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TKR My Journey as of 12/16/13 - Over 1 Year and Still Trying

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Hi @Ellejay ! So glad you're able to check in from France! I hope you're still having an amazing time and enjoying lots of baguettes! Yes, it's a shame what a toll this surgery puts on so many of our other joints. Shoulders, wrists, 'good' knees, etc..... My 'good' knee has never been great, but I have never mentioned it to anyone as my right one was always worst and with our insurance over here, if I mentioned the other one it would then count as a 'pre-existing' condition which could then be excluded from future coverage. With our recent change in health care though, that's no longer an issue but apparently huge coverage denials are a byproduct of the new system. If it's not one things it's another.

Yes, @dogwheels , even if I could manage to scrounge up the $$$ for the injections/procedures, there's only about a 50/50 chance they would work, so i've just chalked it all up to a big fat no for now. Glad you gave your dishonest agent the book for your rental on the Isle of Wight. So sad that you can't trust people to do their jobs and not take advantage. I manage my own properties but that is a huge headache in and of itself. I have good hopes for the young couple. We're meeting on Sunday to sign the lease and hopefully collect deposits. *fingers crossed*

I'm sorry about your weather. I would be more than happy to ship off some of our 110 degree gross heat to you. If it's already 110 in May, I am guessing we should get up to 125 by July. Kill me now..... I do hope you get to go to your other house this weekend! A change in scenery would be great! As for the low sofas, not so much, but just take some extra thick cushions or pillows with you to plop down on there and build up the height! Won't look all that stellar, but will absolutely work.

Mmmmm, lemon drizzle. I'm still trying to drop the 30 lbs I've managed to pack on since my knee petered out last year, so no lemon drizzle for me. Maybe next month. ;-)

@Phil75070 , @susanne, @TexasTee - thanks for all the great ideas on sticky knee options. Maybe I should just go to the horse tracks and try to pick up racing slips as well? The closest 'good' casinos to me are in Vegas and until I can walk the strip and take full advantage of all the wonderful 'free' cocktails, count me out. Oh, and @susanne maybe I should come visit your handsome single doctor and hope he gets stuck on me! hee hee. I'm not even touching the 'wind in your knee' thing .....

I hope everyone is having a great day. I just got back from my umpteenth visit to Home Depot and another huge bill. Ergh. xoxoxo
 
Oh, and no on the acupuncture or reke ..... I'm getting a little tired of getting my hopes up and then having them dashed. And the thought of little needles in my knee sound about as enjoyable as big ones. ;-)
 
@DogLoverx3. FYI. Acupuncture doesn't hurt. Dr is TALL! You can google him Robert duarte just for fun. Never know when ur in ny and might need a neuro consult!!! :)


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I've had acupuncture a few times; it seemed to help while the treatment was happening but the pain came back pretty quickly afterward. It was probably more just the process of lying down in a quiet room, having a massage, listening to soothing music, etc. that was beneficial. The needles are really so thin you can't feel them at all.

I've never tried Reiki - not my kind of thing.
 
Tall is even better! I think part of the success of acupuncture is actually 'believing' in it ~ and I don't, so I'm going to hold off for now. Wouldn't your neuro love to know you're pimping him out on BS. ;-)

Well, as it was just 2 degrees shy of the temperature of the sun here yesterday, I went for a swim. More of a dog-paddle actually. I can neither kick nor do the breast stroke move with my knee so I probably just looked like I was flailing around a bit. Luckily there were no witnesses. It was nice to be in the pool nonetheless.....
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here being as it's just been one day, but I think/hope/pray/plead that a new med I started last night is actually working. My new and improved OS says I have overactive/hyperactive nerves in my knee and that 8% of TKR patients are unlucky enough to have to deal with this. He says that unmedicated, it would probably go away in a year or so. At 6 months in, I'm not willing to 'wait it out'. He prescribed a topical compound that, as best as I can tell, is only good for attracting stray lint and every floating particle in the air as it makes my skin into fly paper. Insurance turned down Lyrica for me. The OS's office called me yesterday and told me they were calling in a generic 'sister' drug. One which @TexasTee & @Jozilla mentioned. It's called Gabapentin (I think that's how it's spelled). It was 'invented' for help with seizures. When speaking to the pharmacist yesterday about my concerns with the scary sounding possible side effects, he explained the history of it and although it was created as an anti-seizure medication, he said it's crappy for dealing with seizures but great for nerve pain. He told me to start out slow. Just take 1 pill at night before bed time as it can make you really sleepy. So I took my pill last night and crawled into bed. I swear, this morning and today, my knee seems less swollen and 'full' feeling. That would make sense, right? If my nerves aren't constantly firing and inflaming all the tissues in my knee, the swelling should go down? Yes? No clue if it's really possible that it's that fast acting, but my knee honestly seems better today!

Fingers crossed that this continues and it's not all in my head! :yes!:
 
I had Wellbutrin work that fast for my knee pain after my first surgery, hard to believe it can happen that fast.
Glad something is finally working for you. What is the name of the lint trapping cream you are using, just interested in what it is if you do not mind.
Wishing you relief from your pain, I admire how hard you have worked to get where you are, taking care of your business, rental properties, and a move no less.:flwrysmile:
 
Hiya @Pumpkln ~ the cream is a custom compound that he ordered from a compounding pharmacy for me - it's got like 5 or 6 different things in it and doesn't have a name. I think some of the ingredients are: flurbiprofen, gabapentin, cyclobenzaprin, lidocain & ketamine (at least those are some of the stickers I see on the tube)

Thank you for your kind words as well.

