My knees going bad... more surgery soon?

[Hucky :)]

Good Luck Mark. My brother had his knee rebuilt and it took quite a while to get over that surgery. He seems to be okay now.

Hucky

[Roblin]

Mark,
Sorry to hear that you are having knee problems that will require surgery. I have talked to so many people with spine problems and post ADR that are also now having knee problems, myself included, do you think there is any connection or is it just aging for those of us with the not so wonderful disease of DDD that nobody seems to be wanting to do much research on because it is "not lifethreatening"?
Anyway, best wishes!
Roblin

[dshobbies]

I went to a bridal shower this weekend. Most of the 'older' generation was about my age. The main complaint discussed was knees. We're far more active than past generations and our longevity rates are increasing. Maybe knees weren't built to last this long!

[sahuaro]

So sorry to hear this, Mark. I've spent enough time in PT to watch the knee patients rehab--and it's not pleasant, especially the first few sessions--but I've also seen some remarkable recoveries. Sending you my best wishes for a successful surgery.

[mmglobal]

(resurrecting old post.)

OK, the jury is in. L knee MRI that showed meniscus tear was 2 years ago. It's held steady without causing much trouble unless I tried to move something heavy with my L foot, so I ignored it. A month ago, I decided that I'd like to be able to ski and be active again, so I'd better get it fixed. I went to the GP asking for a referral to a knee doc. The manipulations he did to confirm the diagnosis really flared things up and I've been quite bad ever since. I've gone from being able to avoid the painful movements, to having 5/10 pain probably 70% of the time with several bouts of 9/10 pain that last several minutes every day. I just returned from a 12 day trip for client surgeries and I was worried that the knee was going to abort the trip.

Luckily, I ran the gauntlet with the new, so called 'managed health care' and already had the surgery scheduled. TODAY, I'll have the arthroscopic cleanup.

I was surprised that the surgeon did not want an updated MRI as the last imaging was 2 years old. His reply indicated that MRI's are of limited value for knees and that the absolute best view is from inside during the surgery. My R knee (operated on in 2003) had significant problems with 'dead bone' on the end of my femur. There are some bone issues called out on the 2007 MRI, but nothing like we saw in the R knee. I'm uncomfortable moving forward without new imaging but cannot afford to get things done properly. I'm moving forward because cleaning up the tear is a simple surgery and if there are further problems later, repeat surgery will not be impaired by the prior surgery.

Wish me luck!

Mark

[dshobbies]

Ouch Mark,

Wonderful how modern medicine can fix us up but in the end, we'll all Humpty Dumptys. Our cracks will always show.

Julius had this surgery 3 years ago and was back on his feet very quickly. Good luck- Dale

[sahuaro]

Mark:
Wishing you all the best with the surgery and recovery.
The MRI of my right shoulder did not at all give an accurate picture of the extent of damage; my ortho was insistent that I did not need MRI of the left shoulder and that his clinical exam was enough--and he was correct.

Let us know how you are doing, please.

[nomorepain]

Woiw, if i was you i'd go in and go for the total bionics job!
good luck as always!

[nomorepain]

sounds like you are going for total bionics........
Good Luck with whatever you decide on, once your back up to speed we must get together, it's been way too long since we chatted!
it's time to catch up