"Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it"

... or so Irving Berlin said. Writing blogs, that is. So I thought I might as well do it as well!


See, I had a knee replacement about nine weeks ago (17th March 2009) and my recovery has been so amazing, I wanted to share it with everybody to show what could be done! Luckily I not only kept a journal for the first couple of weeks or so but logged a lot of information on my forum BoneSmart. But the rest will be from memory! Here goes!

I'm a 67 yr old female, retired nurse and survivor of around 50 odd years working in the joint replacement surgery! I say survivor as most places I worked did trauma and a whole heap of other stuff as well so on-calls were a regular part of my life.

My journey began November 2005 with a marathon case which had me standing from 10.30pm to 4.30am. I worked part-time in the local hospital and was required to do my share of on calls for the orthopaedic theatre. Before that night I'd had nothing more than the odd episode of achy discomfort in either knee. After that night of standing - no moving around, just standing - it took me almost 40 minutes to walk to my car - it usually took me about 10! I was aching all over but hardly surprising given the circumstances. When I got home, it took me another 10 minutes to get out of the car and into the house! About 3 hours later, I was wakened with the most appalling cramps in my right calf. I really thought my leg was going to shatter, the cramp was so severe. Later that day, I went to see my chiropractor who pronounced my entire leg, from hip to toe, was in acute spasm. His ministrations eased things considerably, thank God!

Later that day, the knee joint started to hurt.

Immediately prior to this event, I'd been struggling around at work and at home with a painful left foot. After 6 weeks of it getting progressively worse, I had to argue with my GP to get it xrayed. She was of the opinion it was just an inflamed ligament or something but I was having none of that! Orthopaedics was my speciality and I just knew something more serious was afoot (pardon the pun!) The xray revealed a stress fracture in the hindfoot. Silly me! Fancy struggling on all that time with that! Anyway, it was too late to do anything but leave it to continue healing.

So now, about 3 months later, my right knee is hurting. Looking back, it's quite possible that the limping on it helped it on it's way but here I was, now struggling around the department but this time limping on the other foot! Sheesh! Getting old is NO fun!

Finally I had a word with one of the surgeons and he got it xrayed and announced I had arthritis. He thought it could be suitable for a hemiarthroplasty which is a kind of resurfacing in one side of the joint.

My xray showed some depression on the tibia which meant my leg was a few degrees out in the straight line it should be. You can see this and the bone on bone point at the red arrow.

There is also an extra white look about the bone surfaces there which indicates that it is worn, compacted and inflamed.

Anyway, he always preferred to do diagnostic arthroscopies first.








THE ARTHROSCOPY

We had this festival in May/June 06 and I was one of the organisors so I decided to leave the surgery until the end of June.

Trust me, folks - if you ever have an arthroscopy, don't think it's going to be a quick job! You might only be in hospital for a day but it takes all of three weeks to get back to speed aftewards. The darned procedure HURTS!! Still, with the blessed aid of a TENS machine, I was able to return to work in two weeks but it was still a bit of a struggle.

BONE SMART

Naturally, I turned to the internet to find out all I could about knee replacements and their recovery. See, though I have spent almost all my life in joint replacement surgery it's principly been hips and, since I was working all that time in the operating theatre, I didn't have too much experience in the post op period. Amazing what a personal experience can make you learn!

So I stumbled about BoneSmart, the forum for hip and knee replacement patients. It was in it's early days then and seemed to lack much knowledgable input so I contacted the owners and asked them itf they would mind me offering what help and support I could! That was in June 2007. Before I knew it, I was accepted as part of the BoneSmart/FARM team and the rest of that, as they say, is history.

I have learned SO much during my stay on there and I like to hope I have imparted much as well. Now the admin of the forum, I like to view it as almost like a cosy sitting room where friends come in and share, have a laugh, get some hugs and encouragement and eventually go on their way to a new, pain free life. I have no agenda there, nor do the owners.

Our only objectve is to advise, inform, support and encourage as people need it. It's been a great experience, now about 2 years for me, and I hope it goes on that way. If you're looking for a supportive and caring community, you couldn't do better! (But then I am a tad biased!)



Back to the journey ....

The hospital very kindly dispensed with my services in September 2006 when I turned 65. Apparently they just didn't employ people over 65 and with my medical history and the impending joint replacement - well, thanks and goodbye!

After that,the knee seemed to settle down. I had very little pain any more, apart from the occasional 'stone in the shoe' type episode where I'd have sharp, sharp pain for about 4 to 24 hrs and then it'd be fine again! I had no end of prayer during this period and, since it had happened once before in 1998, I was convinced I'd had a miracle healing! I was still working but now as a freelance occupational health nurse which was far less demanding physically.

But I walked and ran up and down stairs, pretty much anything I wanted to, But I suspected that there would come a time when I would have a resurgence of it all. It wasn't that healed! And last December it happened. My sister was taken into hospital suddenly and with all the running around making sure she was okay, my knee started hurting again. But this time it didn't settle down. It's been almost 6 weeks now and the pain is gradually getting worse and worse.

In the meantime I'd changed surgeons as shortly before I left, there was a new chap on the block who did nothing but knees and I decided I liked his style! He'd told me to just ring when I wanted to be done so it was no trouble getting back on the waiting list. (Perks of the job, folks!) It's been weeks now and I'm likely to have to wait another couple of months unless there's a cancellation. At present I'm having to think twice about pretty much everything I do. No longer can I go to and fro around the house. When I go into the kitchen for some reason, I find myself going to the loo while I'm there! How sad it that! Sleeping has become a fond memory - my knee hurts more when I'm in bed than when I'm up. I've ordered a new settee with reclinners as I've been told it's the best place to recuperate after a knee replacement and I can't wait for it to come. When it does, I will very likely give up going to bed and just sleep in the recliner.

Right now I am getting through from morning to night on pills and my trusty TENS machine. I'm laying in stores for when I come home after the op - anything and everything from cat food (for the cats!) to loo rolls. Plus various gadgets and gizmos to make life easier

A Cryo-Cuff ice machine
A leg lifting strap (aka an 'invisible dog lead'!)
A walker/trolley
and, of course, the new settee!

All I need now is the date!