Knee Replacement Surgery

[AfricanAddiction]

Unfortunately a part of my knee from a previous surgery has come apart in the last month and my only option is to have a total knee replacement. The goal of the doctor and myself was to try and get another 2-3 years but that is no longer possible.

I am scheduled for the end of August.

Being quite young for this surgery, 42, the timeline and expectations for recovery are not really known.(I know every body is different and reacts differently)

I am curious how many of you have had a total knee replacement, your age when done, how long before you felt somewhat back to normal and hit the hills.

I will report what my doctor thinks is realistic but curious how all of you fared before I list his expecations.

Definitely put a kink in the late summer and fall plans this year.

 

[SlinginLead]

You might want to check out the search field. I know Kilowatt and a few others have had knee replacement surgery within the last year or so. You seem mighty young to be having a knee replaced.

Good luck.

 

[Smacked]

It sucked..6 mos to get it back to normal..
Good luck
Plate in my neck..
Plate in rt shoulder too.
Next is left rotor cuff in a few weeks..
I set off metal detectors..(all day)
Smacked

 

[Smacked]

I was 55...
Smacked

 

[Blank]

One of my girl engineers at work was a heavy duty runner, and had a problem with alignment and bone-on-bone contact. She had both of hers replaced at 35 years old, and was doing great with the recovery and after surgery activities. Was back to full time work in 10 weeks. They told her that they would have to be replaced again at 65, when they wore out.

 

[eVerbrowns]

Sorry to hear that, my knees are getting really bad and I'm dreading the day when I'll need replacement. Good luck to you and your recovery

 

[Smacked]

Women recover faster from total replacements surgery..Fact!
Smacked

 

[Cow Tag]

I am 70 years old and I had my right knee replaced back in 2011 and had the left knee replaced in 2015. Both surgeries were successful and I am glad that I had my knees replaced. This is NOT a walk in the old park-----oh, no. takes a while to get healed and the re-hab is on the long side. I have to mention that "there is some pain involved to it also." Having both knees replaced improved my over all health and having them is well worth the effort. For the life of me though, I cannot see how a person could have both knees replaced at the same time. My quality of life is better because I had my knees replaced. Good luck to you. Cow Tag

 

[Zarn]

Had total replacement on my right knee at 51. The rehab is not easy but if you want a good outcome do it. I went elk hunting at 8 weeks but was still very sore. Figure 6 months for a complete recovery but you can do almost anything after 12 weeks.

It was worth but for me.

 

[tvbrewster]

Just had my left knee replaced February 12th.

Was back to work at my desk job the next week. That being said it sucked. Could only sit for 1/2 at a time then had to recline and ice.

Turkey season started April 27th here in CT and I hunted every day. Didn't do anything crazy but was able to walk thru the woods and fields.

I'm 62, kinda soft, white, busted but realize the lord only gave us so many days I hate to miss out on any of'em.

Before pic on my knee is attached. Had major ligament damage in 1985. Staples were used to reattach ligaments to bone.

Do the PT and get into the gym every day. Ride a bike and hike. You will be able to cruise the hills in 2 months. Gonna have to take it slow at first your body will tell you what speed to go.

 

[feddoc]

Welcome to the club. I had mine done September of 17, so, no elk for me.

I completed 2-12 week rehab sessions, the first was with my regular (wow, it stinks to say this) rehab specialist then switched to another because I wasn't making a lot of progress. Although that lack of progress may have been due to the harshness of the surgery.


I found that going downhill was much harder than going uphill.

But, after the last couple weeks having been spent hiking with weight and walking over rocky ground, I am confident I wont have any issues this fall.


As others have said, do not cheat yourself on physical therapy. This was a much, much harder surgery to recover from when compared to my ankle replacement, or back fusion X 2 or neck fusion, or any other ortho related surgery I have had.

 

[HuntinCorn]

I had Stem Cell done about 4 months ago so far it is helping i can walk down stairs now with no pain now.the doctor told me it is about a 6 months process.MY knees were not bad enough for replacement.I am getting the other one done at the end of the year.And I have a small Menisci tear in that knee.it is crazy how painfull Arthritis is.

