone. So for now anyway I was given steroid injections in both knees and sent home for two weeks to see how this treatment works. If there is little or no improvement by then, he will consider arthroscopy to see if there is anything to be done with a less invasive procedure than total or partial knee replacement. As of right now, both my knees feel like they have been blown up like a balloon. They are more swollen right now than before the injections and the pain is slightly higher than normal. I am giviing it till tomorrow to see if they are any better. If not, then I guess I call the Dr. to see if this is a normal reaction to this procedure.
Again thank-you for the sticky you gave on the 10th. Those questions may come in handy in the future.{;-).. Pokey

 

[Josephine]

Yep, that's pretty much the usual reaction to being pulled around, xrayed and then injected. Just ice and elevated, you'll be fine.

Glad you found the questions good.

 

[Nursepair]

Hi Pokey, welcome to the site. I also used to have reactions like that to the cortizone injections, I always found it could last either one night or a couple of days. It was always a good sign for me, meant it was going to work. It was later, when I was totaly bone on bone that it stopped being of any use, I never used to have the reation either.

Hopefully this will work for you for a while. All the best, Sue

 

[Rowdy66]

Hey, Pokey, Welcome to the forum. I believe you will find the best group of people in the world here. Everyone is so helpful and even though they hurt and feel bad themselves at time it in no way impedes them from trying to help the others who need help. I am having my surgery on April 7 after two of the most devastatingly painful years I have ever known. I, truly, never would have believed that there could be pain this bad had I not experienced it first hand. Josephine is a fine person and I am only sorry she won't be assisting my OS in my Bilateral TKR. She will answer every question that you ask and give you the best advice as to what questions need to be asked that you may never have thought of. So you came to the right place. One more thing that is really important. It is so important to laught and this is the place to do it. The people here seem to know just the right time to cheer you up so whatever happens, do not give up and don't leave this forum. I am a true believer that I was led here by devine intervention. So good luck and I will keep my eye out for your posts. Rowdy