Total knee arthoplasty success story

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Jayhawk

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Just recently found this website. Not sure if I am in the correct location but would like to share my experience with two total knee arthroplasties….….left knee surgery in July 2008 and right knee surgery February 2009. I was 61 years old when I had the first surgery. Because it seems that most of the people who frequent this type of site have or had problems with their knee surgeries, I want to give an example of a very successful surgery and recovery. I went through hell prior to my surgeries and hopefully I can be of help to others who are in a similar situation.

I had extremely arthritic knees due five prior knee surgeries (played sports at the college level). I delayed the surgeries for many years but ultimately my quality of life and the impact on my family left me no alternative. After extensive research on the minimially invasive surgery, doctors who specialized in joint replacement and even the prosthesis manufacturers I selected a doctor who performs over 500 knee athroplasties a year who practices at a hospital with a formal joint replacement program and then very aggressively approaced the physical therapy at a highly regarded sports medicine facility.

I appears that the recovery on my left knee has been way ahead of the curve and the recovery on my right knee has been even faster. My recovery from both is basically complete. While I am not completely pain free and I get stiff after I sit for extended periods, I continue to workout at the gym and am playing golf and racquetball.

I set goals for both surgeries and was very focused and determined to be successful (I WALKED out of the hospital two days after each surgery)!!! I would be very happy to share my experiences in detail with anyone or answer any questions.

The key to having the postential for a successful total knee arthoplasty is to select a doctor who specializes in joint replacements only.....find a physical therapy facility with experience in knee replacements and do the work!! It is not easy and it is not pain free....but the results are well worth the efforts.


Steve
Spring, Tx.
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Hey Steve, good to see you here...we posted on KneeGeeks. I was the one with 2 quad sparing TKRs and am now 6+ weeks out on my second.

I'm so glad you posted because you know about technical things during rehab and I've just had a strange experience.

I've been walking, biking, no problem with leg raises, I think my quads are very good. But I did water walking two days ago and my 7 month knee is having pain whereas my 6 week knee just feels like it has typical workout ache. I have some shooting pains from the joint in the 7 month and it feels so very stiff I can hardly walk.

This water walking is mainly dance steps underwater, foot crossing over foot, hopping, probably some torquing that I haven't done in PT, biking, walking, exercises.

Since I'm released from both PT and the doc, do you have any idea which muscle or muscle group could be causing this pain in a 7 month knee?

Hollie
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Steve, Welcome to BoneSmart and thanks so much for taking time to post a "good news" story. We know people like you are out there, but many times the "successes" are so busy getting on with their lives, they don't have time to post on a forum. But I can assure you, your story will mean a lot to many of our members and also to those who stay outside membership and just read posts as guests.

I hope you have an opportunity to post again in the future.

I have to ask since I live in the Kansas City area....are you a Jayhawk like your name says???
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Welcome Steve,
I too had a good experience. I had BTKR on 6/18/08 at the age of 58. I was an athlete in both HS & College and taught K-12 Physical Education for 5 years. Following the birth of our 2 sons, I stayed home during the day and worked as a server in a restaurant in the evenings about 3-4 days/week. I eventually opened up my own Family Child Care business 28 years ago and have been working at "children's level" for all those years. I also have been a ski instructor and damaged one of my tibial plateaus by hitting a tree........
Anyway, 12 days post op I had 9 children in my home I was caring for with the help of a parent client. I was very happy I had them both done at the same time as my recovery was even. I purchased and read the book, followed the exercises religiously. I did purchase a computerized stationary bike and a Total Gym (used from craigslist.org for $100). Well worth the money, time, effort, and energy. I returned to downhill skiing on Feb 1st this year. I skied 8 times and am happy with my progress. I have even taken up golf!
So, yes, finding the right surgeon for yourself is vital. I went to rehab for 6 days post op and came home walking without assistance in the house and with 1 crutch outside for about a week. It is a challenging surgery, but with the right attitude it can be very successful. You have to be motivated! I go for my 1 year check on June 19th and will have my baseline x-rays for my spacers. I will them return every 2 years for repeat x-rays to monitor the wear.
Enjoy you new knees! I sure am enjoying mine as I am getting my life back........
Best,
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Yes, a man after my own heart! Find someone who does the procedure (whatever it is) as his personal speciality, not one procedure amongst many! What you don't need is a generalist!

