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When is the right time to decide for a knee replacement?
Re; knee replacement. Getting gel injections about 6 years ago, about 18 months interval. Just saw a surgeon who looked at the X-rays and said , he has seen worse. I do have pain but able to manage most of the time. My dilemma: putting off the inevitable or do the surgery now. I’m 72 years old. I’m inclined to do the surgery now, while I’m still strong and healthy.
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Thank you for sharing your experience and insight. It’s primarily an age and quality of life issue for me. I’m 72 years old and love to travel. I’m limited to the type of road, pathways, no beach walk and amount of time I could walk. Recently we were on a couple of family trips , I had to sit out some of the activities. I still want to do more traveling. So , thank you for detailing your story. I’m glad you are living your best life. Many thanks on the list of questions to ask of the surgeon. Best wishes.
I would sure ask him if an MRI or CT are options for deducing your healing issues, since you are having such a problem with recovery. My new knees were functioning fully at four months with no pain. I am sorry you have to go through this and wish you the best in finding a solution.
Since no doctors are encouraging MRI due to all the titanium in knee, I did research about an incompetent PCL ligament and TKR and discovered arthroscopy as a diagnostic tool for these kind of complications. Do you know much about arthroscopy for diagnosing?
Thanks for the information. Would you still give the advice to go ahead to someone who’s experienced infection? I’ve had several opinions telling me that if I had my joint infected once I will be prone to it in the future. That makes me afraid to go ahead with another replacement. I almost died from sepsis and it was months being on IV daily infusions of antibiotics. I never got more rundown or aged quicker in my life. Got to feel you have a ticking time bomb in your body would really appreciate your opinion.
Thank you all for posting here! I am 9 weeks post op and obviously still tight, tired and sore in addition to the pain of climbing/descending stairs etc. My personal goal is to be able to dance on a dance cruise at 4 months. We will see.
Please share more about your own benchmarks and roadblocks. My friends who have had TKA range from ‘never had any pain’ (selective memory I’m sure) to still have pain after a year or more. I’m doing my home PT every day (else I won’t move!) and still have a few weeks of out patient PT (which I love!).
I’m curious to know if you got the surgery and how it, & recovery went. My situation was similar to yours: 1st surgeon visit he said not yet, waited over a year and went back and he said OK. I was the same age as you the 1st time I saw him, and wanted surgery for the same reasons. I had TKR 2 months ago and have been told (by PT, RN, PA) my recovery is atypical in a good way. As someone said, everyone is different, But I’m hopeful about having hip surgery at some point.
I would love to know the ages of the people posting if you're okay including that info. Just helpful to hear about results with that add'l. info. Thanks.
Incredible that you remembered my conversation with this forum, so many kind and encouraging people.
Yes, I did get the tkr 3 months ago. As you know , it’s a hard surgery. Like you, I’m doing great. My PT dismissed me after 6 sessions. I can climb and go down the stairs. I was in good shape before the surgery, continue to do hip, glutes and quad exercises at the gym with weights and machine. Everyday I do the recumbent bicycle and epiliptical machine . Ian taking good care of the other knee too.
Glad to hear you are doing well too. Best wishes on your recovery too. Take care.
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Appreciate this discussion! Have been on the fence about having total knee replacement. I am 74 years old. My x-rays show "moderate" levels of arthritis, with a couple of small bone spurs. More importantly, my pain level is quite low, with the majority of my pain happening at night. Function is harder to determine because of the perfect storm of events in my legs. I have an undiagnosed chronic problem which manifests as weakness in my legs, even with daily exercises and strengtheners religiously done, and makes walking up or down stairs difficult. I also have peripheral neuropathy in my legs, which messes with my balance and sense of proprioception in my feet. And 25 years ago I had total hip replacements on both hips. The THRs are beginning to show and feel like revision surgery may be necessary soon. In reassessing my situation, I'm finding my knee not to be the major factor in my ability to walk or do stairs. With reading through some of these post-op experiences as well as others deciding whether or not to have the surgery, I'm thinking not at this time (maybe never) for me. My goal? To be able to continue walking. My daily walks went from an hour+ to 45 minutes to maybe 20 minutes on a good day. And again, I don't think my knee is the primary offender. Replies welcome.