Bilateral TKR SusieShoes' New Knees
- Thread starter SusieShoes
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SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Five Months: A Tale of Five Knees
Yesterday at the Big Italian Baby Shower, I got to catch up with the other TKR members of the family. My birth family has more knee replacements among us -- my father, mother, sister, two aunts, one uncle, and a male cousin all had both knees replaced-- but they're boring. Every TKR in my family has been problem-free.
The family I married into has more interesting TKRs. One elderly aunt of 98 years has had both knees replaced. She had the second one done seven or eight years ago at the age of 90 but no longer remembers which one that was. She uses a walker now, but not because of her knees. She has a bad back. If they could replace bad spines, she'd get the surgery tomorrow.
One cousin's wife had a TKR two years ago that got infected. It took a while for her surgeon to discover it. She ended up having the prosthesis removed and a spacer bar in place for six months. Her revision surgery was successful and she's infection free now. It took nearly a year for her to become pain-free, but she is and is walking super well. We compared weight loss notes, because both of us have lost significant weight, in large part because we can move normally again.
She needs her right knee replaced also, because of arthritis, but is understandably nervous. She fears she's a high-risk knee patient now and will face another drawn-out recovery because of that. Rehab hospital and all that. She doesn't want the same surgeon again and asked about mine.
I walked with them part of the way back to the parking lot. Five TKRs between us. Another cousin who walked with us was an outlier. Her knees are original issue and doing fine. You see, I and the other two TKR ladies are related by marriage to the Big Italian Family. No one born into the Big Italian Family has TKRs, or even bad knees. Not. One. My 94 year old FIL has the knee cartilage of a 20 year old.
Life is never fair. But that doesn't matter. I'm pretty happy with mine.
Yesterday at the Big Italian Baby Shower, I got to catch up with the other TKR members of the family. My birth family has more knee replacements among us -- my father, mother, sister, two aunts, one uncle, and a male cousin all had both knees replaced-- but they're boring. Every TKR in my family has been problem-free.
The family I married into has more interesting TKRs. One elderly aunt of 98 years has had both knees replaced. She had the second one done seven or eight years ago at the age of 90 but no longer remembers which one that was. She uses a walker now, but not because of her knees. She has a bad back. If they could replace bad spines, she'd get the surgery tomorrow.
One cousin's wife had a TKR two years ago that got infected. It took a while for her surgeon to discover it. She ended up having the prosthesis removed and a spacer bar in place for six months. Her revision surgery was successful and she's infection free now. It took nearly a year for her to become pain-free, but she is and is walking super well. We compared weight loss notes, because both of us have lost significant weight, in large part because we can move normally again.
She needs her right knee replaced also, because of arthritis, but is understandably nervous. She fears she's a high-risk knee patient now and will face another drawn-out recovery because of that. Rehab hospital and all that. She doesn't want the same surgeon again and asked about mine.
I walked with them part of the way back to the parking lot. Five TKRs between us. Another cousin who walked with us was an outlier. Her knees are original issue and doing fine. You see, I and the other two TKR ladies are related by marriage to the Big Italian Family. No one born into the Big Italian Family has TKRs, or even bad knees. Not. One. My 94 year old FIL has the knee cartilage of a 20 year old.
Life is never fair. But that doesn't matter. I'm pretty happy with mine.
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SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Joint replacement romance is definitely an unexplored sub-genre! 
With the aging population, though...
With the aging population, though...
liam2015
post-grad
"a tale of two knees".
ooops SusieShoes, i just noticed the title to your last post. great minds think alike?
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Thesoutherncook
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Sounds like a spreadsheet is in order for all the knee relatives! I do believe you have the makings for a series of books....
Ruby9297
senior
@SusieShoes, I've been out of the loop at bit, but I'm happy to hear that you FIL has a better quality of life, and you too! You deserve this good news.
Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart Forum
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SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Five Months: Milestones
I'm still making progress in recovery, though victories have become mundane. Tiny, too. After a while, knee implants are, well, just knees.
At five and a half months, here's the lay of the land:
* I still ice after my morning walks, though mostly out of habit. My knees are not sore.
* I keep only one pair of small ice packs in the fridge now. This has freed up space for ice cream.
* Mr. Shoes and I have embarked on checking off every flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.
* I have somehow managed to lose 25 pounds since surgery. I believe this is due to walking, not ice cream.
