Knee replacement, anyone?

[Fencer]

I suddenly came to that point, and now it seems to be the only option.

Personal experiences? Recovery and rehabilitation times? I would like to go back to my shooting sport as soon as possible, but it seems this season would be... ahem... shot.

Would I be able to do at least brisk walk aver say, 4-5 months?

[Widows Son]

They have you up and walking the next day, and home after two. A friend at work was up and walking fine without a cane after about 6 weeks.

[Zakalwe]

The answer to this question is hugely dependent on surgical technique, your age, general level of health and fitness, quality of post-operative therapy and seemingly the vagaries of fortune. I know of people who've returned to work after a few weeks and some who've never managed it at all. The answers you get here will not necessarily bear any relationship to your own experience. I'd suggest a good chat with your surgeon. He or she should if nothing else be able to give you a statistical spread regarding his/her outcomes.

[Blansky]

I need at least 1 and maybe 2.

I've played hockey for 60 years and both are bone on bone and hurt a lot playing but not a huge amount in real life. Not sure if I'll do them.

I know lots of people who have had one or both replaced. My wife had one replaced.

Some people are walking almost normally in two weeks or so. But, YOU GOTTA DO THE REHAB HARD (and it hurts like a bitch) but do the rehab or it takes forever. The harder you do the rehab the sooner you can resume life.

But even after 5 years, my wife's hurts all the time. She formed a lot of scar tissue and had that scraped after 3 years but it didn't help.

A friend has two replaced and one went perfectly and the other not so much. A lot of pain many months afterwards.

The bottom line is it ain't always gonna be a perfect pain free thing. And if you work really hard on the initial rehab you can be doing anything usually in a few months at least. Guys have played hockey as soon as 2 months later and I know a guy who was back on the ice in 4 months after having both done.

Now they have you walking the same day as the surgery. And doing stairs. My wife used a cane for less than a week.

Good luck. For some people it's a lifesaver and I'm sure you'll be doing brisk walks pain free in less than a few weeks. The mentality of these kind of surgeries now is get the hell up and get moving and keep moving. There is no longer any thought of rest and repair. The fastest way to recover is get moving.

[Vanessa CW21]

I just had mine done last summer. In July they replaced my knee, in August they had to reopen and restitch my scar because of an infection. That was my 20th surgery in my life and my 8th knee surgery in all. IT WAS HORRIBLE. I would not do it again. I was on crutches for way too long, because I didn't feel safe without it, I think around 20 weeks (one crutch mostly).
I was 38 years old, so I don't think age has anything to do with recovery time, or at least not in my case. I was able to walk fairly decent distances about 6 months out. The physical therapy is BRUTAL, but so necessary. I started going to the gym to strengthen my muscles about 4 months post-op and that really helped me out a lot.
My knee still hurts 24/7, but my surgeon advised me it takes some people up to 2 years to fully recover.
I don't know what advise to give, other then, be ready for a long recovery, just in case.

[Vanessa CW21]

Wanted to add, it took me 10 weeks to drive (right knee). It sucked.
I don't know how the infection affected my recovery time, but all the time frames I'm giving is from the first surgery in July, so minus my infection I probably would've gained 4 to 6 weeks.
The loss of my ROM is the most irritating result of the surgery for me. I can not bend much more than 120 degrees, and even though that doesn't necessarily have an impact on my day to day activities, it's annoying when I want to curl up in bed, and I can't or if I have to step off a high curb, and I can't or even just descending a staircase is still challenging.
The other "new normal" is feeling a click with every step. It doesn't hurt, but it feels weird. I'm not used to it yet.

[bobernet]

1. How committed are you to a quick recovery?

That’s the biggest factor. Everyone’s experience and starting place is different, but they are aggressive about getting you back using it again.

If you’re willing to work hard in physical therapy and can tolerate some pain, you’ll be recovered much faster.

Obviously it’s different if your 65 vs 35, but I’m generalizing.

My wife was “back to normal” from an activity perspective long before she was “back to normal” in terms of having a comfortable, pain-free life.

[Fencer]

Vanessa, I am so very sorry about your experience!

I have done some research, and the average complication level is 15%, which is, I believer, much higher, than for many other surgeries. Good experienced surgeons fall in the 7-9% range.

Just out of curiosity - do you know where your surgeon is on that scale? Is he/she an experienced one? I saw some with 30 surgeries, and others with over 900.

I hope your knee does get better!

[Fencer]

Originally Posted by bobernet

1. How committed are you to a quick recovery?

That’s the biggest factor. Everyone’s experience and starting place is different, but they are aggressive about getting you back using it again.

If you’re willing to work hard in physical therapy and can tolerate some pain, you’ll be recovered much faster.

Obviously it’s different if your 65 vs 35, but I’m generalizing.

My wife was “back to normal” from an activity perspective long before she was “back to normal” in terms of having a comfortable, pain-free life.

I am 69, but fairly active, and I have done some rather painful PT in the past, so I would not expect a walk in the park.

