TKR Judlepip has Turned a Corner!!

[TexasTee]

I'm guessing this is one instance where you were hoping you were wrong but your gut said your knee was not straight and that seems to have been born out. A month is a long time to wait!! I hope there is an option other than the one you are not commenting on...

 

[Judlepip]

@dogwheels and @TexasTee, Yes, thanks. In a way it's comforting to know there's a reason for the lengthy and painful recovery. And, as a friend pointed out, if it proves to be crooked, but functioning, I don't HAVE to have it redone! That thought is just horrifying! xx


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[Josephine]

I thought it only fair to seek his advice before seeking a second opinion

To be honest, if it was me, I wouldn't bother.

And a tip: do not on any account even mention to him that you are seeking a second opinion, much less ask his permission or opinion. It's none of his business!

 

[Judlepip]

No @Josephine. Fear not! I have no intention of asking his 'permission' or opinion. I want to know if he is willing to rectify the problem. I'm guessing he will say "no problem", at which point I say thanks, leave his office and come home to arrange a second opinion. From my point of view I can't get a second opinion when I haven't had a first! I'll keep you posted. Just out of interest; have you heard of, and have an opinion of Mr Philip Housden (Orthopaedics)?


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[Judlepip]

It's official! From today I am on a diet! I've put on so much weight since this damn knee! I can't bear ME!


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[TexasTee]

Good luck @Judlepip - adding to my list of things to pay attention to after TKR - careful what you eat! Is is lack of exercise do you think? Or just boredom eating from being home all the time? I will have to really watch that, I am a recreational eater if confined.

 

[Judlepip]

@TexasTee. For me it's definitely lack of exercise. I used to walk mikes each day and now I don't walk much at all! Boredom does make one eat more too, there is that!


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[Judlepip]

@Josephine. I'd appreciate your knowledge if you will ........ Could this malalignment worsen as I walk on it? It may be my imagination, but it seems at a worse angle now! Of course, I'm panicking and thinking (and seeing) the worse case scenario. I am trying not to walk too much, but life goes on and unless I become a housebound invalid, I have to walk to and fro etc. I'm hoping it's no worse just more evident, but advice welcome! Thanks.


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[Jamie]

It's not that walking on your knee would make something "worse," it's more the fact that walking on a mal-aligned knee could cause you additional pain, irritation and swelling. You want to avoid that.

One thing I want to put out there for you, Judlepip......supposing your surgeon that you are supposed to see in July says, "Oh yes, you do have a bit of a bad alignment there and I can fix that for you." Do you REALLY want this guy operating on you again????

If it was me, I would take Josephine's suggestion for a revision surgeon and move forward to getting thing fixed by someone you can trust to do the job right. Just my opinion......

 

[dogwheels]

Hi @Judlepip - cannot be long as I am off out for lunch, but had to say that reading Jamie's post, it makes so much sense. Bit like when you get a tradesman in to do work and they have to go back to do snagging in important areas that they really should have got right first time. If they didn't get it right then, do you really want them to keep going??
I think this whole thing boils down simply to trust. If he suggests what Jamie has said, do you trust his ability to put it right?
I can understand why there may be reasons that you want him to explain himself before going elsewhere - but I would be gearing up already with that shortlist of recommended alternatives.

Hope you are having a lovely day in the sun
Talk later
XX

 

[Judlepip]

Thanks @Jamie and thanks @dogwheels. Of course I now have a dilemma;

@Judlepip this is your GP speaking? My goodness! He wants an opinion from someone on the internet he's never heard of and knows nothing about? Good grief!

This is, in a way, my point.
1/ As Josephine rightly points out in her quote; I am now in this position. BoneSmart is an internet service that no-one here seems to have heard of. So do I take the advice of BoneSmart, which of course I'd like to do, or do I go to the Surgeon I was referred to originally and see what he says.
2/ I don't know how to go about getting a second opinion- I imagine I have to go to my GP who won't like that and will argue against referring me elsewhere.

How do I contact the surgeons that Josephine recommended? Presumably I can't refer myself and so we're back to square one. I have limited means and can't afford to go privately.

I'm sorry, I do not mean to sound ungrateful, but I am so depressed over all of this (added to which I've now developed cataracts and can't see a b***** thing). It's getting me down.

