mbs
Contributor
Been using the mares bungee straps for a few years now. Hold tight, easy on and off and are way lighter than springs. Not sure what the life of them will be, but so far very satisfied.
Knee Replacement :(
- Thread starter Basscat
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Well, less than 2 weeks to go. I have to say, this forum and thread in particular has been the most positive support I have found. I am so grateful to you all.
Some might find it odd that of all thevthings ahead, I worry most about fins, going in and out from shore, etc. But being in the water snorkeling is the best thing I have ever done.
I am trying to visualize climbing the ladder on the side of the boat, how to step down into and then back up out of the RIB tender my favorite boat uses to board at its mooring... I emailed them to ask for the height from the top of the inflatable to the rigid deck. Then I can work with PT to find out how to do that. I also found an outpatient rehab that lets you try to kick with fins in the therapy pool.
Thank you for giving me hope I willbe out there again!
Some might find it odd that of all thevthings ahead, I worry most about fins, going in and out from shore, etc. But being in the water snorkeling is the best thing I have ever done.
I am trying to visualize climbing the ladder on the side of the boat, how to step down into and then back up out of the RIB tender my favorite boat uses to board at its mooring... I emailed them to ask for the height from the top of the inflatable to the rigid deck. Then I can work with PT to find out how to do that. I also found an outpatient rehab that lets you try to kick with fins in the therapy pool.
Thank you for giving me hope I willbe out there again!
Well, it has been 4 weeks! I am going to outpatient PT Monday, but have had a home health therapist since I got home a week after the sugery. I had 5 days in a rehab facility which was good for me becausecI got a lot of PT there.
My leg is straight and I can bend it about 120 degrees. Will keep working it. That RIB dinghy and ladder and shore entry are real motivators.
So are all of you. The positivity here has been such help. Than you!
My leg is straight and I can bend it about 120 degrees. Will keep working it. That RIB dinghy and ladder and shore entry are real motivators.
So are all of you. The positivity here has been such help. Than you!
OP
Basscat
Contributor
large_diver
Contributor
Thank you, and thanks everyone for the positive inspiration and encouragement!
Looking forward to subsequent updates. Hope the receovery continues to go well!
I am headed for dual knee replacements. My wife and I were having this discussion again last night.....adding up all the things I can't do, the chronic pain, the limping...all of this brought me to the conclusion that I need to to this in the next 12 months. I did go see a surgeon recently and he confirmed what I already knew.....I have bad OA....it's just a matter of deciding when the resulting limitations push me to pull the trigger. I am 51....so this feels early and I'm of course also concerned about having to replace them again in 15 years or so. At the same time, I can't go for walks with my wife anymore, I haven't been able to run even for short distances for years, standing for anything more than 5-10 minutes is very uncomfortable, my gait is been altered for the worse......
Continuing to dive is also a big worry. I've seen some comments about avoiding frog kick post-surgery...others who have said its fine.
I appreciate all the info on this thread - definitely provides hope!
I've been there. I had a couple of sets of major arthroscopies in 1992/93 and 2006, when I was 43 and 56. They have fallen out of favor for OA, but they did each give me another 10 years of less pain and better function, smoothing out the bone on bone. However, there is considerable rehab for those. Importantly, the time they bought me allowed knee replacement technology (prostheses) and techniques (surgical and incredibly better pain management and quicker return to weight bearing and function). So I am glad I waited for those.
But if my knees had held till now, I would just have gone for replacement (knowing what I now know).
I can say 5 weeks out, that even with swelling and stiffness, the replaced knee is the STRONGER one. I have to be careful in rehab not to hurt the other one!
They are big in my area on doing bilaterals close together. 5 days apart, even. I had a roomie in inpatient rehab who had that done. It is less expensive overall and maybe it guarantees your insurance will cover rehab for some days in a skilled nursing facility. Check that out!!! I would never want to do both at once here UNLESS I went to inpatient rehab, as opposed to straight home. You get more intensive physical therapy there (machines, too) and more room to move around and build technique and strength than in a house (than my house, anyway). It really built my confidence. I also have a multilevel house with scary stairs, so no way would I do both at once. But that is me. I plan to do the other next year, after some scheduled travel. It is a concern hoping the other hangs in there, though.
I knew it was "time" when the right knee "went" (maybe tore some calcified cartilage that kept getting pinched) such that I could no longer walk stairs normally and had to walk VERY slowly, with hiking poles if outside the house, for fear of getting an agonizing "pinch." I stopped doing my daily 3 mile walks, I could not walk with my husband on weekends. No way was I going to be able to negotiate large airports, etc. I had a real feeling of loss and defeat, but had to work through that. The knee did the best it could for me for decades but needed help.
Now I am glad I did it. I am not looking forward to the next surgery but am looking forward to having two strong knees. My knee feels like it is MY knee, only better. I will likely have to get new ones at some point, but between now and then I will be in such better knee condition and life ability than before that it is ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT for me.
Best to you in your decision process and recovery.
