Knee Replacement...Now Shoulder Surgery

Southside · October 16, 2019, 08:08:32 PM

Think of it this way - after the surgery for a bit your knee will hurt and you will forget about the shoulder. :D

YellowHammer · October 16, 2019, 10:35:43 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 16, 2019, 10:39:06 AM
YH,

Are you saying the MM is going to have to trade in his fancy ride along seat and join us peons walking for a change? :D War Eagle!

Maybe he will mount a LazYBoy on it instead of a WM seat. It might be covered by insurance. :D :D

doc henderson · October 17, 2019, 12:58:24 AM

then you get a cute little lazy boy racoon!!! god speed!

Ed_K · October 17, 2019, 08:11:19 AM

Saw a blerb on tv last night where they showed a robot for doing the surgery's. Impressive the why they do these replacements now. I pray that you are up and huntin quickly ;).

YellowHammer · October 17, 2019, 12:10:32 PM

Quote from: Magicman on October 16, 2019, 07:24:15 PM
Dr. said that I would walk that day and be discharged the next. If I waited until next year it would be outpatient, no overnight stay.

They consider the operation more of an injury, not an illness. So there's really no reason to hang around. They are getting away from blood drains and even general anesthesia, specially since they can do a spinal block for a knee. I walked an eighth mile the second day around the nurses station, with a walker because I was bored. I'm not sure I'd want to be discharged the same day, but I could have been discharged the second.
My surgeon did 13 total hips in one day, and did about the same number on "knee" day.
Oddly enough, when I woke up from general anesthesia, my scalp hurt. The next day it was worse. I was taking pain meds and asked the PA why in the world the top of my head would hurt. He laughed and said when they were articulating my hip through its full range of motion, I almost fell off the operating table so they caught me and pulled me back on the table by grabbing anything they get ahold of, including a couple big handfuls of my hair. Ouch. :D

Southside · October 17, 2019, 12:14:33 PM

Well at least you had hair to grab!! With my luck I would have made a sickening "thunk" as my head bounced off the floor!! :D

petefrom bearswamp · October 17, 2019, 04:25:42 PM

Wecome (soon) to the replacement club.
I am the orthopedic surgeons benefactor.
Slipped the cartilage cap off of my left femur at age 15 in 1953, was pinned in place and removed in 57.
This caused the head of the femur to develop elliptically instead of round.
torn meniscus in 94, blown acl in 95, rotator cuffs in 99 and 2001, total hip replacement in 99, revision in 06, 2 popeye muscles 2010 and 2012, partial (makoplasty) both knees 2013.
couple of foot surgeries. dont have many joints left to work on, so Hope I am done now.
As YH says doing your PT is a must.
I am in pretty good fettle altho arthritis is taking a small toll.
Even tho I was very diligent with my pt my twice done hip bothers and walking long distances is very bothersome.
Lynn you should be fine as you are much younger than I.
BTW both rotator cuffs are gone again, snap crackle and pop when I move but little or no pain.

Magicman · October 17, 2019, 08:48:31 PM

Yeah, but this old crap is for old folks.

Skin cancer removed, first tooth pulled, and now this knee thing and a shoulder in waiting. When do they pass out balloons and Popsicles??

dean herring · October 19, 2019, 08:54:22 AM

Sorry to hear about your knee problems Mr. Lynn
I will lift you up in prayer 🙏 for a successful procedure and a speedy recovery 😎😎

Magicman · October 21, 2019, 09:02:55 PM

Thanks, I remember when I was a little boy I always wanted to be older, but this is not what I was expecting. Worn out body parts ain't fun.

Magicman · October 22, 2019, 09:24:07 AM

Been thinking/rethinking this knee replacement thing.

When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like
a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

DPatton · October 22, 2019, 11:09:49 AM

Quote from: Magicman on October 22, 2019, 09:24:07 AM
Been thinking/rethinking this knee replacement thing.

When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like
a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

Look at the bright side Lynn. At least your hearing is still good! :D May you have a speedy recovery.

YellowHammer · October 22, 2019, 03:58:33 PM

Quote from: Magicman on October 22, 2019, 09:24:07 AM
Been thinking/rethinking this knee replacement thing.

Knees pop, and it doesn't necessarily mean you need a joint replacement. Issues with uneven cartilage, tendons, a little bone bone on bone, or especially patella alignment can cause all kinds of noise. The patella floats and is supposed to stay in a groove, and if the muscles and tendons are weak and the groove wears down, it can bounce around like a bumper car.

Quality of life level pain means you need to have a knee replacement after other options have been tried. Ultimately it's your decision, because, ultimately you are the one who has to live with, good or bad.

Almost three and a half years ago, I was having quality of life level pain in my left knee, bone on bone, and X-rays showed what I was feeling. So I went to my orthopedic surgeon who said I need a knee, and I didn't want a knee replacement so close to having a hip replacement. So we came up with a plan. First was a steroid injection to reduce the swelling and loosen my joint up. Next was 6 weeks of physical therapy by real PhD therapists, with the intent of stabilizing my patella and strengthening my quadriceps and other stabilization muscles so that they would be strong enough to shift my posture slightly so I would shift some load bearing in my knee to the remaining cartilage I had. So I followed the plan, and also found a work boot (Red Wings) that stabilized my feet better and got away from the too flexible and soft boots I was wearing (New Balance). So after a few months, my knee stopped hurting almost totally, as long as I didn't do anything stupid. A year later I had my checkup, and as I walked into his office, the Dr. had my folder out and started saying how after a year of bone on bone, was I ready to get surgery, because I must be in a lot of pain. I said "Doc, I just walked up your two flights of steps instead of using the elevator to get here and I feel great." He smiled and said that sometime the plan works, and took some more Xrays and saw that my knee had no more wear than it had a year ago. So he sent me on my way, and said when you start having pain, we'll look at it again. Its been two and a half years since that follow up appointment and I'm still doing well.

