Knee replacement surgery, anybody have it done?

My mom is about to go into the hospital for knee replacement surgery. Just wondering if anybody has gone through it and can tell me what to expect and/or what to look out for. Thanks.

Plenty of people I know have had this done, one guy both knees at once. They all took their first steps the next day. They all said it was a huge improvement and after only a few days they were all much more mobile than they had been before the op.

my brother had a hip replacement, he was fine. well his hip anyway.

MY mom's sister had it done many years ago. Those days the technology wasn't like today. Nevertheless, the operation was successful. However 2 factors made her go through twice and the last one was early this year. One factor is age and the other is physical built. It is a cure but it will re-occur depending on those two factors. I apologize for being direct but honest......

My mom had one knee done just about a year ago. You can figure about 4 days in the hospital, then about 3 weeks at home with fairly limited mobility. My mother had twice a week physical therapy at home for about 6 weeks. It took about three months to get to the point of not having to watch how you did certain activities because of the knee. But even from the beginning, she said the knee pain was much better and the pain from the surgery itself was much more responsive to the painkillers.

One of the key things for a good recovery seems to be to just keep using the knee from day one. My mother's surgery was in the morning and they had her up walking short distances that afternoon. She was good about pushing herself a little further each day and had no complications. But while she was in the hospital, there was another woman there for a repeat surgery after only 6 months. She had fought the therapists and spent most of her time in bed "waiting for her knee to heal" instead of using it. Scar tissue had formed to the point that she couldn't hardly use the knee at all. My mother was no workout fiend during her recovery, but she just did short little walks in the house or a few minutes of her therapy exercises every couple of hours throughout the day. Frequent use in small amounts seemed to work good for her.

My trophy wife is sched for one knee replacement July 30. She's relatively young for this (60) but is in great physical condition and will work hard at rehab so we anticipate good recovery.

The modern replacement joints are much better that those of just the past few years. Doc says should get 20 years out of it with no problems. Unlike old replacements, the plastic bearing parts (the "cartilege") can be replaced with out replacing the entire joint.

We'll have better quality of life after this. Last couple of years, she couldn't hike over rough terrain, carry any type of load and just plain hurt most of the time.

I'm looking forward to being Nurse Dave for a couple of weeks.

That's for the info guys.

jumpstat, no need to apologize for being honest. I'm looking for honest info.

DonShock, so keep her on her exercise schedule, even if she's complaining of pain?

She lives in a house with her bedroom on the second floor. Are stair going to be a problem at the start? Can she stand on the 'fixed' leg and just bend the 'old' one or vice-a-versa?

I didn't have a replacement done but I had some cartilage repair and the surgery and hospital were great. If she does what they tell her to do she
will be fine. Go at a STEADY pace is the main thing. I'm a big guy 395 lbs
and my knee is progressing well. With weight loss (and weight is a factor
but not the only one) I'll be fine. Be there to help your Mom if you can, rides to and from food prescriptions etc. They taught me how to walk up and down stairs so make SURE you mention that. Her room may be on the first floor for a few days.

Hey Mark, glad to hear you are getting better. BTW, did you ever get the light? You never got back to me. :sniff:

That's why I'm asking question now. I need to know about the stairs and how the physical therapy goes. If stairs are going to be a big problem, she might move in to my apartment for a week or so, but my small place isn't really set up for 'at-home' physical therapy.

My Dad had both done at once. He was up and hobbling quickly. Follow the Doc's orders. While he was in for a checkup a guy in his 40's was getting his replacements replaced, a second time! He would not quit long distance running till he could not get them fixed anymore.

Sinjz said:

......DonShock, so keep her on her exercise schedule, even if she's complaining of pain?

She lives in a house with her bedroom on the second floor. Are stair going to be a problem at the start? Can she stand on the 'fixed' leg and just bend the 'old' one or vice-a-versa?

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There's going to be nearly constant pain to some degree for the first couple weeks. But the point seems to be to do "something" several times a day. My mother never went past the point of serious pain starting. But after taking a pain pill and resting a few hours, she would do another little stretch. Often just 2 or 3 minutes of just bending the knee back and forth as much as she was able. I think you would have to go several days with the knee immobile to start having the scar tissue start forming. And of course, the longer you don't use it, the harder it is to get moving on it again.

As for the second floor, I don't think it's possible. For the first week or so, I had to help my mom swing her legs up into bed. For about the first 3 weeks, the little step up to the threshold from the front porch into the house was a fairly major obstacle. IIRC, one of the pre-surgery questions was about stairs and such at home. Her home is all one level so it wasn't an issue but I do remember that something would have to be done different if it wasn't. I think it was a longer hospital stay, daily caretaker visits for baths and such, or more frequent therapy visits. But I don't recall exactly what.

You shouldn't be over-worried about the pain, as it can be managed much better than used to be the case. The medical pros (docs & surgeons) agree it is counter-productive to let it persist, as pain is a disincentive to the exercise which DonShock correctly says is essential.

Also, people I know who have had the op (including my own ma) agree that although there is some pain, it is easily manageable and much preferable to the pain they were in before the op.

My father, mother-in-law, and aunt-in-law have 5 knees and 1 hip among them. None of them were thrilled by the experience, but everyone said the new knees were an improvement, and the pain was in the "really unpleasant" not "unbearable" category. Of course, they all waited too long to take the pain meds - push them before the pain is so bad you (she) needs them.

One key thing - check on how many knees the surgeon does a year. The AIL was the only one who had a bad experience, mostly with slow and painful recovery. She is a nurse (and her daughter works for the company that made the knee!) - it turns out she had it done in a small country hospital and her aftercare and follow-up were not aggressive enough. My dad pointed out that the point of the physical therapy is to teach you what you need to do, not to do it for you. Once he started doing the exercises religiously his recovery kicked into high gear.

Insofar as things to look out for, mostly any signs of infection and any potential reactions to the antibiotics. In the weeks following the procedure your mom may wonder why she went through with it to begin with, but once she's healed, she'll be glad that she did. My mom was going to get rid of the cane that she had before, but I convinced her to hang on to in case one of her aging kids needed it

Sinjz said:

My mom is about to go into the hospital for knee replacement surgery. Just wondering if anybody has gone through it and can tell me what to expect and/or what to look out for. Thanks.

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I had some meniscal repair (cartilidge) last year. Far cry from knee joint but I've talked to plenty of folks with knee replacement.

Expect them to put your mom on her knee as soon as she can, perhaps even a few days after the surgery. PT should start ASAP and though it will be painful it's a heckuva lot shorter than if you wait a couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the info guys. My mom was sorta worried about the procedure, but after I told her about this thread and how many people have had it done and been up and about so quickly, she's much calmer now. :thumbsup:

She's having the surgery tomorrow morning, so send prayers and good thoughts!

www.aboutstryker.com

This is the knee my wife will get 30 July. Lot's of info on the website.

Another thing for people to watch out for is Pulmonary Embolism. I found out that it's not uncommon among those who have this procedure. My mom got it. Hopefully nothing else breaks off and the blood thinners do their job.