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Knee Infection* Right knee has been replaced

Hi Marian, - long time,no see.

It's good to hear from you again, and even better to hear that your knees seem to be coping better with your busy life.

It's hard to believe your precious granddaughter is already 8 months old. How quickly time passes!

I haven't been there, but I've read that Denver airport is pretty big. Why not ask for wheelchair assistance there? Apart from saving you some long walks, it will probably also get you to the head of the security lines.
 
I’m so glad to hear your knees are holding up with those long hours you work! I’ve been flying quite a bit this year (4x I think) and of course have to go through the big round detector, however, I’ve had to be patted down every single time and three times had my hands powdered. So don’t be surprised if that’s the case.
 
Hi Marian! Eight months? Gosh, they grow so fast! What's wonderful is that you get to spend so much time with her. There's nothing more precious than time.

Major airports can involve walks of about a mile to two miles (O'Hare if your connections are unluckily far apart). I've clocked them. If you aren't quite up to walks of that distance definitely take advantage of airport wheelchair services; they also spare you long standing waits at security. TSA has gotten pretty efficient about screening artificial joints. Carryons -- what is that mysterious object?!? -- remain the main cause of delays. As KarriB said, you will likely have to submit to a full body scan in one of those machines, if they have them, but those take all of ten seconds.

Hope you enjoy your vacations! I too am looking forward to time at the shore this year. :SUNsmile:
 
My granddaughter is now 9 months. Number 2 is on the way arriving in February. I’ll be very busy watching two of them!

I returned from my business trip yesterday. My knees held up but not without a lot of complaining. I didn’t ask for a wheelchair. The Denver airport is huge. I felt that since I could walk I didn’t want to take a wheelchair needed by someone else. I met some other people traveling out to the conference while waiting for the plane out to Denver. They were all half my age and younger. I tried my best to keep up with them. We were taking a train into Denver from the airport. We were supposed to then switch to a bus. Well we got separated and the couple of people I was still with and I had no idea which bus to take. They decided to walk to their hotel. I wasn’t staying at the same hotel. Of course it was 90degrees out and sunny. I got hopelessly lost. Unlike New York City there were no cabs to be seen nor were there any police officers to ask for directions. I stopped a young man and he took the time to bring up a map and give me directions. I wound up walking about 2 miles dragging my suitcase behind me. My knees and leg muscles were screaming as I walked into the hotel. I got to my room completely drenched with perspiration. I had blisters on my feet. (I was wearing a good pair of sneakers).

I was staying about 6 city blocks from the convention center which we had to walk to and back. Even in the convention center there was a lot of walking and stair climbing. I was sorry I didn’t bring my cane with me.
While the youngsters went out after the sessions I just went to my room to get my legs up and resting for the next days.

Going through TSA I went through the body scanner. I was amazed that only one knee (the one with the revision) showed up. The other one didn’t at all. I got frisked both times I went through the checkpoints. I was off today and I’m off tomorrow. My knees are still achy. I’m taking it easy for the next day. While I enjoyed the company conference consisting of over 1700 attendees I’m glad to be home. Needless to say I got a cab back to the airport and did no walking or trains! My next trip is in October for my cruise to the Bahamas. No flying this time. Driving down to the port where the boat leaves from.
 
I’m so sorry about all that unexpected walking! It hurt my legs just reading about it. It’s amazing how situations can snowball like that. :console2:

I’m glad you’re back home and have some days off.
 
You've earned yourself days and days of rest. I know you're glad to be back home.
Congratulations on your second grand child!
 
What a marathon of a trip for your conference, Marian! Considering all they went through, I think you and your knees did remarkably well.

Congratulations on the expected, second grandbaby. More loving to look forward to! :friends:
 
But you made it, Marian! What a disastrous trip though, you never know what’s at the other end of a trip.
 
I went to see my OS this week. My knees still cause me some pain especially when I’m trying to sleep at night. After a couple of hours I wake up and have to reposition them. I sleep a few more hours and then the same thing. I never feel rested in the morning. I’m still working 10 hours or so three days a week. My OS told me that my knees are never going to feel any better than they are now and I should get used to it. I should also increase my activity to walking 30 minutes a day. I feel I do that plus more at work and on my off days I feel exhausted and just try to keep up with the laundry and some housework.

My knees also feel like someone has a grip on my kneecaps all the time. He told me lots of people say that’s what they feel. He also said I have scar tissue in the knee that had the infection. He offered me no hope that I will ever feel any better. I’m very disappointed. I saw an ad about an OS using lasers to help with arthritis pain and also for scar tissue left by previous surgeries. I wonder if that is really a fix for the scar tissue in my knee?

