Grammy Ann
new member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2020
- Messages
- 6
- Age
- 84
- Country
United States
- Gender
- Female
I am kind of both pre-op and post-op.
I have had problems with knee pain for many years. The only treatment offered was to draw off the water and shoot me with cortisone which I declined. I am kind of a health nut and don't like taking/using any meds that are not absolutely needed. Also, friends have done that and it didn't work for some of them and others had relief but only for a short time. I did do therapy which helped tremendously for a few years and I could at least walk up and down stairs, albeit with pain. I sold my 3-story condo five years ago because I couldn't do those stairs consistently.
In April 2019, my right knee swelled significantly and the pain increased a lot. I went to a sports doctor that a friend recommended. He did x-rays and found that the problem had to do with the knee cap not being on top of the knee so it wasn't tracking correctly which had put a lot of pressure on the joints and had worn them out. He recommended that I see an orthopedic surgeon which I did. He offered the cortisone treatment which I declined again and we scheduled TKR for June. The surgery went very well and recovery, I have discovered, was pretty amazing. I used a walker for a couple of days and then switched to a cane, at least when I was outside, for about 6 weeks. The flat that I live in was built for an invalid so it's pretty easy to have something to hold onto when getting around. I was back to cooking meals and other light housekeeping within three days.
I was pretty aggressive with physical therapy. I had been quite active when I was younger but the knee pain had limited activity a lot so it felt good to be able to do more with the right leg. Unfortunately, I was limited in PT due to the pain in the left knee but still made very rapid progress. I was off pain meds after about 10 days and back at work by the two week mark. Maybe because I was aggressive in therapy, somehow a piece of the knee cap broke off although I'm not sure when it happened as it didn't bother me at the time. I've since discovered that this has been a problem for others in my family. One night in August, I awoke with a lot of pain in the right knee. With difficulty I straightened my leg out and was awakened several more times each time I bent my knee. When I tried to do my exercises the next day, the leg no longer worked right. As there had been no injury, it took several weeks to figure out that the knee cap was broken and that it had shredded part of the tendon. The surgeon had to go back in (September 26) and repair it. I just finished physical therapy for that surgery about 10 days ago.
Tomorrow, I will have TKR on the left knee! I'm so excited to be able to ride the bike, take long walks,swim, go to the Zoo, and just do things that I haven't been able to do for a very long time! 2020 should be a really good year!
I have had problems with knee pain for many years. The only treatment offered was to draw off the water and shoot me with cortisone which I declined. I am kind of a health nut and don't like taking/using any meds that are not absolutely needed. Also, friends have done that and it didn't work for some of them and others had relief but only for a short time. I did do therapy which helped tremendously for a few years and I could at least walk up and down stairs, albeit with pain. I sold my 3-story condo five years ago because I couldn't do those stairs consistently.
In April 2019, my right knee swelled significantly and the pain increased a lot. I went to a sports doctor that a friend recommended. He did x-rays and found that the problem had to do with the knee cap not being on top of the knee so it wasn't tracking correctly which had put a lot of pressure on the joints and had worn them out. He recommended that I see an orthopedic surgeon which I did. He offered the cortisone treatment which I declined again and we scheduled TKR for June. The surgery went very well and recovery, I have discovered, was pretty amazing. I used a walker for a couple of days and then switched to a cane, at least when I was outside, for about 6 weeks. The flat that I live in was built for an invalid so it's pretty easy to have something to hold onto when getting around. I was back to cooking meals and other light housekeeping within three days.
I was pretty aggressive with physical therapy. I had been quite active when I was younger but the knee pain had limited activity a lot so it felt good to be able to do more with the right leg. Unfortunately, I was limited in PT due to the pain in the left knee but still made very rapid progress. I was off pain meds after about 10 days and back at work by the two week mark. Maybe because I was aggressive in therapy, somehow a piece of the knee cap broke off although I'm not sure when it happened as it didn't bother me at the time. I've since discovered that this has been a problem for others in my family. One night in August, I awoke with a lot of pain in the right knee. With difficulty I straightened my leg out and was awakened several more times each time I bent my knee. When I tried to do my exercises the next day, the leg no longer worked right. As there had been no injury, it took several weeks to figure out that the knee cap was broken and that it had shredded part of the tendon. The surgeon had to go back in (September 26) and repair it. I just finished physical therapy for that surgery about 10 days ago.
Tomorrow, I will have TKR on the left knee! I'm so excited to be able to ride the bike, take long walks,swim, go to the Zoo, and just do things that I haven't been able to do for a very long time! 2020 should be a really good year!
