Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction.

1,052 Members
1,819 Posts
0 Online
Muscles & Bones
/ Arthritis Support Group

Knee replacement

cadoggiemom
cadoggiemom
Hi, I'm new and found this group after recently joining the one for Widows/Widowers
I'm female, 71, overweight with controlled high PB, cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes. Actually in pretty health even with the above. OA in knees for many years. Bone on bone now and always some level of pain. Have tried chiropractic, acupuncture, PT, Synvisc and PRP (stem cell) shots. All to no avail. Call me silly.....my family doctor does....but I'm really afraid to have the surgery. Everything about it scares me from the anesthesia to the loooooooong recovery. I am recently widowed and share a 2-family home with my 91-year-old mother (better knees than mine!). I'm on the second floor and have several pets to care for. Can't even imagine how I could be away from home for the time it takes for TKR now that my husband is not here to hold down the fort. But the fear factor is the biggie. I've been told that stem cells harvested from placentas might work better to regenerate cartilage because the cells are younger, fresher and stronger than those harvested from my own blood and fat. I'm hesitant to spend another several thousand $ for something that might give me a 70% chance to feel 50% better (per the stem cell specialist). Then there's cold laser therapy and something new called Calmare. Can anyone give me a reason to hope I can lick this thing without surgery.......pleeeeeze?
deleted_user
deleted_user
zzztop, my cousin belongs to a dance club and one of the instructors is 81 years old. A few months ago he had knee replacement surgery and 7 weeks later he was back teaching dancing and has been doing it with no problem ever since! My mother had it when she was 68 and has had no issues. I've never heard of the tens thing but good luck.
cadoggiemom
cadoggiemom
Do my knees crack and crunch? I'm surprised you haven't heard them even if you live in Hawaii! Unfortunately, for every successful knee replacement I hear about, there seems to be another that didn't go well. A friend had both done at once and said she never would have gone back for the second if it had been one at a time. She still creaks, squeaks, hurts and walks like Frankenstein. I don't know, but I keep hearing "When the pain gets bad enough" you'll do something. I guess that day hasn't happened yet. Thanks for the suggestion to get a tens unit. I've read about them, but you're the first person I know who actually uses one. Is it covered by Medicare by any chance? And how much do I hate being old enough to care??? Yeah, aging SUCKS, but it beats the alternative of dying young.
naturegirl65
naturegirl65
I got my knees replaced last year. I had bi-lateral. done at same time. I had general anesthesia. I was totally out. I am 47. I am glad I got them done. Improved the quality of my life. I had bone on bone and was in incredible amount of pain and walking was harder and harder and world got smaller and smaller. Post surgery was rough. It was not easy. I have fibromyalgia too and that didn't help.
A year later it's good. I can ride a bike again and walk further.

Whatever you decide Cadoggie I hope it will work out for you and things get better for you. And it's not being silly about being scared of surgery. I was very scared. I had never had surgery in my life. I just got to the point that I couldn't go on anymore the way I was and had to make the decision. I don't know too much about the stem cell thing, but I think some cartilage needs to be in the joint for it to work.
I know someone who has just had a stem cell procedure done in her knee. She is a lady in my community. She paid out of pocket to get it done. I will see her soon and will ask how it went and if she is noticing any improvement.

I wish you Seekingsun a successful surgery and a good recovery.
naturegirl65
naturegirl65
@zzztop yeah knee replacements do feel weird, but a year later after getting mine done, I sometimes forget and have gotten use to them now. It is never the same of course. It's not like having your real knees but the Prosthesis is a pretty good substitute.
cadoggiemom
cadoggiemom
NatureGirl
I'd be interested to know whether the woman in your community had her own stem cells or the ones harvested from placentas used for her knee. Also whether it works for her. I also paid out of pocket and had absolutely no improvement.
Juanita
naturegirl65
naturegirl65
YeS I will let you know. I will post here. I am not sure when I will see her. Maybe this week or next.
fibrolizzy
fibrolizzy
Hello, Juanita...I just had my right knee replaced on May 1, so I'm 3 weeks out. I won't lie to you....it's pretty rough. I've not reached the stage yet where I can say, "oh, I'm so glad I did this." I knew going in it was going to be a tough challenge, just not the extent of it.

