Knee Surgery, whats roughly the cost

cobb

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Yup, no insurance, temp, part time employee with a knee ache. I think I may need them to use one of those medical die grnders and clean it up. Seems I have same pain someone else I know did in their knee when they had surgery.

I was wondering what roughly is the ball park for something like this out of pocket. I am guessing 5 grand.

I may still be covered under my dads insurance. Different aids have different statues on when you are or arent disabled. I think for social security its based on income. If you make more than a certain amount and disabled, you are magically no longer disabled and wont continue to get benefits. I think my dads insurance he had to appeal to them back when I was using a wheelchair and in chronic pain plus a full time student. I aint any of those anymore. Still legally blind. Not sure what that counts for.

Just wondering as it seems I need to do something, espacially when I or if/when I get my license to work in a more physical than desk job.
 

Luff

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In the year 2000, I had my left one roto-rootered. Diagnosis, orthoscopy and all follow-up care cost $3,700 excluding meds. The thing is, your cost will depend on what has to be done. Mine was straight forward ... suck out the shattered cartlidge (85% of it all), dig out a couple of shards partially embedded in muscle tissue and drop nine stitches. Took less than an hour on the table and my doc said that while my knee was a mess, it was relatively easy to fix.

No doubt about it, your mileage will vary. Get an appointment and see if you need surgery ... you may just need physical therapy.

Good luck!
 

geepondy

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Just curious, if they remove 85 percent of your cartridge, does that leave you severely limited in your ability to exercise such as running or bicycling? The reason I ask is that I have a cranky knee which forces me to take it easy from time to time although believe it or not I think Glucosomine has helped quite a bit.

Luff said:
In the year 2000, I had my left one roto-rootered. Diagnosis, orthoscopy and all follow-up care cost $3,700 excluding meds. The thing is, your cost will depend on what has to be done. Mine was straight forward ... suck out the shattered cartlidge (85% of it all), dig out a couple of shards partially embedded in muscle tissue and drop nine stitches. Took less than an hour on the table and my doc said that while my knee was a mess, it was relatively easy to fix.

No doubt about it, your mileage will vary. Get an appointment and see if you need surgery ... you may just need physical therapy.

Good luck!
 

Pydpiper

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Health Care is the only major difference I have noticed from living in several States to Canada.. Here you don't pay for your healt care, but you pay dearly in taxes, 15% on any given purchase, plus I payed about 30k in income taxes.. I often wonder if the whole free healthcare is really worth it..
It just caught my attention when someone mentioned paying to go to the hospital..
Good luck with your knee, I have a feeling mine is closely behing yours..
 

cobb

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Thanks Luff. Sure, I have no idea what will be required. Without any knowledge of yourself, at 290 lbs I could easily be twice your size. My knee pain is similar to my moms who had surgery on it. Basically pain under the insde edge of the knee cap. Hurts to lower self with that leg on steps, feel clicking inside when walking up a steep ramp. I do take the joint supplement and it went from constant pain to just when I go down steps, going up a ramp is no pain, just a click feeling. IT does prevent me from using my elliptical machine, but I do petal on my bike.

Pydpiper, most docs will rather have half the money up front for a procedure than waiting a year for full payment under insurance. I am offered 250-500 bucks a day for helping contractors at my job. I could easily repay this back with work like that in ten days or less.

I agree with you in some respect. For the most part, I doubt many ever get out of what they pay in insurance, its just the incase. I think my mom with having a verbrate removed from her neck and all expenses from nursing homes, pt, ot, is at least half a million dollars. When my uncle died from his stomach bleeding he was in the hospital for 2 weeks. THey removed part of his stomach, gave him lots of blood and finally he died of cardiac arrrest. That was 100 grand for that two weeks. They claim a big part of it was the drug they shot in his heart to bringhim back, but it didnt work. For some BULL reason since he died before the paper work was done insurance wouldnt cover it and they came after us. He had insurance, but I doubt he ever used more than a visit a year for a required physical for his job.

So far despite my condition I have been healthy. I would seek benefits in my late 30s to 40s, but not now.
 

Luff

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There's more interest in this than I thought. I'll tell the tale in case it might help someone.

Losing 85% of your knee's cartlidge definitely weakens the knee, but I've been amazed at how muscles have rebuilt in the area to support it. I walk normally and it's very rare for my knee to be sore or become weak.

