Knee Surgery

My MRI results came in Tuesday and my doc told me my left knee was basically destroyed. Miniscus is in pieces, bone on bone, severe arthritis and bone spurs. Plus ligament damage. I can feel it grinding and shifting when I walk. I'll be having it replaced in a month or two. Basically as soon as he can get me in. My wife had both of hers done last October three weeks apart. She has done amazingly well. The biggest thing I keep hearing is that you have to keep up with therapy or you will never get your full range of motion back.

Keep us posted! Mine is December 3. I'll be pulling for you brother.
In my 20's I could heal up from anything but in my 70's I'm not as confident.
I would think you feel the same way.

Turpentine21 said:

My MRI results came in Tuesday and my doc told me my left knee was basically destroyed. Miniscus is in pieces, bone on bone, severe arthritis and bone spurs. Plus ligament damage. I can feel it grinding and shifting when I walk. I'll be having it replaced in a month or two. Basically as soon as he can get me in. My wife had both of hers done last October three weeks apart. She has done amazingly well. The biggest thing I keep hearing is that you have to keep up with therapy or you will never get your full range of motion back.

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Sorry to hear what your knee looks like. Easy to remember what that feels like.

Yes, PT is key. I learned that very early on by way of example. I had my meniscus carved out the old way in 1974 after I tore it in several places. Back then no arthroscopic surgery, they just laid it open and did the repairs, often feeling around in the joint capsule like my ortho did to make sure he got all the broken-off chunks. Yeah, not pretty to contemplate. So it was some rip-roaring pain to deal with. They didn't get you out of bed right away like now; I had to be able to lift my leg off the bed before they would let me out of the bed. No PT people helping solve that. My quads were on strike, and I could not make them fire because of a pain reflex (your muscles resist working as soon as you consciously try because the pain circuit shuts them down, weird). Well I did figure out a way, and made it into PT. My example: there there was a young gal who had torn probably her ACL in a water skiing accident. She had had reparative surgery a month or more before, and had refused to do PT because it hurt. Her knee was frozen extended straight and she could not bend it even with help. She had new surgery the same day I did to surgically stretch it so that it could bend. That gal was a convert the second time around and worked her derriere off in PT after that seriously painful forced stretching/bending. A convincing object lesson for me in my rehab! That has remained a reminder through several repairs and later replacements. You gotta do the work.

Best of luck. Your timing should be good for getting back at it next hunting season.

M77Fan said:

Sorry to hear what your knee looks like. Easy to remember what that feels like.

Yes, PT is key. I learned that very early on by way of example. I had my meniscus carved out the old way in 1974 after I tore it in several places. Back then no arthroscopic surgery, they just laid it open and did the repairs, often feeling around in the joint capsule like my ortho did to make sure he got all the broken-off chunks. Yeah, not pretty to contemplate. So it was some rip-roaring pain to deal with. They didn't get you out of bed right away like now; I had to be able to lift my leg off the bed before they would let me out of the bed. No PT people helping solve that. My quads were on strike, and I could not make them fire because of a pain reflex (your muscles resist working as soon as you consciously try because the pain circuit shuts them down, weird). Well I did figure out a way, and made it into PT. My example: there there was a young gal who had torn probably her ACL in a water skiing accident. She had had reparative surgery a month or more before, and had refused to do PT because it hurt. Her knee was frozen extended straight and she could not bend it even with help. She had new surgery the same day I did to surgically stretch it so that it could bend. That gal was a convert the second time around and worked her derriere off in PT after that seriously painful forced stretching/bending. A convincing object lesson for me in my rehab! That has remained a reminder through several repairs and later replacements. You gotta do the work.

Best of luck. Your timing should be good for getting back at it next hunting season.

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After breaking my back, I have had 9 operations and have 11 vertebrae fused with hardware. I can certainly relate to the pain thing. It'll wear you down. When you hurt so bad you're afraid to move or breathe deeply and you bite holes in your pillowcase you've certainly been there. I got about 5 pages into my last surgical report and started getting queasy. When they started talking about punching a hole through my diaphragm and pushing my liver and other organs out of the way I had read way more than I needed to. I don't know what a rotating burr is but they used that tool a lot. Along with a saw, a drill, and various other tools of the trade. I'll be glad to get this knee behind me. It's been bothering me a lot longer than it should have and I should have had it done sooner. I just got tired of getting cut on after the back ordeal and have just kept putting it off. I can feel it buckling and sliding back and forth now which can't be a good thing.
My dad had knee surgery in the late 60s and it was very close to what you describe. They just laid his knee wide open. He's got a heckuva scar.

