Upcoming knee surgery

[David Ragan]

I having a torn medial meniscus surgery Friday; arthroscopy.

It is a good thing, cause its killin me.

I have a bunch of exercises to do, am sure to be compelled to do PT. Have ice packs, etc

Am just looking for some encouragment cause am going to be out of work, bored out of my mind.

Anyone had this before that can tell me "definitely do this" and "definitely dont do that"

I am not looking for 'medical advice'

Just scared, I guess.

[Jerry Bruette]

Just took the ice pack off my right knee so I could come and give you some encouragement.

I had my right knee scoped on Jan. 20 and had two tears cleaned up, one on the inside of my knee and one on the outside.

I still have some swelling and stiffness in the morning and evening.

Be sure to do you're exercises but don't over do them, my therapist thinks I'm having some tendonitis from over doing one of the exercises.

At least you're someplace warm, I do my woodworking in the garage and it's been too cold to do anything out there.

You could probably be back in the shop, for short periods, after a week or so. Had my surgery on a Tuesday and first therapy on Thursday of the same week. Quit using crutches by the following Tuesday.

Did your doctor give you pre-op exercises? If I have this again I'd probably do some pre-op exercises for strength.

Good Luck.

P.S. nice tagline.

[Scott Shepherd]

Good luck David! You'll be fine! I haven't had it done, but I've been around a number of people recently that have had various things fixed or replaced and the one thing I'd offer up is to follow the doctor and PT regiment religiously. Of the people in my life, the ones that have done EXACTLY as asked have done well. Those that have said "Well, they told me to do it twice a day, but I'm tired and I feel fine", have ended up way behind those that did exactly as ordered. If they say do 50 reps, twice a day, do 50 reps, twice a day.

[Tom Davis]

David:

I had the same surgery done last December 12 ( a Friday). It was the easiest surgery I have ever had. I came off of the pain meds Saturday afternoon. I was on Crutches trough Sunday and moved to a cane on Monday. I did not have do any Physical Therapy.

2 "dont's":

Stay ahead of the pain curve. Don't wait until you start to hurt to take your meds.

Don't fall.

Good luck

[Raymond Fries]

Hope you heal soon and get back to those things you enjoy. While you are recovering I hope you find some new interests to avoid your anticipated boredom.

Take Care and Enjoy Life...

[Joe Tilson]

David,
You will be fine. Had knee replacement a few years back. Did what the doctors and therapist told me to. Everything went very well. Our prayers are for you, and the doctors and nurses who will attend you.
Sincerely,
Joe

[Mike Berrevoets]

I'll second the advice to stay ahead of the pain curve.

I had an ACL and both "Sides?" of the meniscus repaired on a Tuesday afternoon a few years ago. By Wednesday night I was feeling good, I think I'm pretty tough, so I stopped taking any pain meds even though my wife was nagging me to keep using them. (I just don't like pain meds.) I found out late Wednesday night that I was in fact not very tough and my wife was in fact very right. It took a while for the pain meds to kick back in and I was not a happy camper for about 6 hours. I don't know what hurt more, my leg or my wife telling me "I told you so". I stopped taking the pain meds on Saturday and was just down to ibuprofen for maybe a week or so after that.

I was back to work the next Monday at my desk job. Ditched the crutches a few weeks later at the doctors orders. Did the PT as told and within a few months it was back to normal like it never happened. No problems since then.

Follow the doctors orders and I think you'll be fine. I'm a believer in the PT as I think that is what helped me to get back to normal much faster. Also, working with a physical therapist gave me back a lot of confidence in my knee. They pushed me just enough and at the right times so when I was done with PT I was convinced everything was back to normal. I probably wouldn't have pushed myself like they did out of fear of re-injury.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Recent rehab from new hip.

Things I did, besides naps:

1. Sort and re-org all my wood screws. More to it than meets the eye: 4 drawers under the bench, total of 100+/- different items. Into small cardboard jewelry boxes, with description and head-style line dwg. [brass, ss, sq drive, panhead, countersunk, #5 thru #12 - quite a load accumulated over the years].
2. Sharpen stuff - can do this sitting down at my back bench.
3. Detail designs for a couple pieces I have long had in mind.
4. More naps.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

Tom gave you some sage advice. Stay ahead of the pain by taking the meds as prescribed.

Follow the doctor's orders.

