United States
It's good to hear that you are feeling better. Hopefully, your doctor will explain things to you.
Bilateral TKR Superior and Inferior Patellar Enthesophytes
- Thread starter GratefulNana
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OP
OP
GratefulNana
junior member
Thank you. Hopefully, this bout will be behind me soon. The surgeon has turned out to be a total disappointment. He had his assistant call me yesterday regarding my inquiry into the radiology report about the enthesophytes finding. She told me that he wanted her to book a telephone appointment with me but that he is not available because of scheduling until June. She was clearly flustered in having to relay this to me. I asked if it was possible for him to just give me a brief answer via the messaging system. She was clearly stressed about this situation. I believe what may have happened is that, since the x-rays are now “instantly“ available, and the doctor told me to notify him immediately following them being taken, that he looked over the x-rays himself, and did not wait for the report. I think he did not see what the radiologist saw and reported. The doctor did not give me any explanation for the quick onset of extreme swelling, stiffness, and pain in his message, which I thought was odd. I am going to look for another ortho doctor. This is the same doctor who did the arthroscopy in 2018 on my left knee and refused to write for even limited pain medication following the surgery even though I had had no pain medication since my bilateral tkr in December 2015. I find his behavior disturbing. Time to move on.
OP
OP
GratefulNana
junior member
I did go through with the arthroscopic surgery on my left knee. The surgeon found scar tissue that was causing the knee to catch. That was in February of 2018.
In September of 2018 the same knee gave out and I did a face plant into a parked car and was initially diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder. It was dislocated, but the two fractures in the front and the back of my left shoulder went undetected. I was sent to PT, where I continued to get worse. After insisting on further testing, a MRI was ordered and findings showed the two fractures over a month later. I was given a brochure by the ortho surgeon that was about living with an unstable shoulder, PT was stopped, and I was sent on my way.
After ordering my medical records, I found that the surgeon had stated that I was too old for surgery in his notes. He did not tell me that. The ortho doctor that did the knee clean out decided that I needed an arthrogram of my left hip because he, and the original knee surgeon, had collaborated and decided that the problem was with the hip. The hip was found to be healthy, but I have lived with chronic pain in the left hip since the arthrogram.
I have not been able to sleep most nights since my original bilateral knee replacement in December 2015. The muscles in my lower legs and feet freeze up, not charley horses, and it is very painful and difficult to get the muscles to release. This happens bilaterally most nights.
After being given the run around for nearly six years, an MRI was done this past week on my spine, as well as a doppler ultrasound on my legs. The ultrasound found some arterial insufficiency in both legs, and the MRI showed some mild arthritis, mild degeneration, and mild bilateral spinal stenosis.
I saw an orthopedic doctor yesterday who specializes in rehabilitation and is chief of staff at the hospital that has a world-wide waiting list. She showed me my MRI and we went through it vertebrae by vertebrae. She assured me that while there were a lot of findings on the results, there was nothing that was impairing the spinal cord or likely causing the problems with my legs.
She reviewed my chart and reached the plausible conclusion that my knee surgery has caused a biomechanical imbalance. She feels that since I had been knock kneed before the surgery, that my tendons, ligament, and muscles were not balanced properly during surgery, especially since it was bilateral. She feels that my hip problem stems from the original knee surgery as the arthrogram, the fluid from the fluoroscope, may have invaded an already sensitive area. The blood flow issue is also most likely connected to the BTKR.
I am being sent back to PT with a PT that she has worked with before to see if the situation can be resolved. I start on October 14. It has been a very long, frustrating journey. Sometimes we do not get the expected outcome from a procedure, but it is how the outcome is handled that is important.
In September of 2018 the same knee gave out and I did a face plant into a parked car and was initially diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder. It was dislocated, but the two fractures in the front and the back of my left shoulder went undetected. I was sent to PT, where I continued to get worse. After insisting on further testing, a MRI was ordered and findings showed the two fractures over a month later. I was given a brochure by the ortho surgeon that was about living with an unstable shoulder, PT was stopped, and I was sent on my way.
After ordering my medical records, I found that the surgeon had stated that I was too old for surgery in his notes. He did not tell me that. The ortho doctor that did the knee clean out decided that I needed an arthrogram of my left hip because he, and the original knee surgeon, had collaborated and decided that the problem was with the hip. The hip was found to be healthy, but I have lived with chronic pain in the left hip since the arthrogram.
I have not been able to sleep most nights since my original bilateral knee replacement in December 2015. The muscles in my lower legs and feet freeze up, not charley horses, and it is very painful and difficult to get the muscles to release. This happens bilaterally most nights.
After being given the run around for nearly six years, an MRI was done this past week on my spine, as well as a doppler ultrasound on my legs. The ultrasound found some arterial insufficiency in both legs, and the MRI showed some mild arthritis, mild degeneration, and mild bilateral spinal stenosis.
I saw an orthopedic doctor yesterday who specializes in rehabilitation and is chief of staff at the hospital that has a world-wide waiting list. She showed me my MRI and we went through it vertebrae by vertebrae. She assured me that while there were a lot of findings on the results, there was nothing that was impairing the spinal cord or likely causing the problems with my legs.
She reviewed my chart and reached the plausible conclusion that my knee surgery has caused a biomechanical imbalance. She feels that since I had been knock kneed before the surgery, that my tendons, ligament, and muscles were not balanced properly during surgery, especially since it was bilateral. She feels that my hip problem stems from the original knee surgery as the arthrogram, the fluid from the fluoroscope, may have invaded an already sensitive area. The blood flow issue is also most likely connected to the BTKR.
I am being sent back to PT with a PT that she has worked with before to see if the situation can be resolved. I start on October 14. It has been a very long, frustrating journey. Sometimes we do not get the expected outcome from a procedure, but it is how the outcome is handled that is important.
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Wow, I‘m sorry you’ve had such a difficult journey. I hope the PT you see will be able to help you.
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