The worst thing now is that my wife has been a nurse for 30 years and has just had both of her knees done last October. I know for certain I will get no sympathy there. But she truly did amazing with hers. She went back to work in 2 months.

M77Fan said:

Sorry to hear what your knee looks like. Easy to remember what that feels like.

Yes, PT is key. I learned that very early on by way of example. I had my meniscus carved out the old way in 1974 after I tore it in several places. Back then no arthroscopic surgery, they just laid it open and did the repairs, often feeling around in the joint capsule like my ortho did to make sure he got all the broken-off chunks. Yeah, not pretty to contemplate. So it was some rip-roaring pain to deal with. They didn't get you out of bed right away like now; I had to be able to lift my leg off the bed before they would let me out of the bed. No PT people helping solve that. My quads were on strike, and I could not make them fire because of a pain reflex (your muscles resist working as soon as you consciously try because the pain circuit shuts them down, weird). Well I did figure out a way, and made it into PT. My example: there there was a young gal who had torn probably her ACL in a water skiing accident. She had had reparative surgery a month or more before, and had refused to do PT because it hurt. Her knee was frozen extended straight and she could not bend it even with help. She had new surgery the same day I did to surgically stretch it so that it could bend. That gal was a convert the second time around and worked her derriere off in PT after that seriously painful forced stretching/bending. A convincing object lesson for me in my rehab! That has remained a reminder through several repairs and later replacements. You gotta do the work.

Best of luck. Your timing should be good for getting back at it next hunting season.

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I know some doctors now put their patients on the motion machine after surgery that keeps flexing the knee. They used one when my mother had her knee done. The doctor that I'm using doesn't use that machine but he has you up and walking very soon after surgery. And in therapy very soon after. Lord I hate therapy. Guess I'll just have to suck it up and do it whether I like it or not.

That motion machine varies by doctor, and it may also depend on the doctor's evaluation of the patient. Not sure if people judged less active or more infirm get them, or if it is merely doctor preference based on their training. While it does provide passive motion for a few days, it is not really PT, and does not bend the knee far. It may actually be as much for circulation (and anti clotting) as it is for mobility. Some of my older friends got them to take home. I didn't, just overnight use in the hospital. I was up and walking as soon as I could feel my leg after the replacement, about 2 hours post recovery. It actually progressed pretty fast. Seemed to improve every 3 days, then in other increments of 3.

The max bend and full extension were the most challenging to reach. What you get in the final phase may depend somewhat on how good the rest of your knee is. The ligament damage and scarring from old injuries and surgery may make some difference.

Unfortunately, after the doctor does his part, you have to do yours. Sounds like it is in nasty shape and that you have no real choice but to fix it.

Yessir it's in bad shape. I've been told many times that I'm a walking miracle. I am extremely fortunate to be able to walk at all. It took all that surgery over 3.5 years to get me upright and walking again. I have a lot of nerve damage and areas of my body that are numb and have no feeling at all. I've had to take pain meds and meds for spasms everyday for the last 20 years. I don't like it but I can't function otherwise. Unfortunately that masks the pain I get in other areas as well so by the time I can tell something is wrong it's really wrong. The biggest problem with therapy for me is that twice I ended up being taken straight from therapy to the hospital for damage done when rehabbing my back. They (therapist) simply did not understand the extent of my injuries and were doing more harm than good. I actually ended up snapping two 5/16" by 3" stainless steel screws that were holding the rods in place in my lumbar and thoracic region which resulted in more surgery. I highly doubt that will be the case with the knee but the thought of all of that does still linger. I won't be using that therapist again. I know it's got to be done with the knee or I'll never have full range of motion. I certainly appreciate your advice and knowledge. I've heard several stories like your example with the girl that didn't get full motion back. One of my wife's knees had more damage than the other and like you said it did take her longer to get her range of motion back with that one.

A lady that is a very good friend of mine just had her knee replaced at 74 years old. It took her around 3 years to get cleared medically to have the surgery due to other health concerns. She had surgery on August 28th and has done amazingly well. She looks 10 years younger. She was absolutely miserable as her knee had gotten really bad. You could tell it was wearing on her mentally and physically before the surgery as constant pain will do. Her doctor did have her on the motion machine for a short time. She just finished with therapy. She says she regrets not having it done 10 years ago.