TKR both knees

[KayeKaye]

I have been questioning about 4 different doctors and it seems they all do only 2 or 3 TKR, PKR a week. This is only 156 a year, far short from the recommendations I've read here for 200-300 a year. I've yet to get through to the Mayo clinic doctor to see what his numbers are. The routine they all seem to have is to do surgery one day a week and the rest of the week is split up going to 3 different clinics in our large metro area. This clinic visiting thing seems to be their most important routine. I noticed at on of the bigger clinics today, Friday, there was only one doctor working and only a handful of patients waiting compared to the overcrowded bustling waiting room on the other days I've been there. So most of them must take off Fridays.

Do you think this is some kind of new standard now?

Is there a doctor pool here in the forum somewhere? Doctors that members have seen and how they have felt about them? I don't know if that's allowed or not but just wondering. I don't know how to find a doctor here that has done over 200 TKR's a year. It takes so long to get these clinics to call back and answer questions. Now I'm wondering if I should even bother going to see the doctors that only do 2 or 3 a week. ugh frustrated.

 

[kneeper]

It is hard to find someone as so much depends on your insurance plan and whether you're in a large metro area. I would definitely check with Mayo. My sense would be that they're big enough to have surgeons who are knees only.

 

[KayeKaye]

Thanks kneeper, these doctors are all Knees only, but they only operate once a week. So that doesn't add up to much.

 

[Janet2012]

Hi Kaye, I haven't been on the pre op side for awhile. Conserving my lucidity for post op. lol! You call the dr. Offices, tell them you have a question for his nurse, and you ask how many he does. My surgeon only does surgery two days a week, but does 500 surgeries a year, 350 knees and 500 hips. He doesn't work Fridays. Sometimes the hospital itself will give the information, but I don't know who you would ask. Keep looking!

 

[KayeKaye]

Thanks Janet for replying. Yes I am continuing the search. It seems so endless and I hope to have the surgery by the end of the year for insurance sake. But the weekend is here and if the rain holds off I'm going to try to walk down to the lake again.

I understand that you need your energy for the post op side, I remember my foot operation and how draining it was between meds and rest and icing and elavation and, and and... Hang in there!

 

[Coniglietta]

Hello KayeKaye, I think mine was taken off the shelf lol. In UK we dont get told much and its not usual to ask unless something is worrying you. I dont know what type mine is and I am not really bothered as long as it does the job and allows me to live my life. Sometimes I think a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, although I just had to watch all the youtube clips of knee surgery and read everything there was to know and sure enough it gave me more to worry about than if I had been in ignorance.
It makes sense to have a made-to-measure though lol.
Have a peaceful day,
Viv xx

 

[reetpteet]

Hello KayeKaye, I think mine was taken off the shelf lol. In UK we dont get told much and its not usual to ask unless something is worrying you. I dont know what type mine is and I am not really bothered as long as it does the job and allows me to live my life. Sometimes I think a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, although I just had to watch all the youtube clips of knee surgery and read everything there was to know and sure enough it gave me more to worry about than if I had been in ignorance.
It makes sense to have a made-to-measure though lol.
Have a peaceful day,
Viv xx

LOL - my hubby said "I guess they open up your knee & say 'pass us the red/medium/average woman' pack for this one!"
Like you I'm happy if it does the job & doesn't clunk too much.:iagree: Grateful to the NHS that we don't have to do all that shopping around!

 

[Nyland]

Hi Kaye,
You can call the surgery administrator at the hospital. They will have the information at their fingertips. When my son had surgery (not orthopedic), and was trying to make a decision, I asked one of our surgeons where to get the information. He told me the administrator. I emailed her and she responded with stats for all of the bariatric surgeons per year for each year they were doing surgery at our hospital. She included outcomes, deaths, revisions, and credentials. He used this information along with personal recommendations to make his choice.
As for the patient specific device? I almost had that. On Tuesday I was making a decision, Wednesday had decided that I wanted it, and on Thursday I pulled an odd number which meant I didn't get it. I will share my thoughts, since I did look into it. Personally, I think that it is worth the MRI. Any information that your OS has before the surgery is only going to be helpful. There is a recommendation for cutting the bone. If when your surgeon gets in there and he thinks that he needs to tweak the numbers, so be it, he will. I would go with the patient specific device. It is really the same, but there are a few rods and pins that don't have to be drilled because the alignment is supposed to be worked out.
Best of luck. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Coniglietta]

That would be most confusing Rita lol, love your hubby's comments, straight and to the point !
Glad these decisions are taken out of our hands Nyland, I am not sure i could cope with all that :rolleyes:
Viv xx

 

[KayeKaye]

Viv and reetpeet yes it is a lot to think about! makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes I haven't had the nerve to watch any surgeries yet, I suppose I should. I couldn't take being awake though I hate being put under too. Stuck between a rock and a hard place I guess ha ha.

Nyland, thanks for the advice about the administrator, I would have never thought of that.

Well it's a dismal day here, no beach darn the luck. Yesterday I was driving around all over collecting doctor reports, xrays and mri's and it was hot and beautiful. Driving past the beach I just knew it wouldn't last.

 

[reetpteet]

Viv and reetpeet yes it is a lot to think about! makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes I haven't had the nerve to watch any surgeries yet, I suppose I should. I couldn't take being awake though I hate being put under too. Stuck between a rock and a hard place I guess ha ha.

Nyland, thanks for the advice about the administrator, I would have never thought of that.

Well it's a dismal day here, no beach darn the luck. Yesterday I was driving around all over collecting doctor reports, xrays and mri's and it was hot and beautiful. Driving past the beach I just knew it wouldn't last.

