Become an Insider

Revision TKR Third and final surgery all done

Status
Not open for further replies.
To get someone who's unknown to your current OS, you will, more than likely, have to travel out of your area. I'm checking with one of our moderators to find out how to find a revisionist. I'd really hate for you to go back to the same OS that messed up.
 
Knees4Me, I see you had your surgery in Jan. May I ask why you need a revision?
I have a definite misalignment but it probably is in there solid. The knee is healing o.k. It seems, but I am concerned about this wrong angle affecting my hip and ankle/foot with any weight bearing, whether it is right away as I become more functional, or down the road.
I don't know how it couldn't have an impact. Plus, it looks bad. I had bowed legs before surgery, and now I have one knock knee!,,???
As I just posted yesterday, how do you go about finding a good reputable revisionist, and how do you know if they know your surgeon?
 
Sistersinhim, thanks for checking into this regarding finding a revisionist unassociated with my surgeon.
I also need to make sure this surgeon is in my insurance network so it is all paid for.
I also don't know how soon this all should take place if I decide to do it. Are there other dangers posed because of having all these major surgeries so close together?
 
@kayow11 ... it was very nice of your surgeon to go into great detail with you about how he would repair your misaligned knee. And it is possible for a surgeon to be very, very good at primary knee replacements and still make a mistake like appears has happened in your case. But....you must look out for yourself going forward. This is not the time to guess about how someone will get the job done or to be influenced by how "nice" a surgeon may be when talking to you.

From what you have described, my guess is this surgeon doesn't do many revisions like this and possibly has NEVER done a revision on a misaligned knee. These comments make me very nervous:

kayow11 said:
He said he learned how to do this removal of bone cement early on in his career so he feels he can do it well with very little trauma.
Click to expand...

kayow11 said:
He also said he would have both legs uncovered so he could compare both of them together while he was fixing the one. He said he would have the x-ray machine handy to use during surgery to make sure the angle was correct, And would put the joint back together temporarily, without cement, just to see how it looked, and to make sure it looked straight, before he added more cement to finalize the project.
Click to expand...

The real question you should be asking him is not what he's going to do but...."How many knees like mine do you deal with in a year?" Knees are intricate and can be difficult to repair. You want a revision specialist who does this type of repair work all the time....one who can tell you he's seen worse and fixed them. You need a surgeon who is confident in the repair process...one who is working from experience and not depending on a visual comparison or an xray to get the job done right. You don't want to be his "experiment" with a valgus revision.

If you give me your zip code, I can help you search out some additional doctors to talk to for additional opinions. You want to talk to more than one if possible. You may have to travel to get this level of expertise. But in the end, it is almost always worth that effort.

Be sure and tag me when you provide your zip code, so I'll see the message quickly.

Since you have just had your surgery in September, it may be a little more difficult to get to see another surgeon this soon. Most don't like to see other doctors' problem patients until at least 6-9 months have passed. Some even require a full year. But it won't hurt to start contacting them and see what your options may be.

I agree with you that your main priority right now is to heal and see exactly where you are with this knee. Please try not to panic. Others have had problems like yours and they are fixed in the hands of a competent revision surgeon.
 
@Jamie , I don't know how to tag you as you requested.
My ZIP Code is 55127.
Thank you for your very detailed and caring post about many things I should be thinking about which I have not up to this point. It is a very big deal and I want it to be right so you're opinions and thoughts on all of this are definitely Note worthy and worth my consideration.
I do want to do the research and get the ball rolling now and do this homework, so I know what I am dealing with and looking forward to in my future. Didn't know the possible revisionist would require so much time lapse before redoing.
I will await your information regarding some possibilities of who I can see. Thank you again.
 
@Jamie,
Thanks Jamie, I have been looking up these doctors and already have an appointment with one of them. In two weeks I also plan to call and ask some questions about a couple of them in general regarding revisions before my MD visit.
 
That sounds like a good plan. I'm glad the doctor agreed to talk with you. Sometimes they don't, which we think is very unfortunate. My feeling is it is not fair to deny a person that second opinion even early in the process if someone is in distress.

