Well, I've committed now although I guess I could still leave the State. I told my wife I reserve the right to walk out (in pain) the day of. I first started having issues with both knees about 2 years ago. I went in and had the shots. The Cortisone and the Synvisc. I didn't really see any results. I get through the day OK in an office capacity but it exhausts me anytime I'm walking on concrete for any length of time. I'm scheduled to do the left one at the end of the month. They stay away from doing both at the same time although I know people who have had that done. I know these knees will never be the same, but I see people all the time exercising and even jogging. I don't know about the jogging, so much, but I wonder how it will be in the Surveying World. I deal with a lot of bush and hill Boundary Surveying and although I do run a field crew I worry I'm making a mistake. It really leaves me vulnerable business wise. People tell me it's the smartest thing they've ever done but a fella can't help but wonder if he should just continue to work through the pain. Does anyone out there have any advise?
My wife had a knee replacement, and now she is preparing to do the other one. I understand your knee will be better than it ever was before. It is an absolute must that you do your exercises. I have arthritis in my knee and my meniscus is completely gone in my left knee so it's bone on bone. I seem to walk around okay and don't fell much pain (it just occasionally "catches" I call it and I have to kind of reach down and adjust it to walk), and the doctors advised me that I'll need it replaced one of these days, but that I should wait until it's too painful to walk.
I thought it would be good to do both at once so you get it over with. Doing one, then going through recovery and doing another and going through it all over again seems like a long process to me. But I don't know.
If you are doing it to relieve pain you won't be completely satisfied. If you are doing it restore function the book is yours to write.
Do the PT and follow instructions for aftercare. The investment while you heal will pay off. From your post it sounds like it's time. .
Ten years ago Mrs. Cow had a hip replacement. Smartest thing she ever did. A few weeks of discomfort and physical therapy was absolutely nothing compared to the pain she suffered for years trying to put off the inevitable. A huge part of the healing is the therapy. Much of that requires you to try to do what is normal. You can't do that when both sides are done at the same time because you don't have a good leg to stand on.
Not a knee replacement, but I ruptured my ACL a year and a half ago. Worked on it for three months before surgery, was out of the office for two weeks, out of the field for six. Took about six months not to feel pain but now it feels great besides the occasional twinge. Didn't have to get the operation, darn glad I did. That said, I am only 34 so I have a lot of hiking around left to do and a wonky knee wasn't going to do it.
Side note: do what ever PT they tell you to, I was lazy and it delayed my recovery.
I am scheduled to have mine replaced in 3 weeks. My surgeon started me on "pre-hab" 3 weeks ago with a specialized kneehab TENS unit that contracts the muscles and has a pain relief program built in. They tell me I will start re-hab the same day as the surgery. Being I am only 48 I expect to have the plastic "bushing" replaced down the road.
I can do field work for about half of a day and I pay for it for a day or two afterwords. Got to the point that we could not take a family vacation that involved walking which eliminated pretty much everything.
Go watch a few operations on you tube. They do them real fast. They don't want air getting inside there, and upsetting things.
I have been wearing special shoes with contoured footpads that help by aligning the position of my bones and connecting tissue for comfort.
Spenco Gel HeelCups has put me back in my workboots and moving at a slower pace keeps me working.
There is some post operative "discomfort" while you do rehab. It weill NOT go away by itself. It will not get better if you "work through the pain". Have the surgery and "Suck it up Buttercup"!! And believe me, it's not near as bad as a hemerroid transplant.
My mother has had both hips and both knees replaced.
My sister and I got her through rehab on one hip and one knee due to dementia. The other two she did a decade ago.
It has been a vast improvement in her mobility; she is able to walk without pain.
Do what the PT says to do even though it hurts. The CPM machine is a pain to set up and use; there is disagreement on whether it does anything. Do the exercises they give you faithfully. I think they told us her range of motion at 3 weeks will be whatever she has worked up to by then, it won't get better. You can't put the PT off, you have to do it, it's going to be painful but there is a pay off. But on the other hand don't overdo it either. They don't want you out walking a mile the day after the surgery which may be possible if you are still under the influence of all the pain meds they give you in the hospital.
The PT came three times a week and I made her do it twice a day otherwise. One day she said she didn't want to do the exercises and the PT said without missing a beat I guess you will be a little old lady sitting on a chair all day on the porch. My Mother looked at her and said okay I'm not doing that so we'll do the exercises.
The PT told me they have two types, those who literally throw stuff at them (because it hurts) and those like my Mother who they have to slow down, do the exercises but don't overdo it either.