(weird, one of the ingredients that I typed came up as a 'banned' word on here so I had to change the spelling - no clue what that's about)
 
@DogLoverx3 It's really possible for it to happen that fast - you aren't imagining anything...seriously I went to Duke for my friends surgery and in the hospital they were completely unable to get ahead of her pain, she was in agony for hours - enough narcotics to down a horse, nerve block, et all - she categorically refused Lyrica but was running out of options and as bad as gambapenten sounds, it's better reviewed than lyrica and has fewer instances of the particular side effects she was terrified of. Within probably 6 hours of her being willing to try it she was noticing the difference and within a day, she was able to leave the hospital. It makes a significant difference in interrupting nerve pain. I'm so glad it's working for you!!!!
 
Oh I'm so pleased for you @DogLoverx3, I really hope this is the breakthrough you've been looking for, you certainly deserve it. You have worked so hard, and put up with so much, fingers crossed it works long term. xxx
 
Brilliant @DogLoverx3 - I have everything crossed that these new meds will do the business for you. Certainly sounds like a promising start, and you really deserve to get a break now.
Glad that the pool felt so good - I am not surprised in the temperatures that you have. Looks like you wont be getting scouted for a swim team anytime soon though??

XX
 
That is terrific news! I swear by the gabapentin - that I take at bedtime too. I had a similar compound cream too but without the ketamine. Those as well as a before bedtime muscle relaxer are prescribed by my neurologist. I am so glad you are feeling the results so quickly. Now I am really thinking that my tkr pain was reduced greatly by the gabapentin. I am so glad you found a wonderful doctor who not only listened to you but is willing to try different things to make it better. Xoxo
 
Hi @DogLoverx3 - I owe you a big thank you. Daughter was at the end of her rope today at work, so took an early one and dropped by here for some TLC on her way back home. She was a bit down and as we were chatting I told her about your knee goop and the stuff that you have attracted and has become attached to your knee. She found it hilarious and had a good laugh at your expense. It put a smile on her face before she went home for a quiet weekend sleeping and recharging her batteries. So cheers Ellen and thank you! Enjoy your weekend.
Talk soon

XX
 
Hi @DogLoverx3 I wanted to respond to something in one of your earlier posts, I hope that you do not mind. When I first saw Freddy the Frenchman (PT), at one point he had to stop because of the pain in my knee. He asked me exactly where the pain was' I pointed with my finger at the spot. He said "right I am going to stop and perform some majeek. You must close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and pleez reelax for me." That sentence alone was enough to make me open my eyes! It went along with the phrase "close your eyes and open your hand!" Yep I didn't close my eyes. He said "Anneee, pleez relax, are you scared of needlez?" (I couldn't tell him that phrase close your eyes had somewhat concerned me previously!) I said "no I'm not scared of needles". He said "well zen, jurst reelax and I weel perform zee majeek" (I so love how he talks!!) well I relaxed and I felt nothing other than a warm sensation in my knee. He said "open your eyes" I did this and there was an acupuncture needle at the site of where the pain was. I did not go feel it go in. All I felt was his thumb at the exact spot of the pain and then warmth. I always thought the that they would be like sewing pins and they're far from it. They're so thin. The weird thing was after a couple of minutes my whole body relaxed. I was out of pain and the relaxation was relief I think.

The reason I am telling you this is, that like you, I never believed that sticking pins in people could work, I was the BIGGEST sceptic out about this. In fact I took the Mickey out of my sis in law when she went for acupuncture and told her she was being conned. She told me straight that it works and unless you try it etc .... Since experiencing this I feel very differently. If ever you are offered it, give it a try. It either will or won't work for you. By the way they didn't hurt me! Xxxx

I'm so glad to read about the lint/fluff/bits magnetic cream working. No seriously I am absolutely over the moon for you. At last you are having a break from all of this discomfort xxx I did laugh about your comment regarding dog hair in it and not the copious amount as illustrated by Dogwheels. Oh that was hilarious ! X boy those pics are something else! X

Love Nana moon 27 xxxx
 
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I have to agree with Nana moons comments re the acupuncture, I had several sessions of it for my Achilles' tendon problem I had a few years ago, the physics were at the end of their tethers, nothing seemed to be doing the trick, I'd had months off work, then one of them said she would try acupuncture, it was fantastic, a couple of weeks later I was walking again. I actually blame the Achilles problem as the start of my knee problems, because I was limping for so long (& no one suggested a stick then) I think I damaged my knee cartilage, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
 
I have had acupuncture twice. The first time it did nothing for me but I doubt that acupuncture would ever work for a broken bone (one in the hand that took doctors several weeks to diagnose). My right knee flared up on a cruise and I took an acupuncture session on-board ship and must admit it did help. I had been in agony going up and down the stairs and it helped with that tremendously. During that session I looked down and can't tell you how many needles there where but there were a lot and I didn't feel one of them go in.
 
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