I have, anyway booked an appnt to see GP to ask him to refer me to the Orthopaedic hospital that Josephine mentioned.

 

[Chihuahuan]

So sorry this is happening…My thoughts-- from someone you do not know at all but has a medical science background and a nephew who is a shoulder orthopedic surgeon in the UK:

• In the UK it appears that your GP is the gateway to the OS. Your GP needs to see the extent of the un-straightness of your TKR knee, how upset you are, and advise on how to proceed. I don't think an internet eval from a photograph is appropriate.
• You may need X-rays etc and someone to look at the alignment of your leg from hip to toes. Even your feet affect your gait. In the USA, Doctors of Osteopathic medicine are trained in that type of diagnosis --I know that because I ran a research and diagnostic lab at a College of Osteopathic Medicine and had extensive testing done.
• The pain you have may not be entirely due to the knock-kneed problem.
  
• My sister-in-law --mum to the UK shoulder OS--is also knock-kneed and it was not adjusted with her two TKRs. OS's wife who is a physio gave her a set of exercises to strengthen the appropriate muscles and help straighten her gait. It has worked for her and she does them when things get sore.

Best wishes. Jen

 

[Chihuahuan]

This website may be helpful https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00389

 

[Judlepip]

@Chihuahuan Jen that is so kind of you to give your views. Believe me very much appreciated. I will go onto that site and read well. I did go to see my GP and told him of the crookedness and he just wasn't impressed; said nothing would be done and physio would not help! Clearly I need someone who will at least listen to my concerns. Unfortunately, our other doctor is on leave at the moment so I can't access her. I'm glad that you took my point. My GP refused an X-ray also, saying there was no point. The more I think, about that particular appointment I had with him, the more I think he just didn't want to know.
Thank you, thank you. I was so down and someone else seeing my point of view has helped enormously.

 

[Judlepip]

I've suddenly seen the light. When Josephine suggested I seek a second opinion, I thought she meant with my original surgeon as the first (hence my subsequent re-referral to my OS). However, belatedly I see that she meant HER opinion as the first opinion and I so agree with her. I think I was so depressed by the whole thing and then finding I'd developed a cataract (if not two), it just all became too much and I couldn't think straight. :rolleyes:Well, after church this morning I sat in the lovely garden there and just thought about it all and it became clear. Of course I shall now take Josephine's advice and get a referral (no doubt with difficulty) to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. Of course I want an informed opinion and of course, if I can get it, I want the best. Thanks to @Josephine and thanks to @Jamie. No, I do not want my original surgeon loose on my knee again! I'm sorry I've been dumb about this , but it obviously took a while to sink in.

I feel better now it's clear in my head. In fact I feel quite angry for the first time, which I think in the circumstances, is healthy!! I haven't been angry, just sad and bemused. Time to get mad!

 

[Pumpkin]

Judlepip,
Going through this is such a process, takes awhile to see clearly when you first learn all is not right. Be kind to your self.
Get mad then get busy getting your referrals and appointments all lined up.

 

[Josephine]

However, belatedly I see that she meant HER opinion as the first opinion

Oh gosh no! A second opinion is just a term that means 'someone other than your present doctor, surgeon, physician' or whatever. I can't be 'an opinion' as I am not a doctor! I can give you my own opinion but that's quite different.

As far as who to choose, if I never said so before, the chaps you need to get referred to are
(the numbers after their names are the numbers of primary/revision TKRs done in 2012
Jonathan Miles 91/39
Professor Timothy Briggs 104/36
Richard Carrington 127/35

Oh and they are at the Royal NATIONAL Orthopaedic Hospital.
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital is in Birmingham!

 

[Judlepip]

@Josephine Thank you for further clarification. Well, as you said in one of your posts "numbers mean nothing" as in this case I believe, as my original surgeon undertook

254 primary and 19 revision

so it seems numbers mean little!
I do feel better about all of this today so I hope the optimism continues. Or perhaps I should say 'realism' as it's just been necessary to accept the inevitable.

 

[Josephine]

Oh that's true! Well they didn't mean much in HIS case, did they? But I can vouch for the guys at Stanmore.
I've worked with them all and know them to be the real deal!

 

[Judlepip]

@Josephine Is a record not published of the failed procedures? That would make interesting (and valuable) reading. E.g. Will it be recorded anywhere that Mr J got it wrong?


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