Good report, Steve. Welcome to the forum!
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Steve, I have solved my problem so you don't need to respond to my question above .

My PT had suggested water walking for my 6 week knee so I took a water walking class which was actually like water ballet. She since told me she really meant WALKING in water, and the ballet moves torqued my knee and may have strained a tendon or ligament.

Then the doc called and said the healing process usually takes 17 months.

As a former ballet dancer I couldn't prevent myself from perfecting the choreography offered, and thus got myself in trouble.

So, glad you're still doing well Steve,

Hollie
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Steve --- yours is a great story and you sound totally enthusiastic! Fantastic! I too have had an uncomplicated recovery and, I believe, for the same reasons you have: a specialized surgeon, excellent PT and a lot of hard work both before the TKR and after and continuing. I also had no pain because the pain management protocol at the hospital and for the post 2 week period was so good. No pain helps you work your tail off!!! I'm not sure I would have been as successful with the kind of pain others on this forum write about.
Hollie --glad you solved your muscle pain problem from the water ballet class. I too use dance movements in my workouts and have to be careful not to move the wrong way. They are just ingrained I guess, although I merely took ballet, tap and modern jazz classes --- never was good enough to actually "dance". I did water running about 10 years ago recovering from meniscus surgery. I used flotation devices and actually ran in the pool without my feet touching ground. It was actually quite tiring and perfect for a rehabbing runner. But it was so boring I never went back to try it again. I thought I would do it now -- but just can't force myself to get in the pool!
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Well done, Steve! Keep up the great recup! :)
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Jayhawk
How does one go about finding a P/T facility specializing in knee replacement. If you ask them, they will all say yes.
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Thanks for the welcome....

I am from Wichita but was born in Lawrence, Kansas and did indeed attend KU!!

It should not be difficult to find a physical therapy facility that has experience with knee replacement rehab. Frequently they are affiliated or part of a hospital. That was my situation....The Texas Sports Medicine Center which is part of Tomball Hospital (Houston area). Many hospitals now have "wellness centers" which typically provide physical therapy. Also, check with the doctors who are the experts in knee arthroplasty surgery and find where they refer patients. Typically the physical therapists will have masters or PHD degrees in physical therapy. Also, the capabilities of this type facility versus that which can be provided through "home therapy" is quite substantial.

I truly struggled with my knees for many, many years and it was a very difficult and emotional decision for me to have the initial surgery....fortunately the delay allowed for the advancement of the minimially invasive surgery. I have become somewhat of an advocate and if I can be of assistance to someone going through the "hell" that I endured.....more than happy to help.

I worked extremely hard in physical therapy....my therapist and I dicussed the fine line between "pushing the limit" and being regressive by overdoing. I did therapy three days a week for six weeks.......sessions were typically two hours with work on both stability and strength....at the end had ice and electrical stimulation. I continue to work hard on my own at the gym.

I have prepared a journal of my surgeries and physical therapy and would share with anyone interested. It is very lengthy so I did not opt to include here (not to promote another website but you can find a chronology on both surgeries and recoveries at KneeGeeks) .

Hey Hollie....hope you are doing well.

Steve
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Glad to hear from you Steve, and I'd love to see your journal on exercises you actually did and continue to do. Since I'm now released I need to figure out what to do on my own and I'm not doing so well with this.

After torquing my knee in a water ballet class that my PT says I wasn't ready for, today I feel better, don't feel I strained anything, thank goodness, and I'm going to go back to the gym and do water something??? And also the machines. My PT tells me I have a tendency to ALWAYS overdo, then suffer the consequences...I need help. I've run into trainers at gyms that did not have a clue about exercise after surgeries, I've had two hip resurfacing surgeries too where I rehabbed at a gym.

So I'd love to hear your exercise expertise.

Hollie
 
Re: Total knee arthopasty success story

Hollie....start my typical workout riding a stationary bike for 20-30 minutes. For me the resistance is more important than the pedal speed....therefore increase the resistance to a fairly high level and try to keep the pedal speed above 70 rpm (depending on the specific program I select...difficult to keep above 70 on hills). Occassionly I will split time between the bike and a stair climber. Then a routine of stability and strength exercises with both free weights and machines (different squats with and with out weghts, incline leg presses, knee extension machine, hamstring presses, etc.). Most of the machine exercises are with each leg individually as opposed to both together.

