posted
Hi everyone, I was to have the above surgery on Feb. 10 however, the surgeon postponed because of the number of antibiotics I've been on over the last 4 years. I am going to see him on Monday and hope I can get this thing scheduled. Has anyone else had an experience like this or have had this type of surgery while treating your Lyme?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Posts: 84 | From New Jersey | Registered: Aug 2010
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Most doctors I know will NOT agree to replace both knees at one time. The reason is, it leaves the patient immobile for a long time which can lead to blood clots and death.
My husband and a number of my friends (none have lyme) have had knee replacement surgery. All agree that it would be INSANE to have both knees replaced at once.
I really question why your surgeon would be willing to do this. The one person I know who had it done cannot walk properly to this day. I wasn't around when she had the surgery. I met her a few years afterwards. She is basically crippled because she cannot properly bend her knees. She can barely bend them. So, she rarely walks, rarely gets up from her chair, etc. She walks with great difficulty and very slowly. She gets up with great difficulty. This all has caused her to become obese, her husband has pretty much left her, and her entire appearance and life are so drastically changed that I didn't even know she was the same person I knew years ago.
I am very glad you didn't have this surgery. Do some research online and you will see that if you have this done, you will go from the hospital to a rehab center.
I knew a person who wanted both knees done to "get it over with." But, her doc wouldn't do it. Once she had one knee done, her exact words were that "it would have been insane to have both done at once."
You will really depend on your one non-replaced knee while the other one is healing. Then, in a few months, go back in and have the other knee done.
My husband's doc goes around teaching doctors how to do knee replacements. He would not replace both of your knees simultaneously.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
Well i had them both done at once. Hardest thing i ever did and i had four babies. Two without pain meds
The first 24 hrs werr the worst but they didnt have to be. My only real problemwas constipation from.pain mrds and hospital policy not to use laxitives for 3 days
I went to rehab after hospital and worked hard in pt. That is the key.
I would not have been strong enough. Mentally . To have one done and then make myself go back in a few weeks to have the other done.
I went to a concert one month after surgery in wc and began riding regularly three months after surgery. I hadnt been on a horse in ten years
For five yers i walked, rode, kayaked, gardened...many things i hadnt been.able to do
I could never kneel again and never liked stairs and changed my life to not have to climb stairs
Eight years after surgery the doc insisted i needed to redo the right one. He said it loosened up. It was the worst knee to start with
Before i could have that done i had a six month bout with cancer. Small surgery and radiation
Redoing the knee really wasnt successful. Doc wants to redo the one that wasnt done twice based on xray but the one he redid hurts somuch i dont want him.to touch the other
But i dont regret having two done at once at all. I got five more years of riding in. And kayaking
It was worth it to me
Both times i got dependent onpain meds and had to work on getting off them. But u pretty much need heavy duty pain meds to do the pt necesssy for surg to be successful
Pt is the key. And als having a really good doc and rehab. I shopped around for my doc and found the doc the other docs would use if they needed surg
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Hi, this might help in your decision making about the knee surgery even though it's only partially related...I know someone who was in her early seventies and had knee replacement surgery on both knees at the same time.
She was quite healthy otherwise and had a relative stay with her for about a month to be her drill sargeant with the physical therapy.
She did the pt religiously and eventually recovered feeling much improved with her mobility; she also lived twenty more years after that!
Her son, who also needed to have both knees replaced, had one knee at a time done and that was the best recommendation for him because of other health conditions that would've made the bi-lateral sugery prohibitive.
It's a serious surgery and anyone who's considering it needs good info. and advocacy to get through it.
The pre-op and post-op exercises are key components in the recovery process; the patient must be psychologically ready for the pains associated with doing them.
I'm sorry I can't provide info. on people who've had it done while having Lyme's, though.
**bokchoy .. please put more space in your postings... thanks!**
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