[bobernet]

Originally Posted by Fencer

I am 69, but fairly active, and I have done some rather painful PT in the past, so I would not expect a walk in the park.

Without going too far into a subject that’s verboten here, if your sport is trap, skeet, SC, benchrest, etc. I’d bet on you being active this season. If it’s IPSC, IDPA, cowboy action, etc... probably not competitive.

[Fencer]

Originally Posted by bobernet

Without going too far into a subject that’s verboten here, if your sport is trap, skeet, SC, benchrest, etc. I’d bet on you being active this season. If it’s IPSC, IDPA, cowboy action, etc... probably not competitive.

It is IPSC (or more correctly here USPSA) and up to this point I had been quite competitive. I presume I will slide substantially down. Such is life. I also used to fence, and I suspect I might not be able to go back to it.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Fencer

It is IPSC (or more correctly here USPSA) and up to this point I had been quite competitive. I presume I will slide substantially down. Such is life. I also used to fence, and I suspect I might not be able to go back to it.

Not so sure. Lots of guys playing hockey with them. You just may be able to.

[Fencer]

Thank you for that positive enforcement! It would be great if I could, as I love both of those sports.

[Fencer]

In the meantime, anyone contemplating or facing that surgery, should look here:

https://www.checkbook.org/surgeonrat...ent-Surgery/CA

[Vanessa CW21]

Originally Posted by Fencer

Vanessa, I am so very sorry about your experience!

I have done some research, and the average complication level is 15%, which is, I believer, much higher, than for many other surgeries. Good experienced surgeons fall in the 7-9% range.

Just out of curiosity - do you know where your surgeon is on that scale? Is he/she an experienced one? I saw some with 30 surgeries, and others with over 900.

I hope your knee does get better!

Thank you.
My surgeon has 34 years of experience and specializes in new knees. He's done thousands of surgeries with great success (I don't know his complication percentage), but he was supposedly the best in my area. Even my physical therapist, who sees many of his patients was very surprised with my complications.
It's my luck, I guess.
I have to tell you I'm not a complainer, and I can take pain like a pro, since I've known no different for 22 years. I have been to PT between 500 to 600 times, since I had to learn how to walk again after my accident in 1997, and have had 11 surgeries on my legs alone. I go hard, too hard sometimes, at PT. A knee replacement is by far the most painful thing I've experienced, and I had 2 kids.
I don't want to scare you at all, but I want you to understand the risk. Make sure you discuss with your doctor what the options are, and if you can postpone the surgery, I would! Once you do it, there's no way back.

[Fencer]

Thank you Vanessa, and sorry you had to go through all that! You really are a fighter!

Believe me, I am not rushing into it, for several reasons, but at this point I can't walk without a cane, so something must be done. Either the darn knee will heal itself, or a surgeon will help.

[Vanessa CW21]

I totally understand. I contemplated for 2 years until I finally made the decision to go ahead. If my experience would've been as positive as most stories I've read and heard, I probably would feel much happier about my decision!

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[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by Vanessa CW21

I totally understand. I contemplated for 2 years until I finally made the decision to go ahead. If my experience would've been as positive as most stories I've read and heard, I probably would feel much happier about my decision!

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I hope your husband and the 2 kiddos are giving you lots of TLC!

[donas]

My mother, who is 78, had a knee replacement last year; she is a far cry from active / physically fit. Her recovery was beyond belief. She used a walker for roughly a week and then went to a cane for another 7-10 days and was walking without assistance in three weeks. Her recovery with range of motion and strength was so fast, her physical therapy only lasted 3-4 weeks. She is now pain free and planning to have the other one done.
I had always heard terrible stories of the process and was in complete disbelief with what I witnessed.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by Widows Son

They have you up and walking the next day, and home after two. A friend at work was up and walking fine without a cane after about 6 weeks.

Originally Posted by Fencer

I am 69, but fairly active, and I have done some rather painful PT in the past, so I would not expect a walk in the park.

My father is 76. He had a total knee replacement on January 14th. They had him up and walking before he went home. They taught him how to climb up and down stairs and how to get in and out of the shower before he went home also. We brought him home the same day he had the surgery.

He did his at home PT religiously, with the help of a walker. He ditched the walker for a cane after about two weeks. After three weeks, he started going to see a PT also. He still continues his at home PT. It's the most difficult part. But if you don't do it, the surgery won't be successful. He's been driving short distances for about three weeks now. He hopped on an airplane two weeks ago for a 3-1/2 hour flight.

I'll add unlike my friend Vanessa above, he had no prior history of surgeries on his knee.

[Gaijin]

I just had one done. It was a bit scary. They just flail your knee open. I was in the hospital 18 days here in Japan. Most patients here are in 1-3 months. It is just they way things are done here.

PT now. My muscles have atrophied Can't walk far. Stairs are trouble and one at a time. My doctor expects at least 4 more months of PT before I can go back to work.