So I still do my 5 minutes of knee exercises every morning, and on a pain scale of 1 to 10, my knee is at a 1 or less, even with me sawing every day. Some days it doesn't hurt at all. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm hoping a while longer.

Raider Bill · October 22, 2019, 04:53:56 PM

Magicman · October 22, 2019, 09:10:30 PM

Cartilage had to be removed from my knee after my motorcycle wreck so that I could walk. 20 years later more cartilage had to be removed to unlock my knee so that I could straighten my knee back out. Now it is 25 years later and I'm walking like Chester Good. If I am even slightly off balance the knee will give way on me. The last time it was 3-4 days before I could put any weight on it. For the past 2 months I am putting a knee brace on first thing in the morning and removing it before bedtime. Nighttime "trips" are nightstand to bed to dresser to wardrobe to door facing to lavatory. Then back again. Dr. said "yes there was a brace better than the one that I am using that would probably serve me well". My decision is whether I want to be resigned to a knee brace for the rest of my life.

chet · October 22, 2019, 10:45:44 PM

Two total knees done here, and darn glad I did it. Life is much much better. Right shoulder done a few years ago, not as happy with those results, but it's a lot better than it was.
Dec. 11 the other shoulder git's done, I'm hoping for better results.

Ed_K · October 23, 2019, 08:04:02 AM

The lady next to us has been having knee pain for the last three yrs. Kept saying I need to keep going. She retired from 30 yrs of teaching 3rd grade and has had numerous side jobs these last three yrs fighting the pain. She fell down couple weeks ago. At the emergency room her dr. say's "well you wore the knee out" it broke and down she went. Now she's in a big cast to heal it up and in 6 more months will have the knee replacement.
It's a hard decision to have these operations.
I found out last night that to replacement was months not weeks. We had to visit with the lady at 9:30 pm last night as her husband had an ambulance ride to er for balance issues couldn't stand up. i think it's worry about his wife not being able to get around,an wore him out.

YellowHammer · October 23, 2019, 08:28:29 AM

I'm not sure the decision is a now or never one, the technology is making tremendous advances, every year. Joint replacements are becoming more and more common, and huge money is being dumped into it. Here in Huntsville, there are two huge joint replacement facilities, (Sports Med and TOC) and thats pretty much all they do.

I waited about three years between when I knew I needed and hip, and when I got my hip, and in the three years the technology moved completely away from ceramics, slightly back to metal/metal, but fully toward the multi piece cross linked polyethelyne design, which has a significant increase in service life and has shown to reduce ossification. So I went from a predicted 10 year hip to a predicted 20 year hip by waiting for the technology to advance in three years. In addition, the surgical techniques shifted to a much less invasive approach, so the recovery was very rapid.

When I talked to my surgeon about knees, we discussed the advances in those, and it was equally rapid, from full anesthesia to now just a block, to knee prosthetics that more accurately move like a real knee, to longer life and more stable installations. Now, robotic assisted surgery is becoming more the norm, and the infection rate is dropping significantly, due to better sterilization techniques. No blood bags, better closure techniques also contribute to increased success. Lots of times, the decision to get an artificial joint isn't a one time thing, they wear out and the body also undergoes processes that cause them to fail. So revisions are fairly common, and its also part of the decision making process. For example, Bo Jackson is on his third hip.

The capability of the surgeon is also important, as some have a knack for the procedures and produce wonderful results, some others, not so much, like Hawkeye and Frank Burns on MASH.

Raider Bill · October 23, 2019, 01:57:20 PM

Bo Knows.

Magicman · October 31, 2019, 07:17:47 PM

Did my pre-op today at the hospital. Weight, BP, chest x-ray, blood draw, pee in the bottle, electrocardiogram, and an hour of "training". 'Bout had me talked out of the whole thing.

Still set up for the 18th, but I don't know what time yet. Lots to do between now and then.

petefrom bearswamp · November 01, 2019, 08:12:55 AM

Wishing you good luck Lynn

Magicman · November 01, 2019, 08:59:53 AM

I have a regiment of exercises to do twice a day until D-Day.

YellowHammer · November 01, 2019, 11:25:36 AM

That's a good thing.

doctorb · November 01, 2019, 03:08:03 PM

Best of luck. Harder to rehab knees than total hips, but you'll do fine.

Nebraska · November 01, 2019, 03:10:59 PM

You are very active and pretty healthy by what I perceive from reading of your posts. I will say prayer for you and keep you in my mind. I work with a gentleman who is on his second or third year post knee replacement he does 90 % large animal work and it didnt slow him much at all, in fact post surgery we had to keep chasing him out of the office he felt so much better. He has no limp, the leg is straigh, t he just wore the joint out same as you have. He is in his seventies too. You will have a good result as well.