It's normal to be nervous before surgery. I worked in the medical field for 34 years and when I had to have cochlear implant surgery 3 1/2 years ago, I was a little nervous even though I had researched it thoroughly!

You and your medical team will be in my thoughts and prayers!

Report back to let us know how it went!

[Keith Outten]

I don't mind telling you that I also got some very good advice and lots of encouragement here when I got out of the hospital in May this year. I received Private Messages, email and snail mail from people who had been though the same problems I was experiencing and their words of wisdom were some of the best medicine I received. I followed my doctors orders and when I started a 12 week cardiac rehab program I stayed in the program and followed the nurses instructions to the letter.

I can't imagine a better support group than the people who belong to this Community.
.

[Brian Deakin]

I live in the Uk. and have had three knee operations over a 25 year period The advice I would suggest is
I have had three knee operations over a 25 year period I would suggest the follwing


(1) Lose weight if you are overweight Any additional weight you have places greater stress on your knees
(2) Identify EXATLY what exercises to do to maintain/improve your knee stability Committing to doing exercises on a regular basis is essential to functioning of your knee in the long term
(3) Ask the question what exercises /activities you should not do
(4) Wear shoes with rubber soles with some form of cushioning In the UK we have Ecco shoes which have a soft rubber sole and Clarks shoes
(5) Take care on wet floors and walking downhill
(6)It is absolutely essential you continue to exercise appropriately to maintain Knee function
(7) Do not carry heavy items ask for help?
(8) Consider using a knee support for certain activities
(9) Get someone to video you or the physiotherapist doing the appropriate exercises on your phone Use this recording to remind you how to do the exercises correctly
(10) Discuss the content of this advice with your doctor and follow his/her which of the above points are appropriate for you

[Bob Turkovich]

David,

I tore my miniscus in 2008 (stupid ladder trick - missed the bottom rung). [I had also tore my ACL in the same knee in 1969 (IM football) but back then they didn't have MRI's and since I was not an "athlete" the decision was made to do nothing and live with it. I learned to ski, play racquetball and was a single digit-handicap golfer in the subsequent years.]

The MRI in 2008 confirmed the meniscus tear and also that I basically had no ACL. My surgeon convinced me that I should do nothing about the ACL but that with the meniscus surgery I could do anything I could do prior to the ladder incident. I was planning on taking the family on a trip to Yosemite 8 weeks after the surgery and he thought that shouldn't be an issue.

I had the surgery as planned. Funny thing - when the surgeon showed up in pre-op, his one leg was in a brace. He had ACL surgery the week before.

I was back at work (desk job) in 3 days. No crutches but needed a walking pole for the first couple of days. The best pain relief for me was ice - lots of it. There was a contraption available that had tubes running from a large thermos container to a knee wrap. You fill the cooler with ice water and - when in pain - put the cooler above your knee and open the valve to the tubes. When done, put the thermos below your knee and let the water drain back into the cooler. Then repeat when needed. My co-workers referred to it as my personal morphine drip as the relief promptly showed on my face when I turned the valve on. I couldn't have gone through that first week without it.

I also did the PT exactly as prescribed. When I visited the surgeon for my post op visit after about 5 weeks, he gave me the OK to do some hiking in Yosemite.

8 weeks after the surgery, I did the 8.5 mile Panorama Trail with my family (and I am definitely above average weight for my height) . My hips and feet were killing me but the knee was fine.

I was 57 when the surgery was done. I'm sure age makes a difference in recovery but by following the prescribed PT you should be fine. And lots of ice...

[Kent A Bathurst]

Almost makes me want to set up some kind of poll to determine what % of Creekers are falling apart, to one extent or another.

With my first hip - told my Dad "You should have gotten me the extended warranty." Him: "The warranty ran out the same day you left for college."

back operation
2 new hips
appendectomy

David - all the advice is correct, IMO: Get out in front of the pain with the meds. Don't wait until the pain gets intolerable - keep it from even getting there. On the rahab - do what I say, not what I do - gut out the exercises on schedule.

[Larry Edgerton]

I talked the doc into giving me a local and letting me watch the last time I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee. It was very cool to watch them work see if you can talk them into that.

This particular doc patched me up a bunch so he knew me well. I used to tell him I should be able to borrow his Porsche because I paid for it. He just laughed......

[Myk Rian]

Go shopping and use the powered carts, or wheelchairs.
Get a handicapped parking pass.