Well, my warranty has well and truly run out. Time for an overhaul to get a bionic knee.
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Has anyone else done this? Tell me about your procedure, rehab, etc.? How has it affected your martial arts training? I'm trying to educate myself as much as I can.
Thanks in advance!
Been there, done that, and it is not fun. But with that said how you react and recovery is different with just about anyone. For me it was a but rough and to be honest almost 3 years out it is still not right, but it works and I trust it so it is what it is. Others, a good friend of mine actually, had great success and had both knees replaced.
I may have to get the other one done and one thing I will never do again is do this as outpatient surgery, I got surgery in the morning, was home regularly passing out until the following day, when I got an ambulance ride to the ER. The pain meds they gave me were knocking my blood pressure down to about 70 over 40.... therefore, everytime I stood up, I passed out. When and if I get the other done, it will be done as inpatient surgery, I will stay overnight in the hospital. Outpatient for meniscus repair is fine, for a total knee, IMO, it is a very bad idea.
So day 3 I was off pain meds.... then rehab started PT (Physical Therapy). I will say this, especially after talking to others about knee replacement rehab, it is not something you want to do without pain meds. It will hurt no matter what you take for pain, it will be worse without, especially when they grab your leg and force the 90 degree bend. Also should say my coworker stopped his pain meds because he felt mentally impaired taking them, however I do not recommend his solution...he started drinking Scotch
They wanted me to use a walker, I couldn't do it, I ket falling over, so I went to crutches, I did much better then. But most do fine with a walker. They want you off of the walker/crutches as soon as possible, then on to a cane.
I fired my first PT person and went to another office, the 1st PT person would have done great in a medieval torture chamber, also forced me to walk across the room day 2 of PT and got upset when I had trouble putting full weight on the leg. The second group also hurt me, alot, but was much less aggressive and just plain nicer and to be honest, less sadistic. The length of time in rehab is very dependant on the individual and how well you follow the PT persons instructions.
Also, which knee? right knee, like I had, means you will not be able to drive for quite some time. left knee, unless you drive a car with a standard transmission, you will be driving sooner.
If things do not recover fast enough you may need a manipulation like I did. This is back to the operating room, where they put you under anesthesia and then force your leg to bend in order to break up scar tissue. Not everyone needs this and my friend and a coworker did not need to get this done. Just mentioning it to let you know
Doctor followup visits: If at all possible ALWAYS see the doctor, do not see the PA if at all possible. Nothing against folks who are Physician's Assistants, but they are not the MD and the MD just plain knows more, and that is VERY important. The PA I had was a nice enough guy and was knowledgeable, but let me tell you a story
Afte rmy manipulation I was still having some issues and the PA, after measuring my range of motion and checking a few other things told me it looked like I needed a 2nd manipulation.... I was rather depressed by this and asked for a day to think. Happened to run in the teh MD in the hall on the way out, he remembered the date of my surgery aand asked me hour I was doing, asked me to stand ion it, asked me to bend it and asked me the range and then said..."Greay, you are further along than most at this point, see you next time" All my appointments after that were with the MD
Another thing from the MD to note. I ran in to all sorts of people telling me how it only took them a few weeks or a few months to recover, when I told the MD about it he said. He has no idea why but almost everyone who has knee replacement forgets how much it hurt and how long it took to recover, Also don't let anyone fool you or tell you otherwise, full recovery from knee replacement takes about 1 year.
If there is anything else you want to ask me , post it here or PM me,
