robert johnson
member
When I first heard of Outpatient TKR (I got an email about it from my Orthopedic Center), I thought for sure they must have revolutionized the operation since I had mine in 2010.
So, I made an appointment to go talk to my OS about it to see what the operation was like that enabled them to do it as outpatient surgery. I asked my wife to come so we didn't miss anything. When I asked him what they did, he quickly told me it was the same operation, with the addition of a pain cocktail injected into the knee at the time of surgery that kept you pain free easily into the next day.
When we pressed him on whether they're really willing to go home the same day (I was in Hospital 3 days my first op), he said, oh yeah, we're not kicking them out, they want to go home. Apparently, they've done hundreds of them like that.
We forgot to ask what happens when all the pain relief wears off, but I guess it's predictable after having the two biggest bones in your body sawed and shaped and what else they do to your muscles to accomplish it. I think it's safe to assume all those people went directly to the pharmacy to fill prescriptions so that they were ready.
But it raises an interesting question in my mind, and I was wondering what the members here have experienced: What is the best case scenario that anyone could imagine, or has heard about, for walking unaided after the procedure? No walker, cane, or crutches. I'm curious if anyone has heard about anyone dispensing with aids in the first few days. If my memory serves me, I think I used a walker for about 2 weeks, and then a cane for another week or so.
So, I made an appointment to go talk to my OS about it to see what the operation was like that enabled them to do it as outpatient surgery. I asked my wife to come so we didn't miss anything. When I asked him what they did, he quickly told me it was the same operation, with the addition of a pain cocktail injected into the knee at the time of surgery that kept you pain free easily into the next day.
When we pressed him on whether they're really willing to go home the same day (I was in Hospital 3 days my first op), he said, oh yeah, we're not kicking them out, they want to go home. Apparently, they've done hundreds of them like that.
We forgot to ask what happens when all the pain relief wears off, but I guess it's predictable after having the two biggest bones in your body sawed and shaped and what else they do to your muscles to accomplish it. I think it's safe to assume all those people went directly to the pharmacy to fill prescriptions so that they were ready.
But it raises an interesting question in my mind, and I was wondering what the members here have experienced: What is the best case scenario that anyone could imagine, or has heard about, for walking unaided after the procedure? No walker, cane, or crutches. I'm curious if anyone has heard about anyone dispensing with aids in the first few days. If my memory serves me, I think I used a walker for about 2 weeks, and then a cane for another week or so.