I'm sorry if this is TMI. I just though you'd want to hear from somebody who's in the middle of recovery.

Take care...ELizabeth
cadoggiemom
cadoggiemom
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for posting, and it was absolutely not TMI. Sounds like you were realistic and fact-based going in and knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park. No one I've spoken to who had successful knee replacement has said it was easy. I guess it's a little like childbirth (from what I'm told) in that the resulting joy dulls the painful memories. Godspeed in your recovery.
Juanita
naturegirl65
naturegirl65
Hey Cadoggiemom

I saw the lady today. well she got out of her car and walked towards me without limping. I had seen her before and she was limping quite badly just like I use to and I could tell she was in pain and struggling.
But today I was very surprised at how she was walking better. She was over the moon with the improvement that she has experienced so far. She has to have a couple more treatments.

She said that she noticed a change within 4 days of the treatment.

******The stem cells come from her own body*******


I hope that the relief she is having lasts a long time and that this is not just a temporary thing.
naturegirl65
naturegirl65
I would have gone through ten childbirths again compared to what I went through with the knee replacement surgery.
naturegirl65
naturegirl65
And the thing with childbirth, it's instant joy and you get to hold your baby immediately. With the TKR, you have to wait a long while before that "joy" comes to override the pain. BUT yeah it does come......got to have patience and trust the process.
cathairmom
cathairmom
cadoggie add me to your list. everything you have said describes me to a t. i am 67 yr old female,iam widowed, i live with a granddaughter. one doc would not operate until i lost 100lbs. he recomended weight loss surgery, but i don't want to do that. every time i went to my office visit i was told to come back in a year ans lose weight.i haven't been back for about 5 yrs now,just dealing with thew same pain as you.both knees bone on bone. i also notice hip and back pain. the doc i went to was in the paper as #1 in my state. i take 2 lortabs a day , but always have pain and need a cane and loss of a lot of mobility. i feel like life is on hold because i cannot do alot of things . i too fear the surgery,.i worry because of my weight AND other healthissues that i would have problems . i hate that iam such a chicken. i hope i can face my fears and have it done thanks for listening to me vent,,,it helps
cadoggiemom
cadoggiemom
Thanks for the update naturegirl. The woman you know is obviously in the 80-85% of stem cell therapy successes they talk about when they sign you up. I was told I was a very good candidate for therapy yet had zero improvement. From what I've read about stem cell therapy, your friend should have relief for a long time because the cartilage will regenerate. Next time you see her, tell her I want to rub her knee for good luck and get the treatment done again!!!
cadoggiemom
cadoggiemom
OMG!!! Cathairmom.....I love your ID, and I can totally relate to that as well as to your story of pain, fear, overweight, YADA YADA YADA. I keep waiting to wake up one morning with the sudden, strong conviction that I'll get it done, but that hasn't happened yet. The hip and back pain go along with the territory because favoring the knees throws everything else out of line. I hate being a chicken, too, but try not to beat myself up over it. It's a legitimate fear to me. My regular doc once told me I was "being silly" about it, and I'm still ticked off by his insensitivity. Hang in there. We're both doing the best we can do with our situations and will know when and if the time comes to take action.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hey Everyone, had the surgery on Monday, came home yesterday and OT and PT are both coming today- Eeek! The real fun is about to begin. The only issue in the hospital was the delaudin pain killer they had me on. Made me very tired, unable to do my exercises. I've been told I also said some outrageous things! So at least it was kind of fun. However, as soon as they changed me over to oxycodone, I was fine, as strange as that sounds. Walked up 2 flights of 10 stairs and then back down again, walked the halls of the hospital in good time and plan to get lots of exercise from here on out. Will keep you posted, my friends.