You should try British weather .................

 

[BJ Mac]

KayeKaye, I started to watch one of the surgery videos on youtube before my surgery and was making comments and my 16yo DD asked what I was watching and I told her. She told me to stop and I did, and I was actually glad that I didn't watch.

 

[KayeKaye]

I would love to try some British weather reetpeet, never been to that side of the world. Can't be any worse than here, 100F in the summer with more mosquitos than the amazon rainforest and -30F in the winter. Brutal when it's bad, ok when its' nice.

That is so funny BJ mac, I'm glad you didn't watch it. Were you awake for the surgery? I wouldn't like to listen it would panic me I'm sure. I don't take well to that.

 

[BJ Mac]

Oh no, I was out and I would not want to be awake. I am really glad I didn't watch it though. I had general anesthesia and was kind of sick afterward, and I was really happy when I remembered that I could ask for something for the naseau and got it and it helped. It is a bit hard to think straight after surgery and having a foggy brain from meds...

 

[KayeKaye]

Went to Dr. JB today. 6/25/2012
Only does knees, nothing else.
Only does 100 a year TKR.
Does everything else before TKR: cortisone, Methylprednisolone, PT, Synvistic, arthroscropy, for as long as he can before any surgery.
Wants me to wait till I am like 70 another 10 years.
Did not find Osteoarthritus like the previous doctor did. ???!!
Did not find meniscus tears on either the MRI or Xray like the other doctor did. ???!!
Wants me to get a blood test done to find out or rule out arthritis.
Said it is inevitable that the knees have to be replaced, but until we find out what kind of arthritus is involved the new knees would not stop the pain.

I am SOOOO frustrated. Why is there such a wide variance in Osteoarthritus and Meniscus tears? I SAW the tears on the screen at the last doctors and told this one. He searched both the MRI and Xray showing me that there was none. ???


In any case my knees are killing me and ALL I do is sit and hurt day and night.
He gave me a prescription for Methylprednisolone, a tapered dose to try and control side effects. From what I read it is a strong and dangerous drug.

 

[Nyland]

Hi KayeKaye,
I'm so sorry about your disappointing and confusing appointment! I'm perplexed! I can just imagine how you are feeling.

 

[KayeKaye]

Thanks Nyland. I am so frustrated. After the long drive and going by myself, I am exhausted, physically and emotionally.

 

[RestAssured]

Kaye,

I am so sorry! 100 surgeries a year? Hmmm... Well I hope that you can find someone who will listen to you and help you now! Not 10 years down the road! Life is too short as it is, why in the world would he expect you to be miserable for 10 more years?

Find someone that will give you another opinion! Heck, if they won't come to Texas and see Dr. Maale! He will even allow you to send your records for a phone consultation! It's worth a shot, and he won't say, wait 10 years!

 

[AbbyGirl2010]

hi I

I am so confused. So glad to have found this forum, an it's wealth of information.

The first thing I am confused about is the doctors attitude. I've see 2 now plus my own GP who is on maternity leave for a couple three months. I am on my third doctor in a couple weeks and possible a fourth.

1. The first one took an MRI and found nothing.

2. The second one said MRI's don't work and took an X-ray that showed both knees almost bone on bone with meniscal tears that were un-operational. He then and there gave me a Syvistic One shot in the better knee and told me I had to wait 10 years because I am 60. Told me I have to loose at least 70 pounds. I told him I am dieting and just lost 56 pounds and he was unperturbed and continued.
This doctors' office was extremely full of very elderly people who all get shots regularly. One patient told me to refuse all surgeries and do these shots only.
I had a bad twist 3 weeks ago that left me totally wracked in pain and off my feet for almost 3 weeks. Couldn't get into see him, saw his emergency PA who just said yup you're hurt, offered another shot which I didn't do, and goodbye.

3. I have an appointment with a third doctor who is a team athletic doctor. He treats pro football players. My mind says some of these guys are easily 300 pounds and he treats them, what's the difference?

4. A friend gave me her doctor at the Mayo Clinic so I called and established a case number and setting up an appointment. The last question was how much do you weigh and when I told her she said the doctor would take it under advisement and see if I was a likely candidate and get back to me in 2 weeks. Didn't know that was how they worked.

So... frustrated. I don't understand how a doctor could tell someone to be in constant pain for 10 years. I take Ibuprofen 800 4 times a day. I have some generic Vicodin to help me sleep but they really don't do anything for the pain. I have all the exercises but I can't even bend my knee to do those. I had a foot operation in 2005 that is still giving me referred pain, and last February Pt and diagnosing this is what led to the knee discovery. I was totally surprised, guess the knee pain was disguising itself.

Did you all have to work so hard to be listened to?

Roy I'm starting to see that it's not unreasonable to not wait 10 years.

Thanks BJ Mac, I'm glad to have found this forum, I've learned more here in one post than all last year searching.

Thanks AussieBill1962. Yes I've been losing weight but exercising is extremely hard.

Exercise is the second thing that I am confused about:
The knee doesn't hurt as much as the meniscal tears. So if I keep moving the knee doesn't it just make the tears worse? What to do. No advice from the doctors, the PT's I've had since my foot operation in 2005 told me that exercise would make the knees better and this can be fixed. I just don't understand how moving this tear, that can't be operated on because it's torn the wrong way, can be made better. It's my understanding that the debris from the tear is getting caught in the knee mechanism. Really confused. Has anyone had this dilemma?

 

[KayeKaye]

That's so funny, I'm about ready. But seriously confused. I guess I need to do the blood test to see if it's another kind of arthritis. But this doctor is off the table for my consideration.