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Knee replacement


Frecossais
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I've just received a new knee, courtesy of the NHS, who were faultless from start to finish.

I'm doing the exercises and pushing myself with bending and stretching my new knee. Trouble is it's very swollen, (well, you can imagine), and I don't feel I'm making much progress. It's not that I'm despondent, I'll just clench my teeth and get on with it, but I wondered if anyone on here has had the op, and can tell me about their experience.

I'm finding too that my calf muscles are excruciatingly painful when I stand, though once I'm up on the crutches, that recedes a little, but it means that at times I can't put my foot full on the floor to support my weight.  My calf muscles ache all the time as a matter of fact. Anyone remember that?

On the up side, the actual knee is not painful in itself, and I don't feel like eating much, so there are already some results to put a smile on my face.

I suppose what I'm looking for here is reassurance that things will get better and that I'm not doing anything wrong. I have a physio appointment at the end of this week, and will ask there, but one or two replies would be nice before then.

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Whilst I haven't had a new knee myself, I need one (or, preferably, two) as I inexorably morph into my mother. She DID have one, and considering she was 80-ish by the time she had it, I was impressed with the speed with which she got up and running (well, I'm lying about the running bit) after her operation. Did they make you do stairs at all before they sent you home? I know they did with my mum, and although her hospital stay was relatively short, after a couple of weeks of getting used to it she was certainly pretty much back to normal.

Good luck with your recovery, and I hope your calf muscles soon stop causing you problems.

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Whilst I've had no such intervention your "calf muscles ache" might raise alarm bells. May I suggest that you speak to your Doctor asap so that you can be reassured the ache is not a result of a DVT - just to be on the safe side.....Good luck with the recovery.
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Thanks to you all for your replies. I had the op on Tues 31st Dec, (yes and me a Scot!) and came out on the Thursday. An occupational therapist went through the do s and don'ts  of using crutches on the level and on stairs. Actually I had been shown at the pre-op experience and took the crutches home to practise with. I'm not having any problem with them.

I think I was having a down-day yesterday, feeling that I wasn't making any progress, but today I saw the nurse at my doctor's surgery, who assured me that everything I had and felt was quite usual. Minnie,it seems the aching calves are not being helped by the DVT stocking I'm wearing, which may be too tight. I do remember at the hospital that they just gave me what they had left.The nurse got my doctor to check my calf, but it's not hot or swollen, as it would be if I had a thrombosis. I'm injecting myself daily against DVT, and have another week to go, then I think I can ditch the stockings.

I'm feeling more positive today, sorry for the self-pity.

Betty, if you need them, don't wait until you're in your 80s, I'd say. My life has been seriously curtailed lately by severe arthritis in both knees. I will have the other one done within the year if I can arrange it between visits to France. I was awake during the operation, and though I couldn't see anything, heard the banging, as well as the chatter of the team. Interesting.

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  • 3 weeks later...
How are you recovering now? [:)]  I didn't have a replacement but earlier in the year I had surgery for damaged tendons and ligaments, and yes, it can seem a long haul to get back to full mobility. I found that ice-packs (actually, bags of frozen peas!) helped tremendously with the pain and the swelling. I had about 15 sessions of physio to combat the extreme muscle wastage, a result of their indecision on whether to operate or wait and see. Stairs were difficult, coming down worse than going up, but now, 8 months down the line, I would say I am back to 90% of how I was before the fall that caused the damage. I also found, after a recommendation from the physio, that a daily half-hour session on an exercise bike worked wonders, building up the thigh muscle back to it's former size and strength. Good luck!

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Well, four weeks today since the op, and yes there's an improvement every day. I'm walking around indoors without crutches, though still using one for the stairs, but this may be a confidence thing. I've cut down  the Tramadol to just one 50mg tab a day, and have now stopped falling asleep all over the place.

Like you I still have some swelling, but less than before, I am rigorous with the knee exercises and begin a 4 session course of physio next week. Main problem is waking up during the night with my other knee aching!!!!

I think that it's easier to recover from a straightforward knee replacement than when there have been ligament or tendon problems like yours Bobdude. I'm glad you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's because you've really helped yourself along. I'm going to have the other knee replaced maybe later in the summer, (well if I can .) I can't wait to be fully mobile again.

No more falls eh?  

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[quote user="NormanH"]I belive Tramadol is addictive as it is a strong opiate, so use with caution.

http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/tramadol-for-pain-relief

[/quote]

Thank you for this, Norman. I have gradually been phasing out the tramadol, and will be stopping it completely on Sunday, just relying on paracetamol. Before the operation, I took Naproxen, an anti-inflammatory drug used for arthritis. I'd prefer not to take it again, but if I can't sleep.........?

Yes, am using the frozen peas too, haven't found it helps with the ache though. One good thing: my daughter says I don't lurch from side to side when I am walking now.

Hate those tight stockings you have to wear for six weeks to avoid DVTs, they told me in hospital to put a plastic bag on my foot when I'm putting them on, the stockings slide over the plastic and are easier to manage. Then you just roll the stocking up from the toe again and pull the bag through the opening in the foot.

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I came to this thread because I was looking up what Norman said about Tramadol as I have been talking about it recently.

