TKR Lesions caused by metal sensitivity

[Jamie]

Please don't take it as a sign. He was one doctor who wasn't a good fit for you. My first OS blew me off completely. I took that as a sign that I could do better, and I did!

This is one of the best posts I've read in a long time! I love the positive attitude and spin on what could be viewed as a bad situation. Gold star for you, @LoveGiants!

I guess it is better to be blown off then for a doctor to take a patient with whom he doesn't feel he will be successful.

Exactly, @ucsbgal1971 ..... this is the right way to look at what is happening. Now go out there and get the GOOD surgeon!!!

 

[kneeper]

My knowledge of Dr. Yun is that his focus is on younger, active patients and getting them back into activity quickly. It is quite likely that you just were not a good fit with his "specialty." .

Ah, that makes some sense--he doesn't want what he might consider "difficult" patients.Well pooh on him.
I have RA and fibro and as you know I am very happy with my tkrs. It's possible your energy drain post surgery will be a bit worse than others have, but that shouldn't prevent your revision.

Generally exercise is supposed to be good for fibro--but you have to pace yourself and not overdo or you make things worse--pain and/or fatigue. I find stretching and massage(when I can work it in to my budget) helps the muscle tightness and pain somewhat.

 

[ucsbgal1971]

I didn't know that you have both RA and fibro. I am so glad to hear that it is possible to have a good result. I am starting to feel hopeful again. Thanks.

 

[Clipless]

Next time I see Dr. Shahan Yacoubian in passing I will ask which nickel-free implant he uses for allergic patients.

 

[ucsbgal1971]

Hi Diana,
Thanks! How are you doing? Will you ask him if he might use the Aesculap Revision system knee? I have heard great things about it and Dr McPherson recommends it but he works out of St Vincents and that isn't such a good hospital. I think we already talked about that. Hope you are doing well.

 

[Clipless]

Sure thing!

 

[ucsbgal1971]

Thanks!

 

[Riley]

Next time I see Dr. Shahan Yacoubian in passing I will ask which nickel-free implant he uses for allergic patients.

My Dr is using Smith and Nephew Oxinium Knee

 

[ucsbgal1971]

That is what I have now that failed. : ( I can't find a doctor other than Dr McPherson who uses the Aesculap implant. That is the only other one that I know of that works for a nickel allergy. Thanks for checking though.

 

[Pumpkin]

ucsbgal1971,
There are several companies that make implants to address allergies. My guess is your implant has nickel exposed, the one for allergies is more completely covered. @RunA42K , has a Smith and Nephew revision for her nickel allergy.

 

[kneeper]

I didn't know that you have both RA and fibro. I am so glad to hear that it is possible to have a good result. I am starting to feel hopeful again. Thanks.

Due to the many years of deterioration with the RA I don't have ideal ROM--about 115 (maybe 5 degrees gain from before the surgery-but that was somewhat to be expected).
I don't even think of my left knee much, it feels that good. My right knee can get stiff if I sit or stand for a long . time but loosens right up again. And the right knee was much more messed up before the tkr.

Once I made it through the tkr recovery year I think my overall pain levels actually reduced. Fatigue is more of a challenge for me, but there are ways to manage it. A lot of it is accepting that there will be good and bad days and working around your energy level. Some days that's easier said than done and can be very frustrating, but there are things you can try, as I said above, that can help. The Arthritis Foundation has some pretty good info on Fibro.

 

[newlybionic]

I know there is a prosthesis that has gold as its out side covering. There was another member who got that one a few months ago since she was allergic to nickel also. @borymms4 Can you list what knee you have?

 

[borymms4]

It is an aesculap AS advanced from Braun

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[borymms4]

The Smith and Nephew Oxinium knee repl does have nickel in it,very small amount

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[ucsbgal1971]

I have a Smith and Nephew Oxinium knee. One doctor who I went to see told me about the Aesculap knee and I am pretty enthused about it but I can't find a good doctor in a good hospital who works with the Aesculap knees. The doctor who recommended it is very good but his hospital is not rated good at all for infections so that is out.

 

[ucsbgal1971]

Keeper maybe that is why I don't have very good ROM as well. I can't remembe what I finally achieved in the beginning but I am way under 100 now and my knee hurts under the knee cap. When I sit in a chair and try to bend my knee or try to stand up, I get an excruciating stabbing pain that takes my breath away. In the beginning the knee would jump as if it was going to dislocate. I had a manipulation and the recovery nurse told me that my knee actually did dislocate when the doctor did the manipulation but the doctor later denied it so who knows what happened. Something must have happened. There was no reason for the nurse to make up a story. He told me that I have patellar clunk syndrome but other doctors have said that I don't have it so I don't know what to believe.

 

[Clipless]

It sound like you still need a proper diagnosis.

 

[tkr2017]

ucsbgal1971 did you ever get the Aesculap knee implant? I'm in Los Angeles. You said in a previous post that the company gave you a list of doc names that use the Aesculap knee implants in L.A. Can you share that list??

 

[ucsbgal1971]

No. I have not had the revision and am mostly in a wheelchair now. I found out through a rating company that my surgeon, Dr Penenberg, out of Cedars Sinai who was supposed to be "the doctor's doctor is rated very poorly for knees. He is a 100 out of 800 and that is the worst rating. He is a 740 for hips but knees not so good. I did find a doctor in Henderson, Nevada, a Dr Tait, who uses the Aesculap system but I can't see him until September. He is rated a 600 so that is the bottom of the excellent ratings which go from 600 to 800. I don't know what to do and am frightened. My knee is extremely painful. I cannot go from a bent postion to a straight position without excruciating pain and I can't go from a sitting position to a standing position once again without excruciating pain. Dr McPherson in LA is rated a 540 which isn't that good either. He is the only one who I can find in the Los Angeles area who uses the Aesculap. The hospital that he works out of is St Vincents and that is rated a D for infections so forget that. I have heard of Dr Hernandez but he is only rated a 570 so the ratings scare me and the hospital that he works out of isn't rated very well either. I do not know if he uses the Aesculap knee. I have developed two more allergies to two metals since I had the Smith and Nephew Oxinium knee put in so the Oxinium knee isn't necessarily the answer for people with metal allergies I guess. Titanium knees do have nickel in them so they are out. The only one is the Aesculap knee and that is totally covered in Zirconium. I am not reactive to Zirconium on the metal test but I am close to a low reaction. That is scary to me because the two metals that I am now sensitive to were negative but close to the low reactive line before I had the replacement surgery. I guess I develop sensitivity once the thing is inplanted. I am terrified that I will lose my leg one day so I sit in my wheelchair. This is no way to live.

 

[newlybionic]

There is a member who had a gold plated knee implanted due to her many metal allergies. @borymms4 Can you give her some information.