 

[littlebighorn]

AfricanAddict,
Your days on the dark continent are not over by any means. I was one year younger than you when I had my left knee replaced. (Damn high school football). That was 28 years ago and yes the recovery was not pleasant. But no pain, no gain is especially true with knee replacement and determination will get you closer to normal than anything. I gave it my best and after about 6 months I was doing pretty much everything I wanted, other than running.
16 years later the knee got sloppy and I had to have it replaced again, but this time around went much smoother. My recovery was almost half that time. Same doc, but new meds and tweaked procedures (plus the doc told me I was just lucky) made the second go around a breeze.
Since that first surgery, I've been on 5 sheep hunts, 3 of which were total backpack. I've also gone over the spine of the Wyoming Windrivers with 50 lbs of gear.
I've pushed hard to stay in decent shape which really helps.
The only other thing I can recommend is don't be a tough guy during recovery and take the meds they give you when you are in pain. They help you in pushing yourself to recovery. (Unless of course you might be prone to addiction)
The other thing that really helps me is using trekking poles. Down hill is hard on replaced knees and the sticks act like shock absorbers.
Best of luck and let us know how it goes.
You can do it.

 

[AfricanAddiction]

Some of you have asked. I was born with terrible knees.

When born both feet were completely turned inward and I was knock kneed. Surgery was not possible until age 8. At that point i went to Primary Children?s and they did bilateral femoral osteotomy on both knees. Basically they cut both legs completely through and turned my feet from inward to outward. Then they went in and stapled the growth plate on the outside to force the feet to turn back inward as i grew.

Did pretty good until high school and then it was time for ACL, MCL, meniscus and other fun stuff from mainly playing ball.

Had a few surgeries and then about 8 years ago I had a partial knee replacement. They replaced the knee cap and the joint where the knee cap rides in my right knee. At that point the goal was to get me until at least 45 before a replacement was necessary.

In February, the knee swelled while refereeing basketball games. Really swelled; not normal. I went to the dr and he withdrew a very large syringe of fluid that was blood colored. Not good. Did some x-rays and knew there was a problem but hoped i could limp along for a while not knowing if that was a day, week or year.

Then in May, it feels like i was hit with a jack hammer. Unlike any pain i had experienced in the past. I go back to the dr. The plastic knee cap and some other parts have come apart. I can hardly walk. Back to the dr and he has a two month back log. Surgery scheduled for August 23rd.

Colorado antelope tag, 14 years, and elk tag, 21 years, both in jeopardy. I am a meticulous planner when it comes to my hunts as my days off are limited. Needless to say this came along and bam, new plans needed and still up in the air at this time. .

I feel I am going to the best of the best surgeon. He has replaced four family members knees in the past. They have done very well. I am very comfortable with him, his process, etc.

If things go well, he said I will walk out of the hospital the same day. Be back to work as soon as I want since I have a desk job. He feels based on my age, if the surgery goes well, there is a good chance I could still do my CO elk hunt in November. I guess time will tell. Going to sit on the tag until i get close to the 30 day mark.

I appreciate the comments made by everyone. Amazing how technology changes. Night and day between the surgery I will have and the same surgery my mom and grandpa had just a few years ago.

Walking sticks will be a must. Going downhill has been a problem for years.

 

[richardjb]

First knee done 6 years ago at 52, other knee done this Feb. Rehab is critical. I did the one in Feb as outpatient. No staples for me, that looks painful. I have been out in the woods since Memorial Day, setting up cameras. No issues. The biggest plus to getting them done, no pain anymore.

 

[MT_55]

I had my left knee done on August 15th 2017. I was 39 years old at the time so I'm sitting at about 10 months since surgery. As others have mentioned the rehab is critical and FULL of ups and downs. My suggestion to you is that you look at your rehab in 2 week increments as far as progress goes because each day will have it's own personality. Some days are good and some days are bad. I can do everything I used to do except bend my knee to my butt like I used to. There is no pain at all now and I don't think about my knee as much as I used to prior to surgery. I had a whitetail hunt planned for Thanksgiving week so that was a big motivator for me as well and I was able to handle the black hills fairly well (but I was very careful). It sounds like you and I are similar age and imagine there are similar goals with what you want to get out of it as well. Send me a PM if you want and we can hook up over the phone.. Medication advice,, rehab advice,,etc. I can talk your ear off on what to expect,, what to do and not to do,, discussion forums to focus on and one's to stay away from..