One note on the knee extension machine, I do not go past 45-60 degrees (never go a complete 90 degrees!!).
 
Thanks Steve, appreciate your routine.

I'm 8 weeks now and having trouble with pain after exercise. I feel fine while I'm doing the exercise (water dancing, walking, bike, etc.), but then get pain and swelling 6-8 hours later and through the night. Since I can't take any NSAIDS or pain pills, all I can do is ice. I get woken up by pain through the night and often kick my husband in bed, moving my legs around in my sleep.

I remember reading that you just "powered through" the pain after exercise, didn't you?

Hollie
 
Still experience some pain after a workout...especially after a really hard workout. Also, usually somewhat stiff and sore the day after....so do not work my legs two days in a row. I do not experience any swelling but still ice my left knee for 10-15 minutes after exercise.

I did not take the narcotic pain medication after I left the hosptial....absolutely hated how it made me feel. Rather have the pain than the affect of the medication.
 
Wow, Steve...NO pain meds??? That's certainly not the norm. But I'm glad to hear that it worked for you okay. What a toughie!!!
 
The primary reason that I ultimately decided to have my knees replaced was due to the quality of life....my physical activity became extremely limited by pain....I had to quit almost all exercise. I lived with the pain for years and years and have taken anti-inflamatory medication for as long as I can remember...had several rounds of Hyalgon injections and finally cortisone injections in both knees on a quarterly basis for several years. I still take Arthrotec and MSM daily.

Consequently I developed an extremely high pain tolerance.......just got to the point where the level of pain was normal! Most likely this allowed me to have a much easier recovery than many....even though I have experienced pain with the surgery and physical therapy....it is not much more than the level of pain pre-surgery. Based on what I have learned post-surgery my level of pain must have been substantial!! As the pain abated it has been like a new life.

Now I can do just about any physical activity I want....weight training, raquetball, golf......last Friday I jogged for the first time in years!!!!


Steve
 
Steve -- you jogged???? Fantastic. This is why I had my knee replaced! I so want to run again -- even a few miles a few times a week would be a dream come true. My surgeon says he has patients who run but of course he doesn't "advise" it. There is a former elite runner named Dick Beardsley who lives in Texas now -- who has been running since about 6 weeks out (he had TKR in December) and his last Tweet said he had done an 8 mile run - his longest yet - doing the miles "in the 8's". I met him at the Boston Marathon when my husband ran it and he obviously lives to run. I don't think he has any kind of special "knee". But he works out in the gym every single day! And he's very very thin.
So please write more about your jogging as you go along if you continue it. I am working very hard to get the right quad back to parity with the left one and as soon as I feel I'm going down stairs without feeling the right (*TKR) knee -- I'm going to start.
Wow Steve THAT IS SO COOL!!!!
Stephani
 
I am not a true dedicated "runner"....but many of my sporting activities (basketball, baseball, racquetball, etc.) required some degree of running or required you to run for training purposes. However, as the condition of my knees degenerated the ability to run went away....literally was not physically able to run!!

I did not attempt to run very far...but the most important fact was that I was ABLE to run and there was no pain present!! Do not know if or to what level I will continue to run. I have started to play racquetball again but have not pushed myself very hard....since it has been a couple of years since I have been able to play at a competitive level I want to work back into it very slowly....do not want to create any new problems.

Will most likely stick to low-impact activites (with the exception of racquetball) for my exercise....will continue with the bike and weight training. I have been playing golf again for several weeks (was able to play at about six weeks with both surgeries). May snow ski again this season.

My doctor uses the DePuy prostheses in his practice and since he was aware of my level of activity he used the Rotating Platform Knee in my situation. This prostesis is intended for people with higher levels of activity. It has been so long since I had "normal" knees that I do not remember what it felt like.....but I do not feel limited in any manner physically.

As of today, it has been eleven months for my left knee and four months for my right knee.


Steve
 
Way to go!

I too had a very similar recovery from BI-TKR 7 months ago. I have been amazed at the potential this surgery has.

Max
 
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