OT - Knee Replacement

[graham o]

Good luck. Had my left knee done twice first time did not go well[ installed out of tolerance]. Second time better but some damage was done.

Graham O

[old mart]

That was bad luck, Graham, was your foot pointing backwards the first time?

[PStechPaul]

You should have sued, but the judge might say you didn't have a leg to stand on

[mattthemuppet]

I thought he was talking about his knee mill - who on earth uses a mill so much they wear out their knee?

Good luck lynnl, here's hoping you'll be out and about in no time.

[sarge41]

Good luck and a speedy recovery. Hope to see you back here in a few days.

Sarge41

[Tim The Grim]

Well, I hope yours works out as well as mine. I’m 4.5 years into my right knee renewal and now that I’m out of the refinery and off all that climbing steel steps and ladders routine, I’m finally able to enjoy it.

My damage and inflammation was so bad they said they had to guesstimate my femoral cuts. As a result my right leg came out 3/8” longer than my left. My PT picked that out right away and gave me some pointers on working through that. Having spent 9 years making hips, knees, custom implants and the tooling to install them, I respect the surgeon but honestly feel it’s the manufacturer techs in the OR and the PT afterwards that make the difference between a successful outcome and years of problems.
We had a grumpy maintenance boss at the refinery who had his knee done the same month as me. He blew off his PT advice and suffered when he came back to work with limited range of motion. His crew would point out how well I was doing and call him out on being such a fool. ( Unions have their advantages ). He went back to another surgery on that same knee and decided to retire. I did fine for 3 more years.

BTW...Going through airport security will never be the same.

Listen to your PT And don’t overdo it. I hurt myself with too many reps and needed 3 more weeks before I could return to work. 👍

[lynnl]

Well, the deed is done and I'm now back home. Yesterday after the surgery, for the rest of the day, I was very pleased, it seemed to be much better than the hip replacement had been. But today I was apparent that maybe I was a little hasty in my assessment. i.e. it hurts like hell, and will likely get worse for a couple of days. I probably should've stayed another day, but I'd rather be sleeping in my own bed (or trying) than to be awakened every two or three hours for pokes and sticks.

I felt like a training platform for new nurses learning the art of blood drawing. I understand, everybody has to learn sometime, but it doesn't have to be 0230 in the morning.

[PStechPaul]

One of the worst parts of my knee replacement experience was getting the staples removed. That happened about a week post-op, and it was performed by a nurse or medical tech in the rehab facility. Most of the staples came out with no major problem, but there were one or two that may have been put in a bit crooked, and they kept yanking and twisting to no avail, except to make me uncomfortable. I was wishing I had brought my tool kit so I could do it myself, but eventually they got the head nurse or a doctor. It seemed obvious to me what the problem was, and I'm sure I could have done a better job. Seems that medical people are just trained to perform such procedures under ideal conditions where the staple remover functions properly, but they were lacking in mechanical understanding and problem solving skills. The scars are almost invisible now.

[QSIMDO]

Just had my left knee done yesterday and was out of there by noon today.
"Robotically assisted".
I tried to see the unit when they wheeled me in but everything was covered in plastic sheeting.
Saw something that looked like it had a Scara arm on but I was sure he described a 6 axis. Have to look that up
7 nerve blocker shots around the knee, then a spinal and then Propofol.
Had a Cat Scan a couple of weeks ago where the laid a 1" bar along my left side and tied my feet together.
I guess that was the datum.
Came home with plenty of Oxy to make life good but really haven't needed it so far.

This must have been it; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7_HDw_vWJE

[BCRider]

One of the worst parts of my knee replacement experience was getting the staples removed. That happened about a week post-op, and it was performed by a nurse or medical tech in the rehab facility. Most of the staples came out with no major problem, but there were one or two that may have been put in a bit crooked, and they kept yanking and twisting to no avail, except to make me uncomfortable. I was wishing I had brought my tool kit so I could do it myself, but eventually they got the head nurse or a doctor. It seemed obvious to me what the problem was, and I'm sure I could have done a better job. Seems that medical people are just trained to perform such procedures under ideal conditions where the staple remover functions properly, but they were lacking in mechanical understanding and problem solving skills. The scars are almost invisible now.

Back in around the mid 1990's I had a rather serious surgery that left an 8 or 9 inch seam down the middle of my belly and another 3 inches worth up by the side of my neck. A few days out from the appointment to get the staples removed I had a really NASTY cold. I phoned in two days ahead saying that I felt like poo and if they didn't have any objections could I just remove them myself. I mentioned my hobbies and having all the tools that would easily do the job. The doctor's assistant checked and called back and said" just don't do anything to make them hurt or bleed. First sign of trouble stop and call us". They came out with no more than the odd flinch. Two sets of small needle nose pliers and a decently coordinated twist and they slipped right out.

Made me feel just like Dr Frankenstien working on his own creation….

Paul, what's with the "misfire" off to the side in the last couple of pics? Poor marksmanship on the part of the doc or one of his helpers?

[PStechPaul]

That was the staple that was giving the tech so much trouble (and so much pain for me). I think one part of it was just removed from one hole but may have gotten stuck in again when the staple remover (machine and/or human) malfunctioned. I think I would have cut it in half with a diagonal cutter and then removed each piece separately.

[Paul Alciatore]

Put that on your resume under shop skills.

Back in around the mid 1990's I had a rather serious surgery that left an 8 or 9 inch seam down the middle of my belly and another 3 inches worth up by the side of my neck. A few days out from the appointment to get the staples removed I had a really NASTY cold. I phoned in two days ahead saying that I felt like poo and if they didn't have any objections could I just remove them myself. I mentioned my hobbies and having all the tools that would easily do the job. The doctor's assistant checked and called back and said" just don't do anything to make them hurt or bleed. First sign of trouble stop and call us". They came out with no more than the odd flinch. Two sets of small needle nose pliers and a decently coordinated twist and they slipped right out.

Made me feel just like Dr Frankenstien working on his own creation….

Paul, what's with the "misfire" off to the side in the last couple of pics? Poor marksmanship on the part of the doc or one of his helpers?

[DrMike]

I was supposed to have my right hip replaced on April 28, and both knees on June 25 provided hip rehab was successful.
All of that got cancelled mid-March because of 'Rona.

On June 25, 8 days from today, I'm scheduled to get a new right hip. Anything after that is still up in the air.

[lynnl]

I was supposed to have my right hip replaced on April 28, and both knees on June 25 provided hip rehab was successful.
All of that got cancelled mid-March because of 'Rona.

On June 25, 8 days from today, I'm scheduled to get a new right hip. Anything after that is still up in the air.

Good luck with your hip, DrMike!

As I'd mentioned at the start of the thread, I had a hip replaced, now almost 8 months ago. There was considerable pain for a few days, but by week three it was almost trivial. But this knee is proving to be considerably worse, especially at night. After about an hour and a half asleep, the pain wakes me up. After walking and exercising awhile, I can never manage more than little chunks of 20-30 minutes sleep the rest of the night. I can tell that it's slowly improving (i.e. more flexibility, less pain, etc.), particularly during the day, but new pains keep popping up, from ankle to upper thigh.

[DrMike]

I'm told hips are the easiest to rehab, knees are difficult, and shoulders are simply miserable.
I'm not looking to find out first hand, but this is one of those things that you don't have a lot choice over.

I hope you find some comfort soon, Lynn, and your body starts taking to the new hardware.
If I can sleep, I can make it through most anything the next day. What you are describing is a literal nightmare.