Hi Sarah,

I am so sorry that you are out of other options than a TKR.  It is so stressful waiting and hoping that things will turn around and then such a dull sinking feeling when your waiting is over and its not the outcome that you had hoped for.  At least you will be out of pain and back to your normal life in the near future.

 I know you are really young for a TKR, but there are others out there who have done it and greatly improved their quality of life.  My sister was in her mid-forties when she got her TKRs and now at 61 they are in perfect shape.  You should know that she is well over 300 pounds, so if hers are still perfect with the stress she puts on them, yours should last a great deal longer.  They're talking 30 years now and the designs are better.  Just incidentally, her surgeon was a professor at Johns Hopkins who has since passed away. The difference in pain was so significant that she argued him into moving up the date of her second knee(he wanted her to wait 6 months).  You are wise in getting that second opinion in a top quality school, even though it means being patient again!

I know that your surgeon will say it is not a good option, but unless he has a better one that will let you fully live your life and enjoy your family and work without pain, I guess it is the only one.  I would expect that for many OSs there is a real sense of failure when they are unable to heal their patients and have to move on to a TKR sooner than the ideal, and that may encourage them to delay the inevitable at the expense of the patient.

For myself, I expect to live to be quite old, most likely over 100, and when I had my PKRs I knew that I would probably have to follow them with TKRs eventually.  They are doing great, so hopefully that will be quite a while from now, but I couldn't have continued to have a normal life if I had put them off.  Its part of the risk you take in exchange for getting your life back.

Good luck as you go through the next part of the journey.

Linda

 

What is so only about pain?  I could have lived with stiffness and swelling-a bit limiting for dancing, but it can be dealt with- but day in day out pain with every step is the feeling of your knee slowly grinding itself to pieces, and it will get worse.  With my first knee we thought it was an arthritis flare, and my knee going down hill took my rheumatologist and my surgeon by surprise, but I had worn a divot out of the bone in 6 months.

You have no respite if nights and rest are still painful, and eventually you will make the same decision but with an additional period of misery.  This is keeping you from moving around freely, from working, and from enjoying your own home and family activities.  Its not as if you are hurrying into this-you have tried everything else.  If a knee replacement is what you need to function now then be definite with your doctor that you would rather be able to move freely as a young mother than as an old lady. Remember that they are very skilled and highly paid employees of yours, not unlike a plumber. Respect their opinions but push for what is best for your life.  I have never asked my surgeon when I can go back to work, I have always told him when I would be returning(even though it meant I finished one year in a wheelchair for a month).  At first he was a little surprised, but he is a great guy and now after 5 surgeries he understands me. 

 I would start right away on your list of questions and concerns so you can use your time with each doctor productively and compare their replies to the same issues, then make your decisions.  Great that your husband will be there with you-they will know that you have the support you need for the time you would be recovering.

Good luck in all of this.

Linda