I was interested in the knee replacement as I will need one at some point. I currently get a set of three injections, once a week for three weeks that last a year. I was told that in France excluding exceptional circumstances you have to be 60 to get one. That being based on their life span and the fact you can only have it done twice.

A friend of mine had it done in France, it was a week in the hospital he had it done at then three weeks at a rehabilitation unit that just happened to be nearer his home. He said it was like being in the army. Up at the crack of dawn with physiotherapy etc most of the day interspersed with lectures on post op lifestyle etc. He was allowed home for the last two weekends but when he left the unit he was walking normally without any aids.

As an historic note my mother was one of the first (very small) group of people to have a knee replacement in the UK around 50 years ago now. If memory serves it was the French who pioneered these replacements and the NHS had a team over from France to show them how to carry out the operation and they were the ones who did my mothers knee. My mother had a 'gimbaled' frame round her knee for about two or three months with big bolts clamped down on her lower and upper leg directly on the the bone, it looked absolutely horrible. When that was removed she then had an almost full leg plaster on for many months after that. Gets me to the point of how far everything has now moved on and that from that time to now how many have benefited from this technology which must change peoples lives quite drastically.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Six weeks later I'm driving, have thrown off the hated surgical stockings, and can bend my new knee pretty well now that the swelling has gone down quite a bit . So far so good. I'm still working on straightening my knee, have come off the Tramadol, and have only the odd ache when I've walked too much. I have had two out of four Physio sessions, continue to do my exercises four times a day, and am so pleased that I'm able to take charge of my life again.

There's just one thing I'm miffed about: when I had my first appointment with the specialist I asked about having a double knee replacement, because I know two people who had both knees "done" successfully at the same time. I was told that it's not considered a good idea and carries a 3% risk (as opposed to a 1% risk with one knee.) At the time I accepted this, he's a specialist and knows what he's talking about. However I now feel very strongly that I would have liked to have the choice of whether to have two knees done at once.

For the next few months I will still be limping as I walk since my other knee is still severely arthritic and painful. I'll have to go through the procedure of getting appointments, being on the waiting list and having another operation, being out of action and in a lot of discomfort for at least six weeks afterwards. I envisage if everything goes to plan (Ha ha) I'll be walking properly by next Christmas.

I could have been at that point now if I'd had both knees done at the same time. I know it would have been harder, but I was positive my life would be better and I'd have worked at making it better. If it is done in some parts of the country, why not in others?

I'd have preferred to be advised of the risks of a double knee replacement, and then left to make my own choice about whether to have it or not.

I have now told the specialist this, and will follow it up with a letter to my hospital trust. 

Has anyone had the Double, or do you have an opinion about it?

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Frecossais, well done indeed!

And thanks for talking about the double knee op. 

I've very little wrong with my knees thankfully but might be having bunions operated on.  I have very flat feet and the doc tells me that flat feet do make the development of bunions more likely.

Haven't yet decided whether I'd like to have them done but, if I do go down that route, I reckon (on the basis of what you have said) that I might as well have both feet done.

I will need to plan the time of year, probably winter, because I'd hate to be immobile in the summer when I am out and about, helping with walking groups and gardening.

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Frecossais,

Things will/should get better. My wife had an NHS knee replacement some years ago because she hurt her knee at work. Other than the scar, you would hardly know it. Unfortunately, she is now getting over a hip replacement (other leg) that she got in July.

David

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I know a few people who have had double knee ops and are fine. The last one had their other leg done just before xmas 2012 and they say it is now their best knee.

I cannot have my knees replaced, or injections. But I do take an interest in friends that do.

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[quote user="sweet 17"]

Frecossais, well done indeed!

And thanks for talking about the double knee op. 

I've very little wrong with my knees thankfully but might be having bunions operated on.  I have very flat feet and the doc tells me that flat feet do make the development of bunions more likely.

Haven't yet decided whether I'd like to have them done but, if I do go down that route, I reckon (on the basis of what you have said) that I might as well have both feet done.

I will need to plan the time of year, probably winter, because I'd hate to be immobile in the summer when I am out and about, helping with walking groups and gardening.

[/quote]

Sweet, it will be interesting to see whether a surgeon inFrance would carry out a double bunion op. I had one bunion operated on two or three years ago, and you have a sort of built-up foot so as not to touch the floor. That might make it unrealistic to have two done at one time. But yes, do ask if it's feasible.

When you have a knee op, they have you on your feet the same day, and using stairs the day after, difficult to see how you could do that with two gammy feet.

Yes, winter is the best time to have it if you have the choice. I'm trying to plan when I'll have to start the ball rolling for my second knee op in between long stays in Burgundy.

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[quote user="dwmcn"]

Frecossais,

Things will/should get better. My wife had an NHS knee replacement some years ago because she hurt her knee at work. Other than the scar, you would hardly know it. Unfortunately, she is now getting over a hip replacement (other leg) that she got in July.

David

[/quote]

I've been told that a hip replacement is quicker to get over than a knee one, but truly I think it depends on the person. Hope your wife gets her life back in time for the summer.

PS With help of OH I can now straighten my knee. I do the exercise and he holds the knee down.

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