Be sure and have all your questions and concerns written down before you go so you don't forget anything. It would also be good to have someone else there with you as two sets of ears are always better than one.
 
@Jamie,
Thanks for all your help and advice.
I don't know if the new MD knows why I am seeing him but I told the scheduler that I was seeking a second Opinion.. So who knows how he will be when I actually do meet with him.
I am a list maker and will definitely have my questions in order. I also will bring my husband who is a good second set of ears and may even bring up a question or two if he thinks he should.
I really appreciated your detailed post yesterday that you sent to me in regards to how I should be thinking about all of this and what else to consider. I really did not think of things that way until you mentioned it and it is great advice. I also liked your sentence of don't panic, because I need that reminder.
Even though this is not an emergency, in my head it has been an urgent issue. I will see what he says regarding all this but it wouldn't surprise me if he thinks that maybe it isn't bad enough to redo. But that is up to me and I just need to find a good physician that agrees with it.
 
@Jamie Kayow11 and I have talked about this in the past, where we have a very similar condition, where I'm valgus too (was not before TKR.) If I provided my zip code could you list some revision specialists as well? I was going to make one appointment a couple weeks ago when I noticed the surgeon's office I was about to call was in the same "group," but different location as my current surgeon, so I decided to wait. Thank you.
 
@kayow11 Please post what he says, I'm anxious to hear since my situation is so close to yours. I was amazed too to read how you had concerns regarding how a misalignment may be affecting your hip. I wonder about that too, especially since I've had a lot of hip pain post TKR. Thank you and good luck!
 
@RadioGal,
Did your original surgeon say anything about your misalignment? I made that my primary question and focus when I just saw him two days ago. He agreed that it definitely is off but he thought it was only 5°. I'm not quite sure how he measures that but it sure looks worse to me.

Josephine's measurement with my photo looked more like 10° to her, but regardless, it is off way more than I am willing to except right now. I am very concerned about foot and hip problems when your weight bearing is not lined up correctly.

Even if it takes months or years to show up, I know that it likely will have some impact and I don't need more problems or surgeries in my future. Especially due to someone's mistake. I don't feel I have to except that and I shouldn't have to. It isn't right. I also don't like how it looks.

I already have an appointment set up with another physician in two weeks. But this week I plan to make some calls on a couple other doctors and see if they frequently do revisions, and these are some doctors I wrote down from the consumer checkbook.org surgeon ratings site, that had good ratings all the way around and more frequent successes without complications.
 
@kayow11 My surgeon is not fessing up to anything! I've tried relentlessly to get him to admit there is a problem, but he says stuff like "it's normal for women to be 7-8 degrees valgus." Or, and I love this one, "You don't walk valgus." What the heck does that mean? :heehee:

If only I could get him to make the tiniest of admissions that something is off, I would feel like I wasn't crazy. Everyone who looks at my knee says "OH!" upon seeing how knock-kneed it now looks. It makes me terribly self conscious and then there's the hip pain. So yeah, you're way ahead of the game than me at this point. Especially because your doc seems to be admitting there is a problem. I'll see my OS again in late November and will once again try to get him to admit something is not quite right.

But I was heartened by something Jamie said which was let your knee heal, most surgeon's won't see you until 8-9 months after surgery anyway, so give it time. I, like you, find this unacceptable and am not going to live with it the rest of my life, so I'm determined to do something about it, but I'm not going to rush either. If a revision is in store it will happen. Right now I'm just concentrating on reducing the swelling and trying to be more active. I still have much pain, but it's way better than first couple of months.

Please keep me/us posted! :wave:
 
@RadioGal, I will keep everyone posted as my saga continues. This is the great thing about this forum, and that everyone gets educated and informed about things like this. And it appears we are all learning and kind of looking out for each other too. I really appreciate that aspect.

