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Knee #2- am I ready?

Posted by amytro @amytro, Mar 9, 2019

I just hit my 4-week mark post first TKR. My "good" knee took the brunt of compensating for the operative knee and is now really sore (even with the narcotic pain meds). I am seeing my surgeon next week to schedule knee #2. Any advice about how many weeks post-surgery is ideal before getting the other done? I met people in the hospital who were having their second knee done 5 weeks after their first. I was thinking 8-10 weeks would help me to be solid. Any thoughts or recommendations? I know we're all different but am interested to hear how YOU did it! Thank you.

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JK | @contentandwell | Mar 17, 2019
In reply to @ssbionicknee "@contentandwell I see that you were able to get the synvisc shots. I tried to do..." + (show)
@ssbionicknee

@contentandwell I see that you were able to get the synvisc shots. I tried to do that for both knees ( not at the same time) and my insurance refused to pay for them. I found that to be very frustrating. I will be scheduling my left knee this week.

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@ssbionicknee I'm surprised that your insurance would not pay for them, they are such a common thing now. I am on Medicare. I do know that they will only pay for them every six months or something like that, but that worked out OK for me. There are other brands of Hyaluronic acid injections also. Perhaps they are less expensive and insurance would pay for one of them.
Here is an article from the Mayo site:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/hyaluronic-acid-injection-route/description/drg-20074557
JK

REPLY
1 reply
ssbionicknee | @ssbionicknee | Mar 17, 2019
In reply to @contentandwell "@ssbionicknee I'm surprised that your insurance would not pay for them, they are such a common..." + (show)
@contentandwell

@ssbionicknee I'm surprised that your insurance would not pay for them, they are such a common thing now. I am on Medicare. I do know that they will only pay for them every six months or something like that, but that worked out OK for me. There are other brands of Hyaluronic acid injections also. Perhaps they are less expensive and insurance would pay for one of them.
Here is an article from the Mayo site:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/hyaluronic-acid-injection-route/description/drg-20074557
JK

Jump to this post

I hear of people getting these injections all the time. February of 2018, my right knee began to lock up and I went to the orthopedic. They submitted the paperwork for the orthovisc injections. I was told that it would take several weeks. They tried a few other brands that were cheaper when the insurance company denied the medication. Finally on April 28, 2018, my leg locked up and gave up the fight. When I went to see the doctor, I was told the shots were no longer an option and was scheduled for a TKR in 12 days. The same thing has happened with my left knee. In October, they tried to get the injections so that my left knee would be more stable as I recovered from shoulder surgery. It is now March 2019 and they have yet to approve it. So, I will be scheduling my left TKR and am hoping to wait until August. Insurance companies can be frustrating to say the least.

REPLY
1 reply
JK | @contentandwell | Mar 17, 2019
In reply to @ssbionicknee "I hear of people getting these injections all the time. February of 2018, my right knee..." + (show)
@ssbionicknee

I hear of people getting these injections all the time. February of 2018, my right knee began to lock up and I went to the orthopedic. They submitted the paperwork for the orthovisc injections. I was told that it would take several weeks. They tried a few other brands that were cheaper when the insurance company denied the medication. Finally on April 28, 2018, my leg locked up and gave up the fight. When I went to see the doctor, I was told the shots were no longer an option and was scheduled for a TKR in 12 days. The same thing has happened with my left knee. In October, they tried to get the injections so that my left knee would be more stable as I recovered from shoulder surgery. It is now March 2019 and they have yet to approve it. So, I will be scheduling my left TKR and am hoping to wait until August. Insurance companies can be frustrating to say the least.

Jump to this post

@ssbionicknee That must be frustrating. I believe these shots are not cheap either.
I hope your TKR goes as well as mine did. I do wish I had a bit more flex but what I have is manageable so far.
JK

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