PS Best thing I did before surgery was get a metal patch test. Hardly anyone gets this. I had some history of unspecified metal rash (cheap jewelry, etc.) so was adamant about this. Only one person here does them, had to fight to get on her schedule. The test itself is a drag, takes a week or more. Turns out I have a VIOLENT delayed reaction to cobalt. Most prostheses are chromium cobalt. Would not have had a good result. Gave my surgeon real food for thought about the merits of these tests.
I have a titanium knee and it is fine.
But if my knees had held till now, I would just have gone for replacement (knowing what I now know).
I can say 5 weeks out, that even with swelling and stiffness, the replaced knee is the STRONGER one. I have to be careful in rehab not to hurt the other one!
They are big in my area on doing bilaterals close together. 5 days apart, even. I had a roomie in inpatient rehab who had that done. It is less expensive overall and maybe it guarantees your insurance will cover rehab for some days in a skilled nursing facility. Check that out!!! I would never want to do both at once here UNLESS I went to inpatient rehab, as opposed to straight home. You get more intensive physical therapy there (machines, too) and more room to move around and build technique and strength than in a house (than my house, anyway). It really built my confidence. I also have a multilevel house with scary stairs, so no way would I do both at once. But that is me. I plan to do the other next year, after some scheduled travel. It is a concern hoping the other hangs in there, though.
I knew it was "time" when the right knee "went" (maybe tore some calcified cartilage that kept getting pinched) such that I could no longer walk stairs normally and had to walk VERY slowly, with hiking poles if outside the house, for fear of getting an agonizing "pinch." I stopped doing my daily 3 mile walks, I could not walk with my husband on weekends. No way was I going to be able to negotiate large airports, etc. I had a real feeling of loss and defeat, but had to work through that. The knee did the best it could for me for decades but needed help.
Now I am glad I did it. I am not looking forward to the next surgery but am looking forward to having two strong knees. My knee feels like it is MY knee, only better. I will likely have to get new ones at some point, but between now and then I will be in such better knee condition and life ability than before that it is ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT for me.
Best to you in your decision process and recovery.
PS Best thing I did before surgery was get a metal patch test. Hardly anyone gets this. I had some history of unspecified metal rash (cheap jewelry, etc.) so was adamant about this. Only one person here does them, had to fight to get on her schedule. The test itself is a drag, takes a week or more. Turns out I have a VIOLENT delayed reaction to cobalt. Most prostheses are chromium cobalt. Would not have had a good result. Gave my surgeon real food for thought about the merits of these tests.
I have a titanium knee and it is fine.
large_diver
Contributor
Great info - thanks a lot. Interesting about the metal test. I have some screws in my right knee from ACL reconstruction back in 1985 (patella tendon graft)...an interesting reminder to see them on recent X-rays. Rehab back in those "dark ages" was vastly different...no weigh bearing for 3 months...hard to believe today
My doc is recommending 1 knee at a time. One key reason is that as my screen name indicates, I am not a small person (6'5" and 250). I do have the added blessing that my lovely wife is a PT...but 2 knees at once would likely be tough for me and everyone around me.
One thing someone mentioned to me recently is that a friend who had their knees done was put on a passive motion machine almost immediately in the hospital...and this person seemed to have a speedy recovery. Of course there are so many variables that affect recovery...so not sure this was the KEY factor......was that something that was part of your recovery/rehab?
I like your comments about "my knee only better" and feeling that it is definitely stronger. My knees are to the point that I don't always feel like I can rely on them....even when doing things as simple as stepping off a curb. This is more than a little depressing for a lifelong athlete, played college basketball, skier, etc., etc. Typing this sentence makes me realize even more that I need to do this soon.
Thanks again for the encouragement.
Chris
Surgeons and joint replacement centers vary in their protocols. I did NOT have the continuous passive motion machine and my surgeon does not usually use them. Other places, they do. I was supposed to use a walker and cane for stairs. Other places train you on crutches. I was up and weight bearing the first day (albeit with a "dead leg" and in a leg immobilizer because the nerve block was still working). Other surgeons wait.
For me, a big PLUS from being up early while the pain was nearly nil is that I KNEW THE KNEE WORKED and that I could WALK and BEND IT. Once the block wore off, if I had not already done it you would find it harder to persuade me to bend it
For me, a big PLUS from being up early while the pain was nearly nil is that I KNEW THE KNEE WORKED and that I could WALK and BEND IT. Once the block wore off, if I had not already done it you would find it harder to persuade me to bend it
There is a lot of misinformation regarding this. My GP was dead set against my having a knee replacement for years because he said I was too young (late 50s then). He said knee relacements only last 10-15 years and can be repaired only once. When I finally decided to get it done, I asked the surgeon I selected how long it would last. He said he had no idea, because he had only been doing the surgery for 20 years. In that time fewer than 10% had had a problem. He used the kind of replacement that had a replaceable disk, and in the cases of the ones that failed, it was simply a matter of opening it up, taking out the old insert and popping in the new one. It could be done as many times as needed over a lifetime. He also said those failures were from the earliest models, and the newer ones were using much better materials and should last longer.
That was 9 years ago, and if you do a search you will find the thread in which I talked about it on ScubaBoard. I don't even think about the knee unless someone brings it up. When I got it replaced, it was largely upon the urging of a friend of mine who had had the surgery more than 10 years before. His is still doing great.
Similar threads
