Knee Infection Wound infection

[Poppet]

Hi @grannyweasel - as a registered Natural Medicine practitioner here in OZ it is illegal for me to prescribe or suggest supplements... However, as you have done your own research, you have all your bases covered except vitamin C. Although you may have a small amount in your multivitamin?

I would also encourage you to eat Salmon as it has the highest natural concentration of Astaxanthin due to the fact that it is concentrated in their muscles.

Well done with your CRP result - that is excellent!

I will leave you the following links to my nutritional articles..

Healing Phases & Nutrition

This second link is to other nutritional articles which you may find interesting, including one relating to bone health.

Nutritional advice for pre op and recovery

This third link refers to my ongoing research..

nutrional-snippets

p.s. It is also good to know that Astaxanthin is approved by our TGA

 

[grannyweasel]

you have all your bases covered except vitamin C

Thanks so much for checking out my supplements, @Poppet! So very much appreciated

I have a bottle of Vit C pills so have added them to my regimen.

I'm sure you know this so am just curious what you think of recent articles which say doctors can get rid of bacterial infections with massive doses of Vit C? I read that massive doses of Vit C could cure Ebola and thought of printing out that article and showing it to my blood doctor to see if he agreed and if he did, if it'd work with other infectious bugs in one's blood. Totally forgot to do that but will try and remember next time I see him!

Well done with your CRP result - that is excellent!

Thank you!! I'm hoping it'll drop to its normal score in 2 weeks time

My husband was just bringing me my soda and other stuff for my night just now while I was removing my brace - he said that my (right) knee was looking incredible! I don't see it but he notices how swollen and large it looks most days but today he said it looks almost normal, like my left knee

I winked at him and said it must be because of my astaxanthin! LOL!

Thanks for the links as well ... am looking forward to going through them all now that I'm tucked up in bed!

Cheers

~Nona

 

[Josephine]

the reason I have this problem is because of the 1st operation on my knee done in 1967. The huge scar was because I dislocated my kneecap and that was the cut they did back then

Back then we did humongous incisions! And that often lead to unstable knees when revisions were attempted years later.

The surgeon was a GP who learned about surgery, not an ortho surgeon, so I'm not sure if he was even qualified to do the operation!

From what you said, I would question whether he was actually qualified period ! I can tell you stories about such 'doctors' in those days!

it would seem that in those days the surgeon removed something from the inner knee when repairing the dislocation. Not sure if it was a tendon, muscle, ligament or what but that's why my knee won't stay straight

Not that I know of and I was there at the beginning - I scrubbed for the very first knee replacement ever! What is significant about knees in those days was that they were all fixed hinge devices like this so the 'something' they removed would have been an awful lot more bone than is removed nowadays! This would make any subsequent procedure exceedingly difficult to be successful.

You could probably do with a modular knee that has shims to add to the basic device to make up for any bone loss, or a 'massive' device that will replace the lower part of the femur and the upper part of the tibia. Sounds extreme but they do work!

 

[grannyweasel]

Many thanks for the heads up, @Josephine! I really appreciate you taking the time to fill me in on everything

Just one thing ....

I scrubbed for the very first knee replacement ever! What is significant about knees in those days was that they were all fixed hinge devices like this so the 'something' they removed would have been an awful lot more bone than is removed nowadays!

... it was a dislocated kneecap which they operated on in 1967, not a replacement. Just wondering if it was the cruciate which @Jamie was talking about which was removed?

Something definitely was though, as my knee refuses to stay straight upright, even with the immobiliser brace on! Hope they figure out how to fix the problem when the hardware goes in again

Once again, thanks so much for all the information! :D

 

[Josephine]

.. it was a dislocated kneecap which they operated on in 1967, not a replacement. Just wondering if it was the cruciate which @Jamie was talking about which was removed?

Oh stupid me! You said that earlier and I forgot! No, they wouldn't even go into your knee joint for that - well shouldn't have, anyway. So I'm suspecting perhaps it was a tibial tubercle transfer involving a chunk of bone. There are numerous methods of realigning the end of the patellar tendon, trust me! Some were quite bizarre. But one thing was for certain, the surgeon needed a considerable degree of skill to get the alignment right.

 

[grannyweasel]

Thanks for that, @Josephine

Well, whatever the doctor did back then was a massive fail now so hopefully my OS will get it right when the hardware goes back in.

Just for fun - my OS asked Philip if he wanted my Zimmer prosthesis when it was taken out and, thinking of our grandkids, he said yes, thinking of their "show and tell" sessions

This was my knee for 2 years ....

 

[Josephine]

Oh that one! Yes that's some chunk of metal!

 

[grannyweasel]

Yes that's some chunk of metal!

Sure is! I was amazed it was 2.5kg - so heavy!

 

[grannyweasel]

My infectious blood doctor emailed us with my latest CRP, taken on Tuesday - it's down to 22! Phew, so relieved

I'm going back to see him on Wednesday and will need another blood test on Monday. Does anyone know if my OS will want my CRP to be 10 or less before he puts me under again?

Am really getting tired of schlepping around the house with my brace on so have fingers crossed that I'll be back in hospital by the end of this month, having my hardware replaced!

It's been a very long few months and I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy

 

[Old Texan]

My crp was very high and my OS went ahead and replaced my hardware. But ask your OS. Good Luck and let's hope you continue to improve.

 

[grannyweasel]

@Old Texan ... oooooh, thank you for that!

I do hope it all goes ahead as planned but yes, will definitely ask my OS when I see him on the 17th

 

[grannyweasel]

Philip emailed Clay, my blood doctor, asking if there was a special number needed to be reached for my CRP before surgery would be considered.

Clay responded saying that it wasn't just the CRP but other factors had to be considered and he thought it'd be another month before I got my knee put back in

Of course it could be that my OS will have a different idea but I must say that I wasn't expecting that reply from Clay. Drats!

 

[grannyweasel]

Just got back from seeing my blood doctor and my CRP is down to 13

I rang my OS's office manager and told her so she's going to speak to my surgeon and find out when he can fit me in asap! Hopefully it'll be next week!

 

[Pumpkin]

Great news, hope you can proceed with the revision!

 

[grannyweasel]

@Pumpkln

I got a call back from my OS's office and am seeing him early on Monday morning so hopefully that means he might be able to squeeze me in next week.

I feel sick - not sure if it's from excitement or nerves

 

[kneeper]

Congratulations on the good labs. Here's some anti-sickness stuff for you

 

[skigirl]

You have really had a time with that knee. My left knee is the problem child of my life right now!! I hope your visit to the OS brings good news.

 

[grannyweasel]

Cheers @kneeper - I'll drink to that!! LOL

 

[grannyweasel]

@skigirl Oh no! Sorry to hear you're having problems with your left knee :( I hope you get your problem child fixed up asap ... it really does put a dampener on one's life having a bung knee, doesn't it

Wishing you a very speedy recovery

 

[grannyweasel]

My crp was very high and my OS went ahead and replaced my hardware.

@Old Texan - sorry to be nosey but could I ask you how you progressed once your hardware was replaced? Did you find it easy to walk after the operation or did you have to go to rehab to work out before?

I don't know what to expect after the operation so I would really appreciate you sharing your experience!

Hope things are going well for you these days