* I helped move heavy furniture, mattresses, boxes, and other household objects down a flight of stairs (I was more of a human brake than I was a carrier) and to the street (using a dolly). My shins got slammed but my knees are fine. Knees got a little sore the next day; shins are bruised.
* I spent a whole day (10,000 steps) shopping for furniture. It was not torture. Sat down and got off of a hundred sofas. No problem!
* I got a case of hives and my first thought was it could be a metal allergy reaction to the knees.
* I saw a dermatologist and... I have ordinary, no one knows what causes them, hives. Taking Benadryl with excellent results. Knees exonerated. (They never hurt or anything. I was just being knee-centric.)
* I can now go foot over foot up and down the front steps to my house. One is 9" high and the other is 10". This was difficult before.
* I am taking aqua workout sessions at the health club. Knees feel it but have not yet gotten sore, unlike my thighs.
* About once a week my left knee will get cranky at night while sleeping. It's positional and quickly corrected by a new position. In every other way I am sleeping like a baby.
* The other day I knelt on the bed. Didn't last long. Felt strange, but so does jogging.
And that's it. No high excitement. My recovery continues being excellent. Most days, except that I hang around here a lot, I forget my knees are not original issue.
I'm still making progress in recovery, though victories have become mundane. Tiny, too. After a while, knee implants are, well, just knees.
At five and a half months, here's the lay of the land:
* I still ice after my morning walks, though mostly out of habit. My knees are not sore.
* I keep only one pair of small ice packs in the fridge now. This has freed up space for ice cream.
* Mr. Shoes and I have embarked on checking off every flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.
* I have somehow managed to lose 25 pounds since surgery. I believe this is due to walking, not ice cream.
* I helped move heavy furniture, mattresses, boxes, and other household objects down a flight of stairs (I was more of a human brake than I was a carrier) and to the street (using a dolly). My shins got slammed but my knees are fine. Knees got a little sore the next day; shins are bruised.
* I spent a whole day (10,000 steps) shopping for furniture. It was not torture. Sat down and got off of a hundred sofas. No problem!
* I got a case of hives and my first thought was it could be a metal allergy reaction to the knees.
* I saw a dermatologist and... I have ordinary, no one knows what causes them, hives. Taking Benadryl with excellent results. Knees exonerated. (They never hurt or anything. I was just being knee-centric.)
* I can now go foot over foot up and down the front steps to my house. One is 9" high and the other is 10". This was difficult before.
* I am taking aqua workout sessions at the health club. Knees feel it but have not yet gotten sore, unlike my thighs.
* About once a week my left knee will get cranky at night while sleeping. It's positional and quickly corrected by a new position. In every other way I am sleeping like a baby.
* The other day I knelt on the bed. Didn't last long. Felt strange, but so does jogging.
And that's it. No high excitement. My recovery continues being excellent. Most days, except that I hang around here a lot, I forget my knees are not original issue.
Pheebs52
big-cheese
OMG!!! More room in the freezer for ice cream is....well....OUTSTANDING, LOL!
What an exciting week you've had! I can't believe you helped move heavy furniture down the stairs....wait though.....it's you, so yes I can believe it, lol! You'll be sky-diving next week, lol.
Rock on @SusieShoes! You are still the Poster Child for BTKR in my book!
What an exciting week you've had! I can't believe you helped move heavy furniture down the stairs....wait though.....it's you, so yes I can believe it, lol! You'll be sky-diving next week, lol.
Rock on @SusieShoes! You are still the Poster Child for BTKR in my book!
Polkadot
graduate
What a great report, again, @SusieShoes! I want those mundane and tiny gains, and the knees feeling like Original Issue. Knowing that you still worry about things like infections--and that it turned out not to be true--help us normalize the process of re-entering our lives. It's not a straight line; we will still have worries and setbacks; but the way forward is just around the corner!
I too want to believe that your poundage lost is due to ice cream; however, I just got back from a mini-vacation/break while my DH had meetings, and with the good food, eating out every night, snacks on the tour bus, etc, etc, etc, I gained 2 pounds. Sigh! So walk, walk, walk I will, 'cause I don't want to squander the TKR gift of having lost close to 30 pounds!