My granddaughter is crawling and pulling herself up to stand and is starting to get into everything! I hope I can continue to keep up with her. I worry about the stairs. I can only go up and down one step at a time. She’ll probably be faster than I am once she starts going up and tries to go down. I just want me knees to work enough so that I can enjoy our days together.
 
I feel the same as you do with my knee. I was never told to just get used to it and live with it because my OS said nothing. Nothing!

I guess if he acknowledges anything it would put a black mark on his record. Needless to say, I’m done with him.

My second opinion wasn’t much better. He told me some people just don’t get a good outcome, sometimes doing it over can make it worse and some people’s bodies just don’t like the implant. That’s it. No further testing. Only about 15 minutes spent with him and he didn’t give me time to discuss my concerns. :blackcloud:

I am trying to live with it for now. I figure eventually something is “going to snap” and then they’ll have something to look into.

It wasn’t supposed to go like this, was it. I thought doctors wanted to help people. The two I’ve seen don’t seem to care.
 
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@Jockette Thanks for the reply. I felt like I was alone with my problems. I hope your knee feels better without something having to ‘snap’.
 
Oh no, you are not alone with your problems. :console2:

I had a partial 18 months ago and it’s been the pits! I have more issues since surgery than I did before.
 
I am so sorry to hear that your knees aren't doing well. Have you considered finding another OS for a brand new opinion?
 
Marian, I had pain in my RTKR even 3 years out. I walked a lot at school so thought that was enough, but about 18 months ago I started walking but built up slowly to 30 minutes by walking 10-15 two times a day and adding 5 minutes every week. After about 3 months I combined the two walks into one 45 minute walk. I have no pain in my TKR leg now. Yesterday I walked 5 miles at an outing and my TKR was fine, my left not so much.

For me, I think the problem was that I hadn’t built up the muscle around the TKR so when I walked while working or shopping there was pain. I don’t know how this would’ve worked if I had still been teaching though. Maybe try on your days off?
 
@KarriB I used my bike for 10 mins today. I was planning on trying to walk more on my days off. I was so tired and worn out today from working Friday and Saturday. I have to get up at 4:30am to get to work. I don’t get home until 5 pm or more. Today I was off and just so very tired I had no energy to do much of anything around the house never mind go out for a walk. If I was working every other day as I was originally I probably could do it but two days in a row wiped me out. Tomorrow I’m off and I’ll take my dogs for a short walk. They’ll love it and I can start to build up some muscle strength. If I can’t walk I will do a little more on my bike. I just barely have enough ROM to make it all the way around.

@sistersinhim I thought about going to another OS but don’t know where I would go. Probably no one will touch me with a revision in one knee and an infection in the other knee that my OS told me still could come back. I would be happy if someone would arthroscopically remove the scar tissue. My current OS said no to that question. Plus I’m afraid of doing anything that could cause a new infection.
 
Getting a full rotation on the bike is great! I always rode my bike, which helped keep the knee loose, but there was still pain when walking. The slow build up is what I believe helped me. After reading about people here walking not long after surgery I thought maybe I should try it. I goggled how to start a walking regimen and the slow build up, adding 5 minutes a week was one program I found and because it was so little to begin with it appealed to me.

I have to say I’m not an exercise junkie and have to pray for the motivation to continue every day, but it has helped my overall health.
 
Being so tired all the time is not helping your knee situation, either. It sounds like your working conditions have gotten worse. Won't they hire anyone else to help lower your hours?

I can sure understand about being afraid on another infection. Are you still on antibiotics? They sure wipe me out when I have to take them.
 
Hi Marian. I was having problems with sleeping with the shoulder pain and the Pain Management Clinic had me try a Alpha-Stim Aid. It is a cranial electrotherapy stimulator...it reminds of a tens unit but you clip it on your earlobes. I was very skeptical but it really did help a lot. I got my husband to use it after his back surgery and it worked well on him also. See if you can try one out. ....So are you loving being a grandma?? Mine just turned 2 :)
 
Hi all! I've been very busy at work the last few months and also taking care of my Granddaughter one day a week. My knees still feel stiff and I have to make it a point to stand up straight or my knees both will have a slight bend to them. My granddaughter is now 1! I have another one due in February. I'll be watching the two of them when my daughter goes back to work. I've been trying to push myself into more activity on my off days. The more I walk the little bit better the knees feel. I went on a cruise back in November and we had so much fun I'm taking another one at the end of January. I found that swimming in the Caribbean very relaxing for my knees. The nice warm water did wonders for me.

I haven't been awakened by pain in the knees lately. I'm very happy about that. I hope all my friends have a great holiday. We are looking forward to Christmas with the baby. I've been very blessed this year. I hope you all are too.
 
Glad to hear you are doing so well Marian! Merry Christmas to you and your family.
 
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