My physical activity levels have changed pretty dramatically ... so yes, in my case, the damage has limited my capabilities. Doc said not to run or jog because, without the cartlidge separating the bones, the impact would increase the likelihood of tearing my meniscus ... something you do not want to do since after that it'd be bone-on-bone! At that point, I'd be looking at a knee replacement. Twisting motions (golf, bowling and the like) are out. Rock climbing has gone away, mostly because I don't trust my knee as much anymore, and that worry also keeps me out of caves. Bicycling and swimming are good as long as I stop BEFORE the knee starts to hurt. Uncomfortable is okay, pain is not. I can hike about 5 miles before the knee starts to ache and weaken, but I imagine it'd hold up fine if I walked more on it.

Cobb, weight-wise I'm only about 40 pounds behind you. I weighed 40 pound less than I do now before the surgery. I get bored with swimming and riding, so I don't do as much as I should. Most of my weight gain is a lifestyle issue, not because of physical limitations.

My recovery was extremely unusual. I needed 10 weeks before I could walk without support ... 2 more months before walking without a noticeable limp. A little more than a year after that, I realized I wasn't thinking about walking with care up or down stairs. Today, I don't give it a second thought unless I'm pushing the limits.

Because I broke the cartlidge while carrying a canoe on Day 2 of a 9-day trek through the Canadian boundary waters ... and kept going for the rest of the trip so my crew didn't have to return to base, I did LOTS of damage to muscle and structure. You surely won't have anything like that. I've talked with more than a dozen people who've had orthoscopic knee surgery and every single one of them were up and around within a couple weeks and marvel at how long it took me to recover.

I'm not a doctor. From your description, however, it sure sounds like you have damage you should get checked. Your knee "clicking" is a key trait. You may be one of the lucky few who has broken cartlidge which becomes embedded in tissue over time and stops bothering them. Don't count on it. If you do have broken cartlidge, the alternative is that it will increasingly irritate the area, increase swelling even more and lead to more damage. It's better to treat early if you can.

Financially, in my case, my insurance picked up the entire tab except for my initial $20 co-pay to my GP. This surprised me no end since that policy called for a 20% shared liability. Looking back on it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat, cost notwithstanding.
 

ibcj

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Cobb,

The cost of surgery will vary greatly depending on what you have done, what doctor you use (ie-best surgeon or someone practicing old, outdated techniques), how long you are in the hospital, etc.
My wife is a physical therapist (who has had numerous knee surgeries of her own), so I've picked up alot as she has helped family, friends, and just about anyone that she meets with a problem.

The first thing that you need is an accurate diagnosis. If the first person that you see says that you need surgery, a second opinion is a good idea. This is because there are plenty of doctors who will rush to surgery. Once you have the problem identified, you should do some research on your own. You should also talk to people about the doctors that you are considering for the surgery. Know what exactly what you have going on and what the options are. It's a good idea to bring a notepad & pen to the doctor to write things down. I can never remember the terms which the doctor uses and my wife will always question me about it.

My cousin had knee surgery a few years ago by a doctor who did her brother's knee surgery in the late 80's. He was using "state of the art techniques" in the late 80's and was known as one of the best doctors around. Well, even though knee surgery techniques have advanced significantly, he was still using the same 1980's techniques two years ago. Needless to say, she has had nothing but problems since her surgery.

Another thing which was previously mentioned was seeing a physical therapist. This can also be a good idea before surgery. You want to find someone who will get an accurate history on you which includes your day to day activities. A good therapist might be able to show you some exercises which will help your knee problem. And if it doesn't work, then surgery is always an option down the road, but physical therapy is much cheaper than surgery, and you'd have to do physical therapy after surgery anyway.

Whatever you do, take your time with the decision. You are a young person and your knee is an integral part of your body which you will need for a very long time. Good luck.
 
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cobb

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10 week down time? Guess its back to using the wheelchair in that case at least til it heals?

I am going to get that checked.
 

magic79

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10 week down time is very, very unusual these days.

I've had 4 knee operations, from complete reconstruction (torn ACL) to torn cartilege. Even with the torn ACL (before they did it with arthroscopy), I was back at work in a week.

For my last arthroscopy, I was standing in the pharmacy with my pain prescription 55 minutes after they started the operation, and I only missed one day of work.

