Total Knee Repair Revision: A Success Story

Hi @ezas123, what a great recovery testimony. So glad you are on the mend and everything is going according to plan. I modified your title just a bit to highlight the fact that your experience is a positive one.

Will you keep us updated as you continue PT?

Could you elaborate on what caused the need for the revision? Thank you!

Hi all two week out …. Must say feeling great ….. started therapy last week was at flexion 70 this week drum roll please 85 …. The most exciting thing is I am retaining the flexion I am gaining … don’t get me wrong it is work and I struggle for every bit but please understand I struggled and fought for a year and went through so much pain to retain nothing …. I can’t say enough about my new dr he gave me my life back …. So daily routine are the regular exercises twice day every 2 hours I bend my knee as far as I can and than a little more ….. I do pt 2 a week , mfr but for edema only 3 times a week … my team all so supportive there for me all the way …. I am very fortunate I have my family and my team to get through this …..thank you all for the support you been showing me …. I appreciate it so much

Sorry I did not see this …. I got my knee replacement one year ago was never able to gain flexion …. Always had residual pain ….. my original Dr would not do anything I sought a second opinion …. Which first appointment Dr told from original Dr X-rays that the replacement was slightly to big and may be causing my problems…. Within a month I was in got the knee replacement ……my new knee is two sizes smaller and recovery has been amazing…. I hope this helps you

Hi all three weeks out and feeling amazing…. My gait is almost normal now although I am still using cane outside of my home I still having some weakness in my quads, and I experience sharp pain with change of direction but that is to be expected….. I talked to pt increased a few exercises to help strengthen area …. Started massage on scar yesterday must say that was painful …..but I can handle anything lol because I wake up the next day and I see progress …. My knee bending a little further without as much pain and my knee looking normal again ….. before this surgery after my first tkr it always looked to big and I had lump on right side dr could not explain ……
My mfr therapist is going away for 3 weeks must say I am little anxious I have been seeing her 3 times a week for edema…. She is giving me a number of someone she trust that can help but they don’t do mfr she is only one where I live that does mfr work …..so crossing my fingers ….keep you posted

I'm sorry you had to have a revision but happy that it's working. I had both knees replaced this year (2022) and so far, so good. I think the most important thing is working on ROM the first few weeks. As you said, stretch the knee until it tugs and feels like it won't go further, then go just a little further. By the third week, the ROM increased dramatically for me and was at 130 when I finished PT, for both knees.

Stay strong and stay with your program. And thanks for sharing your story.

Joe

@ezas123 I knew a woman who also had problems after a knee replacement. She went to numerous doctors before one diagnosed the problem, the size of the replacement was too large! A revision was done and she was much better after that.

I think the most important thing when having a knee replacement is getting the absolute best doctor that you can find. There are many orthopedic surgeons who do knee replacements but you want one who really looks at the individual, not a "cookie cutter" type of surgeon. My second knee replacement was a custom-made knee so thankfully there was no chance of that being a problem, and the doctor was amazing.
JK

Exactly I thought I was going to the best did my homework checked reviews …..,but in the end did not work out for me … I live in small relatively small area so I thought find dr in bigger area I was wrong …. The dr in my small area was the one to fix first dr mistake I am so grateful to him …..but I hear you you need to research your dr look up reviews good and bad ….. looking back on my old dr bad reviews he acted exactly the way people said blamed me for not working hard enough…unfortunately I only focused on positive and ignored the negative ….I was so positive I would be one of those people that would be driving and back to doing things in 3 weeks …..unfortunately I was so wrong took I think 5 months to drive ….well anyway a year later I was driving in 2 weeks lol so I am thrilled with my outlook now …,, so yes a warning to others it’s ok to be positive but don’t overlook dr negative feedback because you never know until all said and done if it is successful ..,,,

@ezas123 People often just don't realize the importance of getting the right surgeon for that type of surgery. There's a surgeon in my area that does pretty much all of the knee replacements, the "cookie cutter" type of doctor I referred to before. Some people are very happy with the results but many more are not. I have had problems with correct diagnoses in my area so I tend to head to Boston for just about everything except my PCP. Boston is about 55 miles from where I live.

My first knee replacement was also done in Boston but I was not as educated about this before that one and I have never been as happy with that knee as I am with the second knee. I was doing pretty much everything in a very short amount of time but I think I didn't do the PT exercises at home as much as I should have and I don't have the flex in either knee that I would like. I have no pain really, but I can't bend it as far as I would like to be able to. It doesn't affect me in everyday things but it does in exercise and I can't really kneel without something to hold on to. The second doctor offered a minor surgery that could help with that but I just didn't want to bother with going through rehab, etc. again.
JK

I am happy for you you don’t have pain …. But I don’t blame you if kneeling doesn’t really affect your daily life than leave well enough alone ….. I had flexion of 65 before my 2 surgery I am at 85 now so like I said beyond thrilled ….. I look forward to the day of no pain they may be little bit yet but I do believe I will get there as you did