TKR - June 24, 2005

It's been a long hard painful road but I'm seeing the light at the end
of the tunnel.

First I want to say the the minimually invasive TKR went wonderfully
well.  The surgeon did a great job.  I have had a little more pain then
I might have had. I couldn't take the recommended doseages of pain
medication so pain wasn't as well managed as it could have been(this is
unusual, most people have great pain management). I had great mobility
right away.  I was walking with a walker the next day, and with a cane
in a week. My bend is 119 at this time.  Normal bend is 135.  I'd be
doing even better if I could exercise more but the RA has been a
problem plus other complications (root canal) I had after surgery.  The
incision is small and it looks like it will be fairly invisible once
it's fully healed.

The bad news is that the side effects from the surgery for me were
pretty intense.  Bowels didn't work for a few days and meds caused lots
of stomach discomfort, pain and nausa.  In the middle of all this a
tooth with a filling and crown decided to self distruct and I had to
have a root canal.  This was exactly two weeks after my TKR. Needless
to say, it caused me a few steps backward.

Since I hadn't taken RA meds since early June my RA is flaring.  My
shoulders, hands and wrists have been affected the most.  This makes it
difficult to exerise.  Just this week my "good knee" has become swollen
so it's stiff and not as flexible as it was.  Good news is that I've
just started back on Enbrel, Naproxen and MTX.  I'm hoping that the
meds will kick in and I'll be more comfortable in a few weeks.  My RA
doctor says he'll give me a steriod shot in my "good knee" next month
if I'm not improved to my satisfaction.

All in all I think the minimally invasive TKR is the way to go.  You
recover from the surgery and regain mobility fairly quickly. (Hopefully
going back on meds and beating the onset of a flare.)I would have been
able to go back to my meds two weeks after the TKA except that my root
canal revealed infection.) RA however can cause delays in recovery, and
can be quite frustrating, but I can't imagine how long it would take to
recover from the standard TKR.

Currently I'm walking with a cane when I'm outside and without a cane
indoors. My knee is really great and if the other knee becames more
damaged I wouldn't hesitate to have the minimally invasive TKR again.

If you have any questions please ask them on the message board or email
me.

Elizabeth