Yes, my surgeon said he takes full responsibility for any mess up. He sees that it is off but he is trying to say he doesn't think it will be a problem. I told him I already have a foot problem on that side, but he said I could wear some type of thing in my shoe to help with that, but then I said I already wear custom orthotics. I really didn't like that comment.
I'm sure it's hard for them to realize that someone else is not happy with their job, and of course they have a reputation to maintain.

He seemed very humble, and thoroughly explained how he would correct the problem, but as others have advised me here, I really should try to find a revision specialist that sees this frequently and has success in fixing it. Not just good intentions.

My surgeon doesn't like that I am not happy with this, and said my happiness and satisfaction is what is most important to him. He is not like the traditional ortho doctors that are more arrogant and I think that is why he is so popular. But he still made a mistake and I'm sure has made others too. He wants me to get a second opinion.

Maybe you could consider sending a photo like I did so Josephine can do her measurement. At least it would be one measurement from one person and give you an idea. My surgeon did an x-ray and he sees it there, and on me personally. My surgeons 5° Off measurement came from his guesstimate from the x-ray.

Didn't your surgeon do at least one postop x-ray, just to see how the prosthesis is positioned? Mine has done two so far, one on each appointment.
 
@RadioGal and all that are interested in my ongoing story,
I still have plenty of swelling too and my range of motion still isn't very good. I am speaking now of my first knee which is a little over four months old. It definitely suffered a setback when I had my second surgery. Don't even know if I have 100° yet.

My PT that I go to occasionally only works on my newest knee, not my first one that is 4 months old. But it is the swelling inside the knee or around the knee that is preventing increased range Of motion still at this point.

And yes it is still painful but not like my newest one of 6 weeks of course. I am trying to wean off the narcotics this past week and next week. As far as pain goes, I feel I could still be on them with a normal dose for another 2 to 3 weeks but I am concerned about body dependence.

Is my concern about this realistic?
 
@kayow11 - are you still elevating and icing your first TKR? You can help it by doing that every time you elevate and ice your newer TKR. That could help reduce the swelling.

If you're using a machine to ice your left TKR, get some frozen gel packs and use them to ice your right knee, one pack at the front of your knee and one at the back.

kayow11 said:
I am trying to wean off the narcotics this past week and next week. As far as pain goes, I feel I could still be on them with a normal dose for another 2 to 3 weeks but I am concerned about body dependence.
Is my concern about this realistic?
Click to expand...
You still need the pain relief, so don't try to wean off the narcotics too quickly. Another couple of weeks won't matter.
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
 
Thanks CELLE for your input. I have not been icing my old knee that much. But when I do, I ice the front and back.

I don't have found ice machine, just gel packs but several of them. The icing just doesn't seem to do anything even though it could be helping but it sure does not show. After icing, my knees are super stiff and feel really weird., Like my kneecap is being pulled off. I know that sounds weird but that is what it feels like to me.

I really don't get that where most people say ice feels so good. It never has for me and seems to do nothing. But I will keep trying.

Also, the pain relief I still feel that I need but I just think it's bad for me. I only feel a little drowsy from it but know. it's an opiate, and wonder if it's doing bad things to me that I don't know about.

If you feel a couple more weeks will not make any difference, I might just hang in there and keep on taking some anyway. I think it seems ridiculous to still be on narcotics at week seven and eight but I guess if you have pain, you need it.

I am not worried about being able to get off it, but definitely don't want my body relying on it to feel decent. I guess I think suffering through some pain is OK but I don't like it.
 
CELLE, I forgot to mention in the last above post that I just sent two minutes ago, that the thing that seems to make my knees feel the best, is ace wrapping them the whole day. I wrap them fairly snug to keep the swelling down and it feels so much better.

As soon as I unwrap them at night just before bed, I feel the swelling start to increase in the knees almost immediately. But by then I am going to bed and then my knees and legs won't hurt when I am laying down.

I am also wearing the very tight 30 to 40 thigh high compression stockings every day all day. I really have a swelling problem that continues even though it may not look that bad to others but I know it is way more than normal.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 665 (members: 0, guests: 665)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom