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I decided to have my knee replaced when..
How my life changed after knee replacement

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TKR 8 mos & counting (& a scope & MUA)

Athena
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After a torn meniscus in 2008, that I shredded three months later & had to have a second surgery, I ended up with a 15% valgus deformity. I opted for a high tibia osteotomy. When then went in for that surgery, they found end-stage osteoarthritis. The HTO was a success, for a while. Then we did Orthovisc - which helped a lot, for a while. Then we did Synvisc - which didn't help. I was on Norco 10s & cortisone shots for years. Did I meantion I broke my other leg (my left) as a kid & had 5 surgeries on it? Including 3 HTOs - one being a bone transplant from my pelvis. I already knew that knee had to be replaced. But "babying" it for 30 years deatroyed my right knee. So I put off TKR for 3 years - nothing ever seamed to go right when it comes to me & knee surgery! (One surgeon did all the surgery on my left knee - he sold his practice & I tested out the new guy. Didn't like him at first, but after seeing a couple other OSs - decided to go back to him.)
Well, I had my TKR 11-10-15 & got out of the hospital on the 14th. The pain was so bad I was taking 12 Norco 10 a day - 1 very 2 hours. That wasn't cutting the pain. Then, my ins changed. I lost my PT & my OS. Six months later - still constant pain & ROM of 12-84.
So I had to go to another OS. He said there is nothing he could do, but he'd scope it (to be nice, I guess). That went fine, in fact, that day, it didn't hurt & it wasn't stiff. I started PT the next day. Every day for two weeks. The pain was back in 3 days. I saw the PA in 10 days & she took the stitches out & gave me limited pain pills. At six weeks I saw the surgeon. He said, well, I didn't think I could do much. "If it still hurts in 6 weeks, go see the knee replacement surgeon, maybe he can open it up, replace it, or the 'A' word." I just looked at him, amputate?? "Yes." I have never been treated so poorly by a dr - I'd only met this man 2x!!!
I went back to my original (out of network surgeon) & told him the story. He was floored.
So, since I'm on disability bc of my knee, I'll be able to go back to him in Oct. & I'll be having my knee replaced again. In the meantime, I'm going to try pain management so I can walk around my house & not spend 90% of my time in bed. (And it hurts just laying in bed.) My Norco need is only 2-3/day to live; I'll need a few extra if I want to leave the house.
Please wish me luck!! This has been a very hard 8 year road!
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