Hello!!! I am having a Total Knee Replacement on Tuesday the 8th. GULP.:eek:
I wanted to share a fabulous forum for those looking for answers when it comes to knees, hips, spine. bonesmart.org SO many answers and of course, I am getting an equine thread started once I figure out how to do it.
I had a left knee replacement December 11, 2013. Agree completely about Bonesmart. I learned so much thee, and followed their advice. I was back riding in three months. It was worth doing. I jumped today for the first time in years! Just follow the Bonesmart method and listen to your knee!
I’ve had 4 knee replacements — I’m anatomically gifted. 
It was my decision to quit riding after #2 except for an occasional trail ride or work in the arena. My knees are now doing well enough that I can ride a real bicycle again and have been having a blast doing it.
Biggest recommendation I can make is to remember that ice is your friend and don’t do more PT than you are told to do.
[QUOTE=Donkaloosa;7653656]
I’ve had 4 knee replacements — I’m anatomically gifted. It was my decision to quit riding after #2 except for an occasional trail ride or work in the arena. My knees are now doing well enough that I can ride a real bicycle again and have been having a blast doing it.
Biggest recommendation I can make is to remember that ice is your friend and don’t do more PT than you are told to do.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the great replies! I will be lurking on the Coth forums a lot while im on stall rest. My goal is to foxhunt again and compete at Dressage. Haven’t been able to do these things for years.
I am having a total knee replacement on the 15th of July. Scared.to.death.
Seriously, don’t be scared. Is it going to hurt? Yes. You will have some times when you wonder why in the hell you went through this. But the pain gets less and less in a hurry, and once you see your mobility improving, your strength improving, and your range of motion improving, you’ll be thrilled. Don’t push too hard, do exactly what the PT people tell you. Get yourself a good coloring book (like the ones of mandela patterns) and some crayons — great way to have something to do when you aren’t quite capable of reading or concentrating. Ice is your best friend. Did I mention that ice is your best friend? Be sure to have laxative and stool softeners around because you will need them due to taking pain meds and to being less active. (Trust me on this.) If you live alone (I went home to a house empty except for my dogs after all 4 surgeries), be sure to stock up on food, coffee, soda, juice, and some junk food. And have the freezer packed with frozen dinners. Don’t forget the chocolate. You will have to put on socks and shoes every day — no lie — so be prepared for that challenge! Clear the floors so that your walker won’t get tangled. Drink a lot of liquid — you’ll be dehydrated after the surgery. Wear shorts and t-shirts afterwards. Oh, and your knee will look like a cross between Frankenstein and a railroad track, so don’t be too surprised when you first see it uncovered!
It’s not a walk in the park, but it isn’t anything to be afraid of. PM me if you have any specific questions.
I had both knees done. The left on Oct 1/'12 and right on Dec 11/'12. I am totally pleased with the outcome on them. I was actually riding around the farm at a couple weeks post surgery on my left knee. (October was just too pretty not to get out and enjoy!) I was on my very reliable aged mare and we just walked for about two hours. That was when I realized just how much benefit the handicap youngsters get from riding.
Do follow your PT and use the ice machine that the hospital sends home with you. I did the streatches laying in bed every morning before I got up. Then the other PT stuff throughout the day. And the streatches again in bed before I went to sleep. Went back to work at my job at five weeks post surgery on each knee. Now a year and a half later I’m doing everything I did before! Riding and training and baled hay yesterday(I was on the wagon).
Go into your surgery with positive thoughts and ‘I will be happy I did this’ attitude and when it’s all said and done you will be pleased! God Bless!
I am due to get both of mine done. I am SCARED.TO.DEATH as well … I will not make a good patient at all
We have the farm up for sale and then once it sells, the remaining horses will get boarded out and I will then have “0” reasons why I cant book the appointment and get it done
It also doesn’t help that a friend just had hers done 1-2 weeks ago and she is in a lot of pain and she is a tough lady and doesn’t bitch and moan about stuff as a rule so if she says she is in agony - I believe her
A friend’s Dad had his done (both) in the last 6 months and he’s had an easier go of things and is really happy he got them done so I guess I need to focus on the people that recovered quickly and well and hope that Im one of “those” people
Right now I am literally totally crippled on a daily basis. I KNOW I have to get it done. I am so tired of being in constant pain whether I am walking, sitting or lying down. Sitting is the very worst. The knee braces help a bit. The turmeric pills help but nothing totally takes all of the pain away. I am just SO over this crap. I know its time …
Thanks for sharing your experiences, a knee replacement is in my future. I can do some bad pain, at least it will end at some point and rewards will be great. I have a couple friends who got new knees, one had terrible rehab pain, now is pain free, loves her new knee. The other did quite well with their first replacement, but the second one is going hard, in a rehab place for now. Just two weeks since surgery though, and there are other medical issues as part of the problem.