I too want to believe that your poundage lost is due to ice cream; however, I just got back from a mini-vacation/break while my DH had meetings, and with the good food, eating out every night, snacks on the tour bus, etc, etc, etc, I gained 2 pounds. Sigh! So walk, walk, walk I will, 'cause I don't want to squander the TKR gift of having lost close to 30 pounds!
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SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
No sky-diving! Afraid of heights. I screw things up anyway (learn by doing) and if I screw that up, I’m dead. 
I think it takes a while to accept that these new knees are not in peril. The other day when I said “Ow!” (courtesy of the dolly hitting my shins), Mr. Shoes said, “Your knee!” They’re still precious snowflakes in our minds, though I’m sure they see themselves as mighty.
I think it takes a while to accept that these new knees are not in peril. The other day when I said “Ow!” (courtesy of the dolly hitting my shins), Mr. Shoes said, “Your knee!” They’re still precious snowflakes in our minds, though I’m sure they see themselves as mighty.
rubyyarn
graduate
Way to go @SusieShoes! Reducing the tower of ice bags is a good sign 
phrog
senior
None of this sounds mundane to me, @SusieShoes ! Sounds like cause for a celebration! Here's some of us doing a celebratory dance: 
I'm sorry for the attack of the hives. I am itching just thinking of it. As a matter of fact, I want to scratch so badly!! It was kind of reassuring (sorry) to hear that you worried it might be a metal allergy - at 7 -1/2 months I still worry about that and just thought it was part of my plethora of knee anxieties. I love the term knee-centric. I take it as a warning and reminder that that there are other things going in the world besides my knee and that others share my (shall I say it?) anxiousness concerning what is normal after having a chunk of metal installed where bone used to be. I love the story of your recovery. Thanks for sharing.
I'm sorry for the attack of the hives. I am itching just thinking of it. As a matter of fact, I want to scratch so badly!! It was kind of reassuring (sorry) to hear that you worried it might be a metal allergy - at 7 -1/2 months I still worry about that and just thought it was part of my plethora of knee anxieties. I love the term knee-centric. I take it as a warning and reminder that that there are other things going in the world besides my knee and that others share my (shall I say it?) anxiousness concerning what is normal after having a chunk of metal installed where bone used to be. I love the story of your recovery. Thanks for sharing.
Jajakio
graduate
The ice cream project sounds lovely. When we were young and dating in Brooklyn Heights we used to sit on the brownstone steps and share a pint of rum raisin ice cream. I still buy that flavor on our anniversary. The diet is going poorly and I have refused to buy anymore ice cream at present.
These days, finally being free of all the TKR pain killers, we are enjoying working through a wine experiment. I always did like red ( I'm Italian, how could I not?) but this summer I acquired a taste for light summer whites from Spain and Portugal. We had a glass of Viogner an hour ago. We both seem to be enjoying our new lives. Keep up the joy, Susie.
These days, finally being free of all the TKR pain killers, we are enjoying working through a wine experiment. I always did like red ( I'm Italian, how could I not?) but this summer I acquired a taste for light summer whites from Spain and Portugal. We had a glass of Viogner an hour ago. We both seem to be enjoying our new lives. Keep up the joy, Susie.
).
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SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
@phrog, I wonder when we stop thinking every symptom either is because of or will impact our knees? My hives, for example... nowhere close to the knees. My arms and neck, and a couple on my ankles. Exposed body parts, so could be anything. Anyway, the knees showed no signs at all of anything amiss. But where did my mind go? Knees!
@Jajakio, what a romantic memory! It’s so life-affirming that as we move past the drugs, pain, and disability of this surgery, that we start indulging our other sides and become romantic again, and fun, and engaged with things around us.
@Arttie, Minneapolis has some actual Italians.
Mr. Shoes finds Milwaukee’s pizza appalling. That’s not because Milwaukee lacks Italians (it has a few) but because my family buys pizza from Papa Murphy’s. It’s nothing like any pizza he ever met.
@Jajakio, what a romantic memory! It’s so life-affirming that as we move past the drugs, pain, and disability of this surgery, that we start indulging our other sides and become romantic again, and fun, and engaged with things around us.
@Arttie, Minneapolis has some actual Italians.
Mr. Shoes finds Milwaukee’s pizza appalling. That’s not because Milwaukee lacks Italians (it has a few) but because my family buys pizza from Papa Murphy’s. It’s nothing like any pizza he ever met.
