Total Knee Replacement

General Discussion
21

When I popped my left knee surfing after losing the menicus in my right the docter told me I had to give up surfing and take up bike riding.

Made me kind of pissed and that was like 6-8 years ago surfed allot since then had allot f pain too

but now my right leg is pretty much completely gone and my left fading fast because of the right

maybe he was right

 a friend of mine (older than me) in the line up had one of his replaced 2-3 years ago and he’s back in the water big time now riding an even  shorter board now

the popping up is an issue with these joint problems as well as with age and the loss of arms (push up) strength

but then I’ve seen Uncle Grant Kauhane drop in on some monsters slowly up on one knee when he was like 70 and still ride well into his 80’s

22

that is awesome to hear oneula.

the only problems i see, as somebody who does not know what the heck he’s talking about, is a leash pulling that thing out of wack.

i mean why do some doctors say you can’t surf after, and others say it’s ok?

just crusing a surfboard isn’t hard on the knees. you are pretty much just standing there, right?

 

i dont know why some doctors think that is a problem for fake knees.

very interestg

 

23

hey poser not sure if this is of any help

but i have to attend this class (they sent the recorded version to me) before my surgery

allot of interesting things related to recovery is covered as well as everything a patient should know

the max 120 degree movement after 6 weeks doesn’t sound good though

http://www.kpmediasite.org/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=0e8669fb833f4bf89dc46fb5c281300d1d<http://www.kpmediasite.org/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=0e8669fb833f4bf89dc46fb5c281300d1d> 

 

24

sweet vid oneula.

seems like you could surf after, at your own risk.

2 questions I"d like to know, which those people didn’task the surgeon, are:

1 - Can they replace the plastic inside when the knee gets old after 20 years, or do they have to re-do the whole knee?

2 - why did that surgeon use the joints with microscopic holes, in which the bone grows into, for hip replacements.  but he used the knee replacements that have cement adhesive.  He said that the microscopic holes are the strongest because of the bone growth.  i know knee replacements come this way too. why not use them?

 

curious.

thanks.

25

1- yes …you can replace the poly parts, but usually if they wear out  “early”…the compartments will need to be replaced also.

2-totally depends on the anatomy of the individual, and the experiences of the surgeon…

…

26

As long as inital hip precautions are observed, the femur is either always compressing against the hip socket or is in neutral at rest during the period the bone is growing into the implant, so aside from certain movements to be avoided for the first 6 weeks, dislocation is easily avoidable.

The knee implant, however, is much more exposed to push/pull forces on either side of the implant (take a step - knee compresses on contact, pulls on the lift), so cement fixation is neccessary to ensure stability from the start.  And bone growth around the implant stems will occur over time just as with the hip.

27

thanks guys.

good info.

 

Oneula,

good luck with your surgery the end of the month.  Can you post after surgery and let us know how recovery is going?

 

28

This just in

http://www.orthone.com/sport-treatment/cartilage-restoration-center.html

From a nutrition forum I frequent:  " I had no knee cartilage (bone on bone), and very excruciating pain in my right knee three years ago. I had a surgical procedure done that takes the place of knee replacement. The orthopedic surgeon chiseled the end of my femur bone resulting in thick scabbing that produced a pseudo cartilage. I haven’t had one bit of pain or complication since the recovery of it. 

There’s an orthopedic surgeon in Fort Wayne, Indiana who does the procedure. (There are only a handful of surgeons in the country who are trained to do it.) Your client may be interested in investigating the procedure further. The surgeon’s name is Dr. Stephen Wright. 

The only negative aspect of it is the patient’s recovering knee has to be in a Continuous Passive Motion machine (CPM) for six weeks after the procedure to form a smooth scab; otherwise, the scab will form roughly and there will be pain in the knee joint as a result. 

I highly recommend this procedure as an alternative to knee replacement."

29

Oneula,

you get your fake knee installed?

hows she feel?

how are your spirits?

 

Hope you are well. THinking of you and hoping you make a speedy recovery!

30

A sentiment shared by many, here on Swaylock’s.        Me among them.

Bill

31

Well, here is my sentiment, Oneula. Get off your butt, get back in the water and start paddling. Or send the Griffin back. This was just a total knee replacement. It’s not like it was a heart transplant. (that was last year). 

Ha ha. Just kidding you and hoping to make you laugh. 

It would however be good if Sharkcountry would post a pic of you in the water in some way. 

All the best. 

32

 " had a surgical procedure done that takes the place of knee replacement."

Whereas there are several procedures for replacing/attempting to replace damaged meniscus, including synthetic disc replacement and microfracture ( blood clot)  procedure, there is no procedure that replaces knee replacement.  By the time a complete TNR is required, the meniscus is usually MIA, there is severe osteo-athritis on the heads of both the femur and tibia, destroyed cartlidge in the knee cap requires replacement with a ‘button’ of synthetic, and other similar to deal with.

Hip replacement is fairly easy to bounce back from, TNR much tougher,  shoulders the toughest of them all.  

