Walking without pain!

June 22, 2008

Wow. That is a real success story. To be able to walk for an hour would be

heaven!

I had my only child at 42, and an undiagnosed/untreated uterine infection

finally landed me in the hospital 5 weeks post partum. I had joint pain all

over for 2 years afterward, it got better briefly, then started in again

when I developed these 5 autoimmune diseases, some of which effect the

joints and muscles. But the knees are worn out and fixable, and are

responsible for at least 50% of my total pain, and I don't tolerate pain

meds very well.

Can I ask you which implant was used in your new knee? I don't know

anything about the various implants. The OS I saw ( Dearborn, MD) said

I looked like a size " C " and that most likely he would use the " gender " knee

on me (I am 5 foot 1 with smallish frame). He said he calls it the " gender "

knee since he also uses it on men if their bones are the right size and

shape.

I'm sure the various artificial knees have been discussed here and one

cannot be right for everyone. I will check the archives. But if you could

let me know which ones are most popular at the moment, and why, it would be

great.

Thanks,

claire

Callahan Goodman

_____

From: Joint Replacement

[mailto:Joint Replacement ] On Behalf Of DeRouen

Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 7:40 AM

Joint Replacement

Subject: RE: Care after TKR and other subjects

I had been in pretty bad pain for about five years (I had my one child late

in life - 38, and the knee starting being a problem soon after giving

birth). I had my knee scoped two times in that five years - the first time

it sort of helped with the pain, the second was just a confirmation how much

I needed TKR. I have osteoarthritis and it had just eaten up the cartilage

in that knee and was peeling off bone at that point. I couldn't go up and

down stairs without extreme pain, I had to use the electric cart in large

stores because the pain of walking would have me breaking out in a cold

sweat halfway through a shopping trip. I was 43 but my life was so

compromised. I know doctors hesitate to do a TKR so early because they worry

it will have to be replaced later but I didn't care. My life was miserable

then and now I have no pain in that knee. At Christmas-time this past year,

we went to Disney World and I walked 10 hours a day with no problems with my

knee - my feet hurt like fire but my knee was fine.

My OS here where I live in Arkansas kept wanting me to put it off which is

why I went to my hometown OS (I had knee problems as a teenager and he knew

me) because he thought I needed it right away and he use the Zimmer gender

knee which I wanted.

June 22, 2008

My implant is from Zimmer and is called the gender knee because it's made

for women because we have a different Q-angle from our pelvis to our knee.

We don't just need a smaller men's knee, we need a knee with the right

shape. I have been happy with it.

RE: Care after TKR and other subjects