Re: bilateral total knee replacement.

April 1, 2011

,

My Surgeon refused to do two at a time. I was glad as I was up and moving and

had one good leg to depend on all the time. I wouldn't have waited as long

inbetween as I did, I had one in Nov, 09 and one in March , 10, but otherwise I

would do one at a time again. That was just my experience.

Hugs,

Donna R

bilateral total knee replacement.

I am having both knees replacement on 4/5.

Am I making a mistake doing both of them at the same time?

I have all ways been good about getting up and moving after surgery, I can

handle pain if I know there is an end in sight, it's the pain that goes on and

on with no end that I can't handle.

Any advice would be welcome.

April 1, 2011

I've had one knee done and that was enough to contend with at the time,

wouldn't have wanted 2 at the same time.

If god forbid you get an infection then you don't have one good leg to stand

on !!

-- bilateral total knee replacement.

I am having both knees replacement on 4/5.

Am I making a mistake doing both of them at the same time?

I have all ways been good about getting up and moving after surgery, I can

handle pain if I know there is an end in sight, it's the pain that goes on

and on with no end that I can't handle.

Any advice would be welcome.

April 1, 2011

My brother had both knees replaced at the same time. There were two

doctors - brothers - so the operation didn't last any longer than a single

replacement. This was about 10 years ago. He has always been happy with

his decision. He was in the hospital several days, then rehab for about 10

days, and home health care after that.

----- Original Message -----

From: " " <becca673@...>

>I am having both knees replacement on 4/5.

> Am I making a mistake doing both of them at the same time?

> I have all ways been good about getting up and moving after surgery, I can

> handle pain if I know there is an end in sight, it's the pain that goes on

> and on with no end that I can't handle.

April 1, 2011

I had both of my knees replaced July 22, 2010. I do not regret doing them at

the same time at all! Yes, it was hard for a while, but every day got a bit

better and easier. I have basically no pain now. Feel free to ask me more

questions. Good luck!

in PA

Bilateral TKR - 7/22/2010

Left THR - 7/2007

>

> I am having both knees replacement on 4/5.

> Am I making a mistake doing both of them at the same time?

> I have all ways been good about getting up and moving after surgery, I can

handle pain if I know there is an end in sight, it's the pain that goes on and

on with no end that I can't handle.

>

> Any advice would be welcome.

>

April 1, 2011

My wife had bilateral last February. She would do that again even though one

knee became superficially infected (outside the joint sac so the prosthesis did

NOT have to be removed; she was on vancomycin for seven weeks subsequently),

most likely from the staples. The incidence of superficial infection has been

shown to be higher from staples than stitches but OS's prefer staples due to the

speed of closure that results. It is a trade off as extended time in surgery is

directly correlated to the increased risk of infection also and bilateral is

typically 2.5-3.0 hours of surgery as done in sequence.

Bilateral will mean that you may less mobile at first but the pain and overall

cost is reduced by going that way. As an option, when we talked to her OS's

nurse later she explained that she had also had both knees replaced but had them

scheduled two weeks apart. That way you know the first surgery's recuperation

progress and if any complications are arising. It is an option but more

expensive in to the insurer and may or may not be approved by them, you would

need to verify first if that is an option available to you.

Rich L

Green Bay, Wi

>

> I am having both knees replacement on 4/5.

> Am I making a mistake doing both of them at the same time?

> I have all ways been good about getting up and moving after surgery, I can

handle pain if I know there is an end in sight, it's the pain that goes on and

on with no end that I can't handle.

>

> Any advice would be welcome.

>

April 1, 2011

Hi ,

My name is Pat and I just joined this group but I am replying right away because

I am truly happy that I had bilateral TKR done on Aug. 16, 2010. For me, it was

the best thing I could have ever done. My personal feeling is that your own

outlook and state of mind has a lot to do with the success you will or will not

have with this surgery. (of course having a great surgeon, good therapists and

helpful caregivers makes a big difference too) I am in my mid 60's and suffered

from a lot of pain due to osteoarthritis. We have horses and I was active

before the surgery and needed to be active afterwards. The pain was not only

hurting me physically but also hurting my quality of life. I exercised before

surgery to help strengthen my muscles. The surgery I had was minimally invasive

and I was in the hospital for 5 days and then went directly home. At first I

had therapy at home and once I could get in and out of our pickup, I went out of

the home to continue. You asked for any advice and mine would be to keep a

positive outlook...and keep telling yourself that you can be as successful

getting back on your feet as you want to be. In 4 months, I stopped using even

a cane and was back to going up and down steps and even started to take care of

my horses once again. I now can hardly remember all the pain I had before and

my knees are as good as new. The best thing of all, is that I never had to go

back and do everything all over a second time for the second knee. It took a

little bit more work and a little bit longer but I would not have done it any

other way. It was hard the first few days, but after that, the daily progress

was easily seen by my family and friends. I wish you a successful surgery and

recovery and perhaps tell yourself over and over what I told myself. " I can do

this! " Pat

>

> I am having both knees replacement on 4/5.

> Am I making a mistake doing both of them at the same time?

> I have all ways been good about getting up and moving after surgery, I can

handle pain if I know there is an end in sight, it's the pain that goes on and

on with no end that I can't handle.

>

> Any advice would be welcome.

>

April 2, 2011

,

I was like you prior to my bilateral TKR. I had on-going, intense pain, with no

end in sight. Both of my knees were so bad that I had both done in one

hospitalization, but not on the same day. My surgeon said both could be done in

one day, but he preferred two single surgeries. He believes it's easier for the

patient, when both need to be done. I went in on a Thursday morning, had the

left knee done, then had the right knee done on Monday. On Thursday, when I was

discharged, I went to in-patient rehab for 9 days. I had my TKRs done in July,

2009, so I am approaching my two year anniversary. Some people thought it was

weird, strange or crazy that I was excited about getting surgery done, but they

had no idea how severe the pain was that I dealt with day in and day out. I was

scared of the post-op rehab, etc. I'd go through (that was a big unknown to me).

I was never afraid of post-op pain.....couldn't be worse than the pain I dealt

with prion to surgery, and the post-op pain would go away at some point.

Make sure when you get your surgery done, to take your pain meds as scheduled,

do your exercises and don't compare your healing process with ROM scores etc.

with anybody else. Everyone doesn't get to 120 or 0 or whatever at the same

pace, so you work on you and foohy on comparing yourself to others.

Good luck!

LTKR 7/19/09

RTKR 7/22/09

Teeny, MD, Lakewood, WA

April 7, 2011

after dealing with low blood pressure,a sore throat, fever,low oxygen level,

extreme pain, and several other problem, if my blood work is ok in the morning I

will get to go home tomorrow.

I walked 125 feet today and pain for it with a very high pain level. But I want

out of this place so bad, haven't hardly slept since I have been here, food is

always cold, coffee and tea are awful, they never get the meals right. been here

4 days seen the doctor twice and for some reason all he wanted to talk about was

my family history today (not medical history either) CNA are rough as hell and I

just don't feel safe with them. tonight I saw the cna once on 2nd shift to check

blood pressure, temp ect after taken it the male CNA told me that because of the

low b/p I won't be able to go home and despite asking for water twice in the

last hour I haven't gotten it. oh and the last time I was in the hospital they

didn't have males taking care of females personal hygiene.

ok I am done bitching. and hopefully mt next update will be a little more

upbeat.

>

> ,

> I was like you prior to my bilateral TKR. I had on-going, intense pain, with

no end in sight. Both of my knees were so bad that I had both done in one