Hi, Everyone:
I posted several weeks ago about whether I should cancel or postpone TKR. I've known for several years that I'm a candidate for knee replacement, but I've been managing reasonably well on synvisc injections. However, in October I had bad pain in the knee that prompted me to schedule TKR for Dec. 17. However, since then the pain has subsided considerably, and I'm pretty much back to how I was before the October episode. Thanks, Josephine, for your comments about how you had occasional episodes of pain--probably caused by a cartilage "floater"--and you recommended that I not rush into TKR if the pain has resolved.
I just talked to the OS this morning, and he agreed that if I'm not in major pain, then we should postpone the TKR. He'll see me in 3 months, and we'll decide what to do then, or if the pain gets really bad in the meantime, then we'll deal with it when it happens.
I did attend a TKR class at the hospital yesterday. One thing that I hadn't heard about before -- shots in the abdomen! The instructor said that clots are a major concern, and while we were in the hospital they would give shots of an anti-clot medication in the abdomen twice a day. Then when we were discharged from the hospital, they would give the patient pre-loaded syringes to give themselves these shots once a day for two weeks. She showed us one of these syringes, which had a rather small (perhaps 1/2 - 3/4 inch) needle. Several of us in the class almost fainted, for we can't stand needles.
Did you TKR veterans have to give yourself these shots?
Lois
I posted several weeks ago about whether I should cancel or postpone TKR. I've known for several years that I'm a candidate for knee replacement, but I've been managing reasonably well on synvisc injections. However, in October I had bad pain in the knee that prompted me to schedule TKR for Dec. 17. However, since then the pain has subsided considerably, and I'm pretty much back to how I was before the October episode. Thanks, Josephine, for your comments about how you had occasional episodes of pain--probably caused by a cartilage "floater"--and you recommended that I not rush into TKR if the pain has resolved.
I just talked to the OS this morning, and he agreed that if I'm not in major pain, then we should postpone the TKR. He'll see me in 3 months, and we'll decide what to do then, or if the pain gets really bad in the meantime, then we'll deal with it when it happens.
I did attend a TKR class at the hospital yesterday. One thing that I hadn't heard about before -- shots in the abdomen! The instructor said that clots are a major concern, and while we were in the hospital they would give shots of an anti-clot medication in the abdomen twice a day. Then when we were discharged from the hospital, they would give the patient pre-loaded syringes to give themselves these shots once a day for two weeks. She showed us one of these syringes, which had a rather small (perhaps 1/2 - 3/4 inch) needle. Several of us in the class almost fainted, for we can't stand needles.
Did you TKR veterans have to give yourself these shots?
Lois