TKR My tkr saga

[goldbangles]

Hi everyone. I had tkr with prosthetic patella in March 2021. My patella was shot & had mild osteo arthritis so surgeon recommended full or with prosthetic patella. I am now 63 & was very fit & active at least 6 months prior to initial surgery. Apart from full time self employed running business, dog trainer taking dog training classes on Sat & generally competing with my 4 dogs in agility, tricks, rally & obedience on Sundays or whole weekend. Agility means walking courses for each dog several times & then running dog x 4 in maybe 13 -15 events full pelt. Along with the dog comp, meant at least 6 -8 hours training/running each week. The comp stuff with dogs kept me sane from work, family & elderly parents.
Sorry if this is long winded! So had surgery mar 21, apparenytly died on table from anaesthesist not listening to me re reaction to sedation & anaesthetic. After surgery in icu because heart rate down to 40 & then when moved to room vomited non-stop for 4 days. Surgeon & aneaesthist ignored me that first 4 days, I could hear them in corridor. Physio came several times to get me up moving but femural block had not worn off & had nil feeling in right leg. By 5th day physio suggested caliper to start walking which was pointless. Then later on 5th day feeling came back & agony trying to move but did. From moment feeling came back had like glass shard piercing pain from lower lateral area but persisted. As rest

 

[goldbangles]

Sorry part 2,
As I was still quite agile could get in & out of bed & shower using my left leg for support. Managed walker, walking stick & stairs one art at a time & sent home. Physio forgot to book me in to rehab, Dr forgot to organise pain meds so sent home with zilch. & no protocol(btw I have top cover private health insurance). So many calls after home to get to rehab which wad 10 days later, GP organised pain relief in few days. So then started rehab, absolutely useless. By this stage I had almost frozen knee & 2 hours rehab doing only right knee sent into massive inflammation etc. I told physio very sharp pain where I said above & they kept saying as though I had to do all to keep health cover etc. I persisted & fought them on so many occasions explaining there was little point if I was getting severe pain, massive swelling after 10 mins so I did what I was able to do. My post surgery visits to GP (who was assistant surgeon) & the surgeon were all the same, you are not trying hard enough(****), each time I would detail the swelling & pain in same area. Of course surgeon & GP looking at various post op x-rays said the lovely shiny bits were perfectly aligned & no issues .. ie me. At 9 month x-ray I asked the radiologist if he could see anything. He said your kneecap is very low. So go back to Sugeon & GP & they try to say this can be normal. So pain& limitation of movement got worse & worse & in April 2022 I made a call to surgeon’s office to threaten action & saw 2 other orthos who did not want to do anything, Finally original surgeon’s office phoned & booked for surgery to fix issues on 22/7. Had 2 day’s notice. From what I can understand a great deal of debridement & removal of scar tissue. Patella at time of 2nd surgery(almost 18 months later) was 3cm too low. Due to excessive muscle wastage I now have very restricted rehab as too
Much loading causes patella tendinitis. I’m nowhere near having a half normal functioning knee let alone still in chronic pain. I am seeking guidance on rehab, whether to make claims against surgeon & others as have suffered major pain & suffering & economic loss. I can no longer compete with my dogs, can’t even contemplate a holiday as getting to & from etc too much pain, can only work about 4-5 hours a day etc.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

to BoneSmart. First, general info. There may be relevant stuff here even though you're not new to TKR.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines

We are all different, as are the approaches to recovery. The key is, “Find what works for YOU.“ Your doctor(s), physiotherapist(s) and BoneSmart will offer advice and are there to help. The advice may vary, but YOU are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:

rest​

elevate​

ice​

take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

don't overwork.​

3. Do what you want to do BUT

a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​

b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

the BoneSmart view on exercise​

BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Activity progression for TKRs​

6. Access these pages on the website

Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Care In Hospital​

The Recovery articles:

The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart​

Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?​

Energy drain for TKRs​

Elevation is the key​

Ice to control pain and swelling​

Heel slides and how to do them properly​

Chart representation of TKR recovery​

Healing: how long does it take?​

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it​

Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?​

There are also some cautionary articles here

Myth busting: no pain, no gain​

Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR​

Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds​

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

That's a terrible story.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me you ought to have a case. Sorry I can't be any practical help

 

[sistersinhim]

You have been through the wringer with this knee. I hope you can find a solution to your bad recovery.

 

[Odieodell]

Sounds like you need a revision specialist and a good lawyer.