My Knee Replacement Surgery Experience

Yes- I will have an update for you in January.

Congratulations to all of you who have had good results from your knee replacement surgery. You are an inspiration to others. I think surgeons should have patients read or view videos from people who have had the surgery who followed recommendations and those who didn't. My husband's story will explain why I feel this way. Perhaps some pre-surgery psychological therapy should be done also.

My husband had knee replacement surgery on his right knee in June, 2015. He had no cartilage left in the joint and had put off the surgery for many years. I don't recommend doing this. At the time he was 68 years old, severely overweight and not at all active. During the surgery the surgeon decided to straighten his bowed leg. He now has one straight leg and one bowed leg. I don't recommend doing this either unless you plan to do the other leg in the future. The surgery went well and PT had him up and walking later that day. He left the hospital after 2 days and PT came to the house for several weeks. He didn't do the prescribed exercises as he should have, if the exercise caused more pain he stopped doing it. He progressed from a walker to a cane but refused to use the cane properly.

Now three years later he still has pain in the knee, he has about 75% extension and complains of numbness along the outer side of the knee. He was not able to progress to walking without the cane. He is unable to walk for any distance because of pain. This limits what he can do as an individual and what we can do as a couple.

Over the last few months the left knee has started causing more intense pain and he has to use his cane inside the house to walk a few steps. He refuses to consider another knee replacement because of the pain from the last surgery. He is even more sedentary than he was three years ago so I doubt that PT would be able to give him better mobility.

The moral of my story is if you have bowed legs and plan to have knee replacement surgery make sure this is discussed before surgery. Follow all orders for PT and do the exercises as prescribed. If you don't plan to take an active part in your recovery you can't expect good results and you are just wasting your time and that of the surgeon and PT staff.

@cindyt63 - Great comments! I agree with you wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way to get a spouse to do what they don't want to do themselves (she said with a sigh based on hard experience! LOL.) Sorry for your husband's distress. I hope things improve for both of you. Does his limited mobility affect your own options for activity? How do you handle that?

I don't let his mobility affect mine. Although I have degenerative disc disease, osteopenia, fibromyalgia and other ailments I refuse to give in. I do what I want within my limits. That means he stays at home and I go do whatever. Forty-three years ago, I didn't think our eight year age difference would be an issue. Now he's 71 and I'm 63 I have tried to take care of myself and stay as active as possible. I do all the yard work and I have a small garden in the spring and summer. I do all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, household repairs and laundry. I also have hobbies such as crocheting, knitting, quilting, genealogy, and embroidery that keep me as busy as I want to be. I have always believed that keeping our minds and bodies active improves our quality and quantity of life.

@cindyt63 - I hear you. My husband and I have a 9 year age difference. In our 40's it hardly mattered. Now he is 77 with Mild Cognitive Impairment... with a likelihood of progression to Alzheimers or some other kind of dementia. I'm 68 and active, busy in the community, LOVE quiliting (you're a quilting sister!), and at the same time trying to make sure my husband eats, stays busy, visits with friends, blah blah blah.. I applaud you for not letting his mobility affect yours. You go girl!

Has anybody had a nerve ablation of the knee? I am not a good candidate for knee replacement because of other ailments .

Hi @ralph13 - Welcome to Connect! I have not had nerve ablation but you have come to the right place. I'm sure there were people discussing this procedure earlier this year. It may have been in the Chronic Pain Group. I'm going to tag a few people who may remember further back than I go - @johnbishop, @mamacita, @grandmar, and @JustinMcClanahan. Are you having pain in both knees? If I remember correctly there were discussions of nerve ablation going on concurrently with some discussion of CBD Oil. Have you tried that or any other remedies?

Hello @ralph13, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @debbraw and other members. I've never had a nerve ablation but have seen it mentioned in some discussion here on Connect. I found the following members have discussed nerve ablation in a post and hopefully they will join in the discussion and offer any information they may have. @flfirechief @lauriedr and @sro50 can you share any information on nerve ablation or if it helped you?

@ralph13 has your doctor suggested a nerve ablation? Is your knee pain associated with a bone on bone issue?

John

I have advanced osteo in both knees. I also have DISH and Peripheral DISH. I have tried everything I can think of. I sometimes fall from the knee pain which is life threatening because of my DISH. I have had the ablation on the bottom 3 levels of facet joints 6 times in the last 9 years. That has worked great for my lower back. I noticed the FDA has approved ablation for the knees, SI joints, hips, and shoulders. What I need is a body transplant.

Some of my doctors are behind times. I am a disabled Agent Orange Vet, so I go to the VA for some things and I go to some regular docs also. I have trouble getting some docs to look at the whole picture. I ask my heart doc (civilian) a question and she replied I only do heart things. I ask my kidney doc (civilian) a question and she ignored it. I have been going to her since 1989. Both knees have been bone on bone for a long time. I have been getting the chicken lips shots for a long time, they help.