Been told since retiring in 2010, I needed a new knee. Blessed as I’ve gone 16 years without as well as each year doing the OKC run to remeber marathon event! 1 full and all the rest halfs….
it decided to act uo and I have to go in and see a new other doc, as mine decided to retire this year?! WTH huh?!
Anyone with feedback is appreciated… like…
knee replaced and loved it and can still do half marathons and play with chainsaws safely!
what about calve and thigh and hams being effects? Good bad ugly?
the negatives as in my freind who lives in Garden city has had continuous infections in his replacement and now they are talking possible amputation
I can handle most of the pain right now but the swelling and limited mobility sucks big time…
My dad should have had his knee replaced over 10 years ago, but didn’t do it. His mobility has continually declined and it has been a very negative effect on his quality of life.
My mom got her knee replaced about 5 years ago, and had a little longer recovery time due to some unusual nerve pain, but is very pleased that she had it done now. She followed all of the recommendations for exercises and bought the icing device that cools ice water that flows through a sleeve around the knee.
Most of the patients at our hospital can go home the same day they have a knee replacement. They give an IV antibiotic dose (usually cefazolin 2gm) before surgery, and a 2nd dose of it 4-6 hours later before the patient goes home. If you have an allergy to penicillin, it is still OK to receive cefazolin (a cephalosporin) because the chemical structure is different. Do NOT allow them to only use Clindamycin as the pre-op antibiotic. It has a much higher chance of having resistance to Staph infections (susceptibility rates may vary by location, but this is generally true everywhere). I don’t really see patients come back to hospital due to hardware infections. The infection rate is low when appropriate antibiotics are given.
Our patients also get an injection into the knee during the surgery that helps with pain control. Some surgeons use Zynrelief (contains bupivacaine & meloxicam) for a local anesthetic and anti-inflammatory effect. We also make a different injection for other surgeons that contains Exparel (a long acting bupivacaine), Toradol, and a little epinephrine (keeps injection into local area longer), and some regular bupivacaine as well. These injections help control post-op pain to reduce need for opioid pain meds.
Getting recs from other post op patients is the first key. Nowadays these are same day to home procedures.
Get referrals from people in your community. Good and bad.
See where they have you go to PT afterward and make sure that place is good too. It’s key to a good recovery.
Some places do cryo ablation to the knee prior to surgery. It will feel like a million bucks before you even go in, but is temporary. Will help with recovery.
Follow all instructions to the letter. This is a procedure with a very high success rate.
I can’t say it enough, ask around to a large number of people before picking. Good luck!!
My MIL was supposed to get one but didn’t. Now she has to rely on scooters or wheelchairs to do just about anything. She struggles mightily to walk further than a few feet. Guess it all depends on how active you want to be later in life.
