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Will new knees be good enough?

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Kelly....that story is priceless!!!

Maybe your friend will have an awakening soon. We can only hope...or else she will have a lot of pain in her future.
 
Yeah, I got it, I did not have arthritis either until after a backpacking trip last January when I finally went to a Doc. The x-rays told the tail. End of denial!!

I envy your sucess!! In three weeks I will visit my daughter in Reno/Tahoe. I have an appt. with a surgeon when I arrive to tald about getting it done. I will aqttempt a day or two of skiing but I know that I will barely be walking each night. Enough is enough.

I can only hope my journey will get allow me to ski again(and everything else) without pain..
 
My moment of awakening was one night when I was on-call. We had a road traffic accident come in during the evening with a fractured right wrist and a mashed up left elbow. I scrubbed up at 10.30pm and didn't finish until 5.30am! No break, no sit down, 7 straight hours on my feet standing in one spot and with intense concentration. It took me 40 mins to walk from the theatre to my car (usually took me less than 10) and when I got home, I had to sit in the car for about half an hour before I could get out. Eventually got to bed but after about 2 hours, was wakened with the most horrendous cramp in my right calf and knee. I thought I had been shot!

It was all downhill after that!
 
Yeah, I think I sort of have been in a "this is the way it is" way of thinking and not really expecting that there's much to be done. "I'm too young for knee replacement." "It's not *that* bad, is it?"
but yes, I now think it *is* that bad. The idea that after a TKR I could do normal daily activities without major pain (I'm talking grocery shopping and going downstairs to do laundry :) ) & sleep without waking up every time I bend or straighten my leg overnight sounds worth it. And that's on a major dose of NSAIDs every day.

I think you all have given me a realistic expectation of the tough rehab but also the positive message that the results can be so much better than what I'm dealing with now.
 
This is an interesting thread.

I led a very active painful life with a right knee that was bone on bone for about 10 years. I tried to ignore the pain and other than the obvious limp, a casual observer would have never known I had a bad knee.
It got to the point that I drove around and around in parking lots to avoid walking too far.

I stopped hiking. I stopped climbing.

I woke up every night so I could move my stiff knee.

When it was bent, I couldn't straighten it, when it was straight, I couldnt bend it.

Too young indeed.
Too young to lose the things that made me feel alive.

I had it done March 10th and up until very very recently, REGRETTED IT.

I have not had an easy recovery either. This is painful and I had unrealistic expectations of both the pain involved in the recovery and how soon I'd be back in the game.

I have made peace that I need pain meds at times.

I also don't like the way my knee clunks around when I slam a good kick into the ice while ice climbing.

Sometimes, if I slip while hiking a steep trail, I get a twang in my hamstrings.

Some of the tough yoga poses still are challenging.

I do like the scar, though, and showed it off in my little bike shorts as I took my road bike out for long rides in the mountains this summer.

I can sleep through the night without my knee waking me up to take a pain pill.
Do I still ache at times? Heck yeah, but I iced climbed 7 pitches of steep ice this weekend.

Only you will know when it is time, and we all heal at different rates.

I admit that I am probably one of the people on this forum who used (and continues to use) pain meds the longest, but that is me, and I beat the **** out of my knees on my feet at work all day, and climbing and hiking on the weekends.

You can do whatever you want with a new knee. I'm starting to like mine.
Best to you,
Sandy
 
Sandy, awesome to hear that you are climbing again!! I have to admit that a frozen waterfall has very limited appeal to me--but then you probably don't like to whiz down steep ski slopes either!!

I am glad that you are starting to like the knee--seven waterfalls seems excessive!! But, I am not one to talk. I have been going like crazy--lots of powder, lots of steep slopes. Even hiked up the mountain with skins!! I am enjoying this rebirth stuff. Kelly
 
I agree with all the others, but just thought I would mention that your bike-riding gives you a real advantage during recovery. My OS thinks riding bikes is the best exercise for keeping knees strong and stable after this surgery.
 
Hey Kelly
I also like to whiz down ski slopes but we have sketchy conditions. As for the skinning. Been there and done that. We call this "earning your turns" If there is a lift available I'm not walking up the hill.

Ice climbing is way more fun though. Great for taking out aggression....and nobody messes with a woman with a lethal wespon in each hand!

BTW biking is what got me back. It is the first activity I could do outside. I plan on doing a century next fall
 
Kelly, Sandy,
All this talk of sking, hiking and cycling is food for my mind. It will make my decision to get these knees done worthwhile if I can achieve even part of what you guys have gotten back.
 
Gene, don't worry, you will achieve whatever you want/need to do.

Sandy--that is amazing, I am also thinking of doing a century!! I have been taking spinning class (at 6 am) before I go up to the mountain three days per week. It has helped me think more about bike riding and I also am really going to train this summer. I joined a more aggressive bike group as well as my group that rides 20 miles every Thursday!

