total knee replacement help needed | Arthritis Information

Hello to all out there. I’m 46 with RA had it since I’ve been 25 and I really need to ask a question or two .I’m looking at total replacement of both knees with in the next two months or so .well anyways I don’t know if I should have both done at the same time or if I should have one then the other done, I need to talk with people who have had it done both ways, I don’t know what I should do .what if any are the benefits of doing two at a time ,is it to hard on the body having both done together .i really need help with this one ,please get back to me on this

   Hi Dave and welcome to the board.
   Total knee replacement can be tricky. I work in a hospital with the total joint instruments. We don't do too many bilateral total knees. It's basically two procedures done at once. They do one knee first and then tear down and re-drape for the other knee while you're still under. It makes for a longer time on the table.
   If I was going to have my knees done, I would have one at a time done, only because I know how it's done, and what's used. You will be very sore and stiff afterwards but if you do exactly as they tell you, your range of motion will come back.
   Another thing to think about is what implant to use in your knee. There are all these new ones from different companies. Talk it over with the surgeon and discuss what you want to do after the surgery. Some implants allow for more movement and others stablize the joint.
    Dave, I hope that this helps and feel free to ask questions.

    Marisa

Well I’ve decided to do one at a time , I think it would be better on me and my bother who will be taking care of me during my rehab . Now all I need is to get over the fear of having this done, I’m really scared of going under the knife again I know this is something that I’ll have to get over but I cant stop thinking about it and the more I think about it the more I worry . if its not one thing its another Dave, you've made a wise decision. I've had two surgeries,4 months apart. I was so up tight, before the first one, that my blood pressure was up and my heart beat was skipping a beat. I had a hard time when they were taking me to the recovery room. I got a very upset stomach.
The second surgery was soooo different. I had no trouble and it went very smoothly. The difference was that I didn't get myself all in a uproar. I knew I had to have it done and I just relax before the day of surgery.
Relax, get it done. You WILL feel so much better.

MarisaHey Dave - I saw post regarding replacement surgery. There's a great website for people that are considering TKR or have actually had the surgery. I had my right TRK in November 2005 and this site helped get me through. If you would like to know the web address email me at beth.hallam@husch.com and I will let you know what it is. Good luck to you!

Definitely go for the one at a time. I had mine almost exactly 1 year apart. Mainly because I had to fit a couple of other surgeries in between. Leave as much time as you can between them though. The longer you have to regain strength and mobility after the first op, the easier the second one is.

Good luck

Hi Dave,

I agree with everyone to have each knee done seperately. I had a total knee replacement done several years ago and the physio was hard work but it has certainly made a big difference. No more locking up in pain when trying to sleep, and only about 5 degrees away from being totally straight, when before I was so bad due to Psoriatic Arthritis my knee was in a fixed bend of 35 degrees and I was doubled over because of it. Good luck with your surgery, I'm sure it will help lots. At first your knees will feel like they'll never move but they will, and you'll be climbing stairs before you know it!

if you are looking for a good place for the knee replacement op. then i would suggest you to go to this website and get in touch with the team for bone and joint related problems. my brother got treated by their team of specialist last year for knee replacement and he talked about the services provided and also the afordale costs that he paid. in all he seems very satisfied with the care provided.
http://www.jdhealthcare.com/bonejoint.html#6

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