As far as cost, it would be difficult to estimate for a number of reasons (type, in-patient vs. out-patient, etc), but MOST doctors will write off a portion (sometimes substantial) for patients without insurance. Ask!

If you have the surgery, you will recover much quicker if you don't baby it. Use/bend it as much as the doctor will allow, and it will not swell as much. Swelling will make your recovery longer.

About the only thing I cannot do is ride a horse, For some reason, that inside pressure that you put on your knee to hold yourself in the saddle really hurts.

Good luck!
 
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Luff

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Luff said:
My recovery was extremely unusual. I needed 10 weeks ...

Cobb - I had severe damage to my knee. I could barely walk before surgery and not at all without support, and with a great deal of pain in every movement. My recovery was the exception, not the rule, and directly related to the extent of the damage that had to be repaired.

As magic79 said (and he has some great advice), most folks are up and around very quickly. Please don't let my horror story keep you from seeing a doctor for an initial diagnosis.
 

cobb

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Spoke to my primary doc today. Said my knee cap is 3 mm off center and that is causing inflimation to the joint. Said to do xtended leg lifts with no more than 30lbs. Sending me to a sports medicine specialist for more work.Mentioned clicking noise to him, that seems to indicate nothing to him.
 

AlexGT

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Maybe you should try Mexico for the surgery, its way cheaper there probably $750 to $1500 at the most, and the doctors are just as good.

just my $.02
 

rayearth

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Knee surgery will be very expensive, however you can try
1) negotiate with the doctor in cash/equivalent, they may cut a discount.
2) off-shore it. I'm not so sure about Mexico, but some Asian countries may do very well in this regard.
3) Physical therapy / physiotherapy is very important, do not skip it. You may need it pre and post surgery.
 

cobb

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Saw a sports medicine doc. I was almost dismissed as I did not play a sport and they said they only see sports injuries. Played my song and dance, wheelchair, 9 years, working out, knee pain and they decided to see me anyway.

Took 3 x rays, did exam. Got to prance around in a pair of shorts 3 times too small for me in a few waiting rooms and two xray offices.

Long story short, no surgery needed. Inflimation of the whatamacallit on the inside edge of knee. Need to ice it. Joint looks fine, no floating anything in it. Said his main concern was the lost of calcium in my lower leg bone that connects knee to foot.

Glad to hear the news, now i can put that money towards a car than surgery. Bit said that it cant be fixed in a few hours with surgery if it was worse than it was. Iceing it helps, but its going to be a long road.
 

yaesumofo

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unless you want one of these:



totalknee.jpg


Then don't let them "clean up" your knee.
A recient study where they did plabcebo operations as well as real operations showed the results people got were the same regardless of which operation the they had.
I had to have a knee replacment because after the "clean up" the cartlidge wore away in 2 years.
Then Knee replacment. I was under 40 when this all hapened.
To answer the question a knee replacment with a week in the hospital was about $85,000.00

Yaesumofo
 

Samoan

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Luff said:
My recovery was extremely unusual. I needed 10 weeks before I could walk without support ... 2 more months before walking without a noticeable limp. A little more than a year after that, I realized I wasn't thinking about walking with care up or down stairs. Today, I don't give it a second thought unless I'm pushing the limits.

10 weeks! Holy cow.

About 10 years ago I shredded the medial meniscus in my right knee playing basketball. I had the surgery and was walking without my crutches in 4 days (pleased the PT, pissed off the doc). My surgeon was/is known as being very conservative during rehab. My PT was very aggressive tho. The dumbest thing I did (according to the doc) was getting back on the basketball court for light workouts and shooting in about three weeks. The knee has never again given me a bit of trouble and I'm waling around at about 290.

One other thing to remember is that sometimes the knee pops and clicks are from calcification on the back side of the patella and they can jsut go in and clean that up.

My total bill, well, the insurance company's bill was quite high. Most of that was for the diagnostics leading up to the surgery and not the actual professional fees for the procedure.

-F
 

cobb

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THanks. That was my initial dilama. Get the surgery that may screw it up or live with the pain. TUrns out its just an inflamed thingie on the inside edge of the knee cap.

Although I have iced it, its not the miracle cure. After climing 1 flight of stairs twice it start to slowly act up again for the rest of the day.

I too heard of that study. My mom just had the surgery and I use to joke with her about them not doing anything to her knee. She swears they did and it worked.
 
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