All of us older cats would love  to have back just 3 or 4 ‘hell, I’m going for it’ decisions made over the decades = majority of current damage.

since we can’t, just gotta focus on the going for it part… 

33

just finished my first month post surgery

the pain, stiffness and swelling have be both excruciating and the hardest thing to deal with

nighttime is the worst and even with the narcotics I can get a solid 2-3 hours of undisturbed sleep before the pain sets in without it I can get a hour or less

just had my second Dr followup today and he warned me that the first month is the worst but the pain and need for narcotics will go on for at least two months. The drugs give you severe constipation and something called dry mouth and sometimes insomnia. Good thing is the lack of appetite becuase of the pain which has led to a loss of 20 pounds and hopefully 30 before i can get back into the water.

I found out today that the damage to my knee was much worse than I thought, he said they had to rip apart all the tendons and muscle on the inside of the knee to try and rebuild and reposition the knee cap back to center. So the key is to address your knee problems early instead of waiting 5-8 years grinding bone on bone without any menicus in the joint. But this is not a surgery you want to take lightly, take from anyone who’se done it. Bottomline is you need the time to take the time to properly heal.

I still do my movement exercises three time a day  and have PT twice a week but I still can’t get my leg to straighten out flat (110 degrees) or bend  up to 90 degrees. The doc wants me on a bike

I’ve gone from constant icing to massaging to relieve the pain

everything is a process

its things like this that make you realize how stupid is all the infighting and grumbling about things that don’t really matter in life. 

being able to just ride  wave whether prone or standing is all i want nothing more.

What I will ride I don’t really care about, just the fact that I can ride again will be the only thing I look forward to.

Hope to get into to the ocean within a couple of weeks just to feel the water on my skin again, haven’t even taken a shower yet because of wanting the cut to close up first to prevent infection. Every now and then when I actually can get some sleep and dream, I dream of surfing (mind surfing) imaging my foot placement and making turns. being able to mind surf keeps me in the game eventhough I can’t into the water yet

two things that my kupuna always taught me that’s so easy to forget in our isolated modern lives 

and that’s to never take even the simplest of things for granted and to don’t live life complaining about or criticing everything  

 

and thanks for the kind words 

can’t wait to get back.

so much to do and try design wise

so many waves going unridden and unappreciated. 

 

  

 

 

34

I’m aching for you Oneula. May God bless you with a speedy recovery. 

35

‘The drugs give you severe constipation’

Oneula, have had 5 orthopedic repair surgeries over the past ten years, including the hip replacement 4 months ago. Wish I had learned earlier that really kicking up your magnesium intake while taking pain meds really helps with this.  Swanson, a good online vitamin company, sells Swanson Ultra Albion Chelated Magnesium, an inexpexpensive and well absorbed form of magnesium, taking 4 to 6 caps a day along with plenty of H20 should resolve the issue…

cheers

36

good post oneula

keep us posted. maybe every couple of weeks.

let us know when you enter the ocean and feel her on your skin!!!

i’m mostly stand up surfer

but i have been realizing that porne = way more deep tubes with way less consequence.

prone surfing is amazing.

but you may be standing up on a wayve soon enough.

37

Just for an update, had a great snowboarding season. Went balls to the wall fast and the season really strengthened my legs. Ended up doing 40,000 verticle feet my last two days.  I’m back to where I was before without the pain days like that used to inflict.  Hiked some canyons a couple days ago, over 10 miles including some rock scrambling, no problem.  These things are tough and I don’t think there’s anything a can’t do with them except squat so catching a ball game and tube riding on 3 foot waves are probably out … bummer huh?  But this is at 16 months and I’m still getting even better.  Doc told me that 2 years is the finish line and if that’s the case then there will be little I can’t do. I’m also physically so much better, I mean my health.  The disease that was going on in there, the cysys, bone spurs and general break down of the joints had taxed my immune system so that other issues were creeping in. All that is gone, a happy side effect I didn’t expext.  So anyway, life changing.

38

Great to hear GL. 

All the best. 

39

Oneula,  Hope you heal fast and strong!  It’s also great to see how well Greg is doing.  I have had both of my knees scoped for meniscus tears in the past.  My left knee was first about 15 years ago and it never seemed to heal completely.  For the last year I was getting by with a cortisone shot about every three months.  That stopped taking care of the pain and I had an MRI.  The MRI revealed at least one small tear and there were signs of Bone Marrow Edema (BME) in the medial compartment.  I underwent the scope for the tears and they also did a Subchondroplasty which is where they drill into the defective area of the bone and inject bone replacement material which is reabsorbed and replaced with healthy bone.  This procedure doesn’t impact knee replacement if needed later.  I had more pain for a day or so afterward than the other knee scopes I have had.  Downside is the doctor wants me to use crutches for at least 3 weeks so as to keep weight off the repaired knee.  I have regained my full prior range of motion and the crutches are a pain.  I am dying to start PT.  Again Oneula hang in there!

regards Dave D 

 

40

oneula, ride a wave yet in any shape or form?