Doc says I can go a couple years yet, but I WILL need to get it fixed at some point. She laughed when I said I was “hoping to go” with all original equipment!! Said maybe I could if I just went and sat in a chair the next 30 years. Otherwise no.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to have both done at the same time because you’re left, literally, without a leg to stand on. But that’s just my opinion — and knowing that I have to go home with no help, no one living there but me and the dogs, etc. But the basics are still all the same. Do your PT, don’t do more of it than they tell you to, take your pain meds as scheduled (much easier to stay up on the pain rather than to let it get ahead of you), etc. You’ll wake up one morning after about two weeks and suddenly feel MUCH better — and from there on out, it’s (relatively) easy.
Donkaloosa - I don’t believe there is any surgeon out there that would do 2 at once even if you asked them to. I know I will get my right done first and then my left will follow 3-6 months later
TrueColors — there are docs who will do both knees at once, I know people who have have it done. I think they are crazy, but they also have multiple people to help them at home. I’d suggest you wait a year inbetween knees, which is what I’ve done. But that’s just me and my situation!
Get everything set up around your house as best you can pre-surgery, and it will help a lot afterwards. Make sure you have food, munchies, coloring book, crayons, books, fresh batteries in the TV remote. You will need cubic buttloads of ice to keep your ice machine running — I had a huge insulated cooler that I filled with multiple bags of ice and it would last me a few days (each ice pump refill will use close to 20 lbs of ice but it’s a wonderful machine).
RE the machine the bends your knee after surgery — damned if I can remember what it’s called! I’ve had it on in the hospital for 2 of my surgeries (the last two). Overall, 6 weeks out, it makes no difference if you’ve used one at home or not. That said, in the hospital I found it a wonderful mental boost in that it proved my knee would bend and that it didn’t hurt. I never take it home because a) I have a single bed and it wouldn’t fit, and b) the on-off switch is on the bottom and there’s no way I could turn it on/off, and c) it takes another person to get you in and out of it — which I don’t have. (My dogs are talented but aren’t that good!)
^^^ Thanks so much for those tips Donkaloosa! It sure helps (all of us I’m sure!) to get the real picture from those that have walked in our shoes (errr … knee BRACES! 
) before!
I had no idea any surgeon would do 2 at once. I cant even imagine going through that unless you plan on lying in bed and not moving for awhile!
Ah, True Colors, but you aren’t allowed to lie around in bed! You’re usually up the same night as the surgery to at least use a commode. By the next day, you are in PT walking. Let’s just say it’s a challenge! If you send me your email address by PM, I’ll send you a copy of Donk’s Guide To Knee Surgery, which I wrote up for my sports medicine doctor before he had his knee replaced!
[QUOTE=TrueColours;7656572]
Donkaloosa - I don’t believe there is any surgeon out there that would do 2 at once even if you asked them to. I know I will get my right done first and then my left will follow 3-6 months later[/QUOTE]
My surgeon said he would do both at once if that was what I really wanted. But, he said that healing was faster when done one at a time simply because you are able to get up and around better with one good leg.
I know one man that had both knees done at one time. He wanted it that way. He is a VERY tough old guy, wanted all the pain and therapy done at once to be done with it all. His insurance paid for him to go to a rehab place, so he was well cared for in his recovery time.
Never asked if he would do it again, but he gets around pretty good, is still a practicing horse practice Vet!
I’m 5 months out with my left knee and Bonesmart has been a great resource for me too. One thing I’ve noticed is that those of us who have done 1 knee think that those who do both at once are really brave, but the ones who do both think we’re the truly brave ones because we know what’s ahead and are going back for more. Some of the damage to my left knee was from injury so I hoped that I’d never need to deal with the right one. Unfortunately, the stress of being the “good” knee for the past year and a half has taken it’s toll. Now it’s just a question of when, not if.
Grimeskaren, I hope your surgery went well. Chemteach, TrueColours and goodhors - don’t be scared. Yes, recovery can be challenging but it is doable. To me the key things have been taking the pain meds that you need for as long as you need them (you will not get addicted), icing ( I don’t have a machine so I just use refreezable gel packs) constantly. If I was resting, I had an ice pack on so probably 20 hours a day those first 3-4 weeks. And accept that you can’t push this recovery - there is nothing you can do that will make your knee heal faster but you can slow recovery down. That was the hardest for me. I live with my sister who is in a wheelchair. The day after I got home, a light bulb in a ceiling fixture burned out. I learned that climbing a step ladder is really no different than doing stairs - going up, lead with the non-surgical leg; coming down, the surgical one. Not that I recommend trying it but it was good for me because I saw that I was still capable.
I am so glad I found this thread!
Thanks Donkaloosa - got your emails
My husband had both knees replaced on Dec. 2, 2010. He’s a farrier…you can imagine the stress that job puts on your knees!
He was back to work, part time, working with a buddy in mid-February 2011. He was back to work by himself, full time, on March 1.
A 3 month recovery time is not the norm…but his legs (esp his quads) were so strong going into the surgery, it helped him tremendously.
