Total Knee Replacement
- Thread starter NOTSMC
- Start date
I had a friend who had it done in her mid-50s. She recovered far faster than I'd have thought she would.
Wow - that seems like a really long time to have to stay in the hospital unless Autumn Lake is something else. I'm not familiar with the name.
It's a healthcare place. Sorry I should have looked it up first. How's she doing?
How long did it take you to fully recover? The doctor hasn't told me much - but I've read crutches, walker, six months recovery if not longer, all kinds of stuff, I wish I hadn't read. I got injections six weeks ago and if knee surgery hurts as bad as that did, I think I'd rather die than get it done.
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
I need to have mine done soon, and this is what the surgeon is telling me too.... typically home same day, but no driving for 4 weeks. That seems a bit much to me.
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
Gel, or cortisone? I had a series of gel, 3 injections 1 week apart, but only mildly uncomfortable during the injection itself. Afterwards one knee was better, one not so much.
Bonehead
Well-Known Member
That's about right as I recall. 10 weeks worth of rehab. Had to immobilize the knee totally at night for 3 weeks. It would be tough to do by yourself.
Gel. I got the one and done. The one in the left knee was excruciating. The one in the right knee - he missed and had to put the needle in twice, right on the bone. The pain was indescribable and the screams and language coming out of my mouth was like something from the Exorcist. He told me when he was finished that they had to use a really big needle. I can't imagine how surgery is going to feel.
Bonehead
Well-Known Member
Full recovery I would say was 3 months for me I had mine done about 6 months apart. Women's knees are tougher as the prosthetics don't fit women as well as they do men. Although I read now that that has been recognized and fixed. I had mine done in 2014.
Thanks for the information. Are you doing things that are considered normal by most standards now? Any regrets?
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
My dad had his done many years ago, and they put his leg in a machine that manipulated the knee range, and they had it on him as soon as he came out of surgery. Claimed the constant movement sped up recovery. It was miserable, lots of discomfort. Sounds like they don't do that anymore.
Seems to me @my-thyme had it done, (I think it was her...), and she said she should have done it sooner. A common response post-surgery/recovery.
Bonehead
Well-Known Member
Yes I can do whatever I want. I have kept up with exercises given to me by the Physical Therapist in rehab. They basically said keep the support muscles as strong as possible and the knee will last much longer. At the time 15 years was the expected useful lifetime with a partial (surface) replacement after that.
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
Ok, when people (and docs) talk about "knee replacement", it's really only a resurfacing of the face of the joint. Is this what is intended, or are we talking about a real, total knee replacement where the joint is totally cut off? Makes a HUGE difference in surgery/recovery/rehab. I'm only looking at a resurfacing.
15 years....that's more than I've been getting out of my back reconstructions. Probably mostly my fault though. The hardware they put in each time is better than the last and the recovery time keeps getting shorter every time too. So there is that.
Well I like that part of it then. Recovery not so much. Did you gain weight? I keep reading stuff that you can expect to gain about 15 pounds - is that how much the replacement weighs?