Knee Arthrites

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nannyhicks49
nannyhicks49 Member Posts: 27
in Living with arthritis

I am on course for knee replacement and I’m terrified but I know it’s got to be done, can’t straighten my legs and knees bowing out. Can anyone help me out here it’s really affecting my anxiety

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  • Ellen
    Ellen Moderator Posts: 1,628
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    Good Morning @nannyhicks49

    I can totally understand your anxiety at the prospect of much needed surgery. I am going to attach a thread which might give you some reassurance:

    https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/52563/knee-replacement-surgery-has-it-helped

    Some of the people who have posted are still active in the Community @Lilymary @Chris and @mads to name a few.

    I hope one or two of them will come along soon to give you some reassurance.

    Best wishes

    Ellen.

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,426
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    I can understand your fear too @nannyhicks49

    Surgery is scary. I always think getting informed is the best thing. So many of us on here have had different surgeries

    I remember a few years ago we seemed to have a summer of knee replacements (this year seems to have been more hips!) so I want to put a link to an 'old' thread which lots of people added to:

    https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/33699/helens-bilateral-tkr

    I hope it helps reassure you a bit.

    Sending you some ((()))

    BTW I run away from hospitals so now they are very kd to me and give me ' something' when I get there to calm me down. Might be worth telling the staff just how scared you are?

    Love

    Toni xx

  • wazz42
    wazz42 Member Posts: 233
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    I've had a TKR - before that I was in real pain and struggling to get around at all.

    I went to a Joint School at the hospital I was being operated on for 1/2 a day and we were given the exercises that we would be doing after the op. I chose to do them before the op as well so I could get used to them but in fact they are the same ones as you will find on the VA website (Versus Arthritis) and I believe that was a great help, in having strong muscles before hand and having knowledge of what to do afterwards. I still do the video now, I have a number of joints affected by OA.

    The operation itself was fine. I had a spinal block and chose to go to sleep, I woke up a bit before the end but that was fine I had a chat with the anaesthetist slept a bit more and all was done. I would definitely go for this option next time, recovery is much quicker and I wasn't sick at all (usually very sick after a general anaesthetic.)

    I am so pleased with my new knee - Daisy is her name, she is perfect, bends nicely no pain!!!! I will definitely have more ops of this sort if they become necessary for me.

    It does hurt after the op, but it's a different pain, the kind that will go and it is painful to do the exercises to begin with afterwards but this is the one occasion when you must push on. It's healing inside and you don't want it healing 'tight' - that would leave you pain free but not able to bend or straighten your leg. I did one day at a time until I got to one week after, then I compared what I could do now with what I could do last week and the time soon went.

    Good luck with whatever you choose, I'm sure you will choose wisely

    xx

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,742
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    I had a new hip rather than a new knee, but we have a lot of new knees in our family, and all have gone well. My sister resumed teaching her aerobics classes not that long after each of hers were done, and has since been horse riding and fell walking. Doing the exercises is key to a good recovery though, particularly post op, but the better toned your muscles are pre-surgery, the faster your recovery will be.

    There will be some pain involved post op, it's only natural given what they're going to do with your knee, but as others have said (and as I found with my hip) it's a very different pain and more manageable. But most importantly, it's a pain you know will go, whereas without the op, the pain is only going to get worse. It's a wonderful feeling as you start getting bits of your life back again.

    For me, a "Big Surgery Newbie", I found the best way to deal with the anxiety was not to overthink it (or in my case, I went into a state of blissful complete denial! 😅) and put your trust entirely in the surgeons and their team, and the nurses and physios who will help you afterwards. This is their job, they're trained for it, they do it day in day out year after year. They know what they're doing, so just let them get on with it. I found them all incredibly kind and helpful. I'm sure they'll see you right.

  • nannyhicks49
    nannyhicks49 Member Posts: 27
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    I’d like to thank everyone for their positive comments, so far I’ve had so many negative stories I think that is what has scared me

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