I'm lucky enough to have a lovely lady, willing to give up three weeks of her holiadys to look after me so the residential centre isn't required.
I'mhoping the rehab will be pretty straightforward (famous last words ?) considering my leg muscles are in good nick plus i'm a stubborn bugger who doesn't give in easily !
I had the jabs (infiltrations) for about five years and they helped a lot or at least enough for me to be able to keep working. The surgeon said that the moment had arrived where the jabs were no longer useful and advised TKR was the only solution other than painkillers ad infinitum.
The cause of my knee problems are due to too much use, loads of sport & hard work plus the onset of arthritis.
There comes a time when the decision has to be made - hope I made the right one !
Watch this space....
Watch this space...
Most people seem to have a positive report on the surgery; mine is not so positive. My intention is not to put you off but just give you the other side of the coin.
My injury comes from an accident with a play park swing-boat when I was 7, in Battersea Park. After several operations: cartilage, loose-body, bits of tidying up, etc, and because I found it painful to stand upon for more than 2 hours, my wife persuaded me to go for the full replacement op. I now regret it.
Now I find I can't walk even as far as I could before, I can't cycle more than a few hundred yards because it feels like a rusty hinge - you know that feeling you get when someone scrapes their fingernails down a blackboard…
I used to cycle all over the place before - - flogged the Cannondale on eBay after the op.
Upon a surgical review, the surgeon told me that, when they fit the replacement bits of plastic and metal, they remove the ligament that passes through the joint. Well, great! That's where the pain was coming from anyway. They could have just operated upon that and not left me with the rusty hinge.
As I said, I don't want to scare you off; there's a very good chance that it will be a big improvement for you but, do bear in mind that it has to be re-done at sometime in the future too - all of that digging about to remove the old one - and through scar tissue. Not fun !
I'd mostly got used to the painful times before the op; I'd just sit down for ten minutes, and Diclofenac used to help when it got bad. I still have to use the Diclofenacs from time to time because I still get pain and, I have to say that, if I could choose to have my pre-op state, I would.
Sincerely - all the best of luck.
No advice yet, sorry: my wife is in the early stages of knee replacement because of severe arthritis and total loss of cartilage. Very impressed so far with her rheumatologist [seen him at Lavaur Hospital but he is attached to Purpan in Toulouse] who took a holistic approach and is now looking at several side issues. In the meantime he is doing a series of three injections of a material whihc mimics cartilage. He is quite honest: sometimes it works, sometimes not, but if it does it gives her [and him] more time to prepare for joint replacement. I'll keep watching your posts and comparing notes.
Imagination is often more exciting than reality! Good luck with the op. A local Brit friend had a complete success with one and is shortly having the second. A huge plus here is that there is a convalescent home at Roscoff on the north Brittany coast which has a fabulous location right on the sea with quite wonderful views and air! My problem is the ligaments in one knee are shot so every now and then the whole thing just wobbles out!
Best of luck Peter. Thinking of you. x
Thanks Raymond - I'm not at the 'crippled' stage tho' ten years of painful walking has prompted the move. I suppose I could control the pain with a lifetime of painkillers though this would be a step backwards (pun intended !). Ironically, my partners' daughter works at the TL in Albi so maybe it would have been more intelligent to go there
My other knee is probably about 18 months behind the one getting done today so maybe that would be an opportune time to operate.
No idea about the anaesthetic, I think it's an epidural type thingy, i'll let you know later
Just had the dinner lady in to ask about this evenings' meal ! Didn't realise I would be allowed anything so soon after so if my stomach is happy then the rest of me has a chance !
Thanks again
I was crippled so bit the bullet and had both knees done under local anaesthetic at Clinique Toulouse Lautrec in Albi by Dr Bex. One at a time, of course.
The fitter you are before, the quicker the recovery: first one, 5 weeks residential physio, work HARD, it pays dividends, it is only a bit painful. Second one, a year later: I drove back to UK 3 weeks after the op!
Now, 8 years later, a few twinges but generally aok. Can't swim breast stroke and riding a bike is only possible with the saddle very high, it's a question of angle of flexion! Good luck!
Thanks & best wishes
Good luck Peter and let us know if you need a food parcel!
C&J x x x
It's brill having an internet connection though - unimaginable only a few years back !
Anyone know if internet is available in your typical NHS ward ?
What a bummer! or in your case the lack of one ;-)
Yes, I found them a bit 'nun-ish' myself.
Best of luck chum, and least it is well down below the replacement none of us would ever want, given how handy it has been ;-)
Thanks mate
How have the french, a race known for their Haute Couture managed to make nurses uniforms completely lacking sex appeal ? Whatever happened to the short skirts & stockings etc we have enjoyed in the NHS for decades ? Who needs a cold shower ?
Good luck Birdy. :-0
thanks for the replies
now installed in the clinique and am amazed at the activity so far !
first admission procedure,
then Xray of knees,
then ECG,
then visit from the nurse for admission details etc,
then blood test no.1
meal
then blood test no.2
now awaiting cardiologist
David, Brian & Jane the first meal was quite edible tho' i'm probably not the person to ask cos' I will eat ANYTHING ! the menu was a vegetable soup (7/10), chicken leg with rice & legumes (7/10) and fresh fruit (8/10)
the good old Betadine scrub before bed and the same in the morning
I only have experience of someone having the op in Macon. They were overweight beforehand and chose to have both the operation and the re-education in the clinic in Macon.
They were having problems afterwards even though they were exercising, but I guess that was in a large part due to the weight problem.
I spent one night in the same hospital and had mussels and vegetables for my dinner, which was fine by me but maybe for not for some.
One thing that is totally different from UK is that the day is not punctuated by the drinks trolley. You have a water jug and then drinks with meals and that is it. So if you would like something more interesting, you will have to provide it yourself.
Good luck with the TKR and you do get more help with physio here than you would in UK.
Sooner or later I shall do it and go for my shoulder replacement. I have been in kinésithérapie for almost two years now and the therapist says I am ready. The pains say I have been ready for a long time and in two weeks I have my cardiology check.
Two things put me off. 1. Two more years of therapy and 2. hospital food. Last time I was in I took a packed box for the four days. They are brilliant at replacements here, my therapist says so. She is not French so not favouring them and has plenty of patients over a week, the months and years and I also know and trust her very well now. So, all things being equal I ought to go on the list.
Simply go for it and take a packed lunch or six, have food brought in but avoid their slops. 48 hour turnround in the UK is now standard, because of shortage of spaces in osteopathy units. Here the average of six days is because they scan or x-ray on about the third day and give the first steps into therapy the day before you leave. My specialist at the Sports Clinic in Bordeaux is a replacement specialist, one of the best five for shoulders in the world it seems, but good for the rest of the bits they do. He explained the procedure. He has done a bit of work in the UK so that is how he could compare with there. he also laughed and approved of my taking my own food proposition.
Forget about the food Peter. Just do the exercises. My mother had a knee replacement at 75+ she had no probs because for once she took the advice of the physio. Courage et bonne chance;