I rode my bike for my six month check up--the office is 11 miles from our house. My doc was so funny--he kept asking if I was going to ride home too!! Kelly
 
Here in the Cleveland area we have a bike ride called "Pedal to the Point", which is sponsored by the MS Society. The ride is from Cleveland to Cedar Point, Ohio, which has a tremendous amusement park. The ride one way is 75 miles---you spend the night and ride back another 75 miles the next day, for 150 miles total. The feed you and put you up for the night in a high school. (There are so many rest stops along the way that it is said that it is the only 150-mile bike ride in the world in which you ride 150 miles and gain weight!)

Anyway, I am going to do it this year...I was training to do it last year---got up to 60 miles a day on the bike, but some things came up and I just couldn't do it. I plan on completing the ride next year.

I also find it interesting that your docotr couldn't believe that you were going to ride home---too many people do not realize what on can accomplish after a TKR!

Tim C.
 
Hey Big Gene:

Anything is possible if you want it bad enough. To get to where we all are takes lots of work, persistance and in my case, pain meds and pity parties.
I just decided I needed my life back, and wasn't content reading the doings of people on other forums I visit.

My issue was I made my goals too lofty and too soon. I compared my recovery to others, and that is so demoralizing I warn everone I can not to do it. I pushed out the goals, dropped my expectations a little, and moved along at the pace my knee allows. I am still not there yet, despite the conquests.

I climbed on New years Eve AND followed that with a New Years Day Multi Pitch Climb up the same thing I climbed last year, with good technique. One MAJOR goal reached.
Its all good.
Sandy
 
Sandy,
OK, so here I go thinking negatively again but what I here you saying is you are now, 10 months after surgery, able to do what you could do before surgery. Sounds like status quo to me. Is the pain less? different? Do you feel like you will achieve more without the price paid with your arthritic knees?
 
10 months is still pretty early, don't forget. We don't really think our recovery is 'over' until after the year round and even then you get little bits of blips here and there but consequences not too major like earlier.

However, the mile stones and goals aren't a one thing forever thing. It's like a mountain - you climb it one step at a time!
 
BigGene, I'm closing in on my two year anniversary of my knee replacement. Last week, I surfed or rode my surf mat (which requires some serious leg strength as I wear fins and kick like my life depends on it) for five straight days at a spot that requires you hike down and hike back up.

I got a new skateboard as one of my Christmas presents. There's also a mini ramp for skateboarding in my backyard . . . which my child doesn't go near so you can guess who uses it.

With a degenerating knee, you have nowhere to go but down. With a replaced knee, you have nowhere to go but up.

I lost my surfboard into the rocks a few days ago. I had to do a 15 minute painful walk across the rocks to get back to the trail to get back to the car. It was not an easy walk. My knee was fine. I mean, it was perfect. My bare feet? Not so much.

My knee doesn't get in the way. I have limited range of motion, but I had that before surgery. I do get a twinge of pain here and there. That's to be expected since I use the knee to its full capacities.

I know of other surfers, whom I met through the internet, with replaced knees. None of us has been held back.

Embrace your bionic future.
 
Hi Gene
10 months later it is better but not perfect.
Yes I climbed the same route as last year but I am not there yet. I think Im on the 15 month plan.
I still have a ton of strength deficiencies. My hamstrings are weak and so is my right hip. I compensate like crazy and have been doing it for so long it has become unconscious and will be something I'll need to overcome.
I still have pain and I still take narcotics when I need them. The pain is no longer in my knee but in the back of it in the soft tissues. I also have back pain that wasn't present pre-op. This is due to the re-alignment of my pelvis.
I walk without pain or a limp. Both werepresent pre op. My knee does not grind anymore.
It isn't all happy but I want my life back. It is very hard but I hope it will keep improving.

The trick is to take our accomplishments as a good thing to shoot for but not to take your expecations and put a time limit on achieving them.

You will be better but it takes time and pain meds AND patience.

Best
Sandy
 
Oh yeah.
The difference between this year and last years climb is:
I walked out with my heavy pack. Last year my partners had to split the pack weight ( including tools and ropes about 50-60#).
i only took tylenol. The percocet was later for my back not my knee.
My knee did not swell to the point it showed through my pants. In fact my knee never swelled!

Certainly not status quo.

We don't take even the little improvements for granted.

I never expected to climb that route this early in the year. In fact I had planned it for March!!!
Best
Sandy
 
Sandy,
Thanks for the clarification. I now hear your report as more positive than negatrive. The things you did before surgery were accomplished with the support of others and through your willingness to accept the pain, swelling etc. caused by the arthritis. Now you can perform these tasks without the same price and while some issues still remain you feel they are issue related to the healing/recovery process that will continue to improve.

It is interesting, but not unexpected, that those who were most active prior to surgery seem to report less satisfaction with the speed of recovery than those who had simpler goals of eliminating arthritic pain and being able to do the basic activities of life.

You and Skigirl and Referee and others who define "normal" activites or "getting your life back" as more agressive, atheletic and physically demanding than average folks .require more time to get there.

This all begins to make more sense. I think I fall into the catagory with those of you who have need/expect to be able to hike/ski/surf/ride etc.

I think is is great that there, is in this forum, such a wide diversity of people who can provide insight into the experience of rehab/recovery in a personal context that vary greatly. This is information that simply cannot be obtained from traditional sourses.
 
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