Hunting after knee replacement

[shrapnel]

I'm 50 and need a knee replacement. Everything I hear and read is I'm too young and need to wait for 5 or more years.

If you can use a calendar to tell you when you need a knee, you probably don’t need one. I had 70% of my meniscus removed and was told I would need a total knee in a few years. I didn’t have much trouble for years, a couple of cortisone shots every so often and I was doing fine.

One day, with no warning, I couldn’t stand the pain. I hobbled into the doctor and told them I had an emergency, I couldn’t walk or stand without excruciating pain. They fit me in, removed 50cc of fluid, gave me another cortisone shot and scheduled me for a total knee replacement.

There was no waiting, no amount of waiting to get older, just plain fix the knee with a replacement. If you can stand it, I guess you can wait, I just don’t understand how someone will tell you that you are too young if your knee is gone.
Age and calendars are for birthdays.

 

[BRI]

If you can use a calendar to tell you when you need a knee, you probably don’t need one. I had 70% of my meniscus removed and was told I would need a total knee in a few years. I didn’t have much trouble for years, a couple of cortisone shots every so often and I was doing fine.

One day, with no warning, I couldn’t stand the pain. I hobbled into the doctor and told them I had an emergency, I couldn’t walk or stand without excruciating pain. They fit me in, removed 50cc of fluid, gave me another cortisone shot and scheduled me for a total knee replacement.

There was no waiting, no amount of waiting to get older, just plain fix the knee with a replacement. If you can stand it, I guess you can wait, I just don’t understand how someone will tell you that you are too young if your knee is gone.
Age and calendars are for birthdays.

@shrapnel it's been a year since that post and an up and down year it has been. In May, something in the knee got aggravated and I could hardly put any weight on it. Routinely it felt like it would just give out on me. I went to the doc I'd been seeing for the last 10 years and they drained a lot of cc's of fluid from the knee and gave a cortisone shot. It took nearly two months to get better and to where I could walk more than a mile.

My job as a natural resource manager requires me to be in the field often and it was miserable enough two months to where I felt something needed to happen. So during another visit with the doc, we discussed partial and total. I asked if I was a candidate for partial (I've known four people that have had a partial that turned out awesome) and he felt I was so I planned for that in December. In mid July, the knee started feeling good enough I could get back and do my job.

Well my long time hunting partner happened to draw a breaks sheep tag and I was going to help him. I spent many days in the breaks with him covering a lot of that broken country. Sure it hurt but I felt OK and didn't think it hindered me too badly. I was still planning the partial since I was a candidate for that and went back in November for a pre-surgery appointment. I told him the knee did pretty good on a sheep hunt and he said not time then and not going through with the partial replacement. So I walked out of there kinda disappointed. It was a fairly crappy January where it hurt quite a bit.

Another good friend of mine that is youger than me was getting ready for a total replacement in early December (he's three months out and doing great) so I visited with him and set up an appointment with his doctor just for another consult. This doctor said the knee was shot and I was a good candidate for total knee replacement and did not recommend a partial feeling a total replacement was best. But he said they would never tell me if it was the right time or not and that I was the only one that would determine when was the right time. Perhaps the other doctor meant the same thing but certainly didn't deliver that message to me the same way. What I kept hearing was that I (meaning my knee and my age) was not ready.

My point in this is that different doctors say different things. Both may be right, both may be wrong. I needed to find a doctor that delivered the message I understood better (or wanted to hear). So now that I understand it is ultimately up to me, I'll figure out when it is right time. Some weeks I'm thinking "cut me now", others I'm thinking "maybe I can wait". So a good lesson for me as well.

 

[Bob-WY]

EKY what did they do in the surgery? If you lived in a brace locked straight for 6 weeks, the hell yeah that thing is going to be stiff. One of my knee surgeries pre-replacement put me in a brace for 12 weeks and on crutches. AFter 6 weeks, PT started SLOWLY bending it (surgery cut a bone open and inserted a wedge), but yes it was stiff and took time and pain to get it to move again.

Knee replacement used to have a life span, so I am guessing your doctor who said "to young" you need another doctor. I asked mine that exact question and he said that was true 10 years ago and replacing a replacement is HARD, but today the knees they use will outlast the person, over the last 5 they've supposedly made better glue, so that now lasts as well.

As for knowing, yes you will. Eventually it becomes this hurts so much it's stopping me from doing my life. For me, I could hunt, hike, walk and it annoyed me to hurt, depending what I did. Over time it got to where going for a walk around the block with my wife put me on the couch with advil and ice. It was time, when walking takes teh joy out of everything, it's time, actually probably a bit past!

 

[EKY Hunter]

Thx bob for responding. I cut a tree on my rt leg on 1-6-21. Spent the night in the hospital and the X-rays showed a broken fibula. They put it in a locked brace and sent me home. I knew I was hurt worse so my wife set me up with a orthopedic dr and by the time I had my mri done it was 4 weeks later. The mri revealed I tore my acl and meniscus. He recommended surgery. The quickest they could get me in was 2-15. So I had my acl repaired with a cadaver. They cut out part of my meniscus cause it couldn’t be fixed. Strict orders no weight bearing or flex until further orders. So at the first follow up which was 12 days later he gave me a referral for physical therapy. I’ve been to 3 appointments so far and I’ve been doing therapy at home just what they showed me. First day my flex was 55. By the second visit I was 61. I just had a visit with morning and I’m at 79. My extension is good. I know it’s going to take time and it’s something that will really be up to me to work the pt. I have up and down moments with it and just hoping to regain at least 120 flex. Thx for responding

 

[Dave N]

Good luck with the recovery. I had a cadaver ACL replacement myself. That was it, though. Nowhere near the damage you had. Follow your instructions religiously and even more if you can. It will get better!!!

 

[EKY Hunter]

Thx Dave I will

 

[Otto Matic]

Can't testify to a knee. BUT my wife had both hips replaced in a 6-month span. A month after the first one she ran in a 5-mile timed run.
She is 64.
After suffering for many years before she says everyday Man I wish I had it done a long time ago.

BUT that said, I understand you HAVE TO DO ALL THE THERAPY CORRECTLY OR YOUR IN FOR PROBLEMS!!!

Damaged my left hip in a car wreck.
Doc pieced it back together as best he could.
Fourteen years later, I looked like "Granpappy Amos", hobbling around, all humped over!
Pelvis wasn't level so my back was all out of whack.
Had hip replaced.
WOW! Why didn't I do that sooner?
That was 16 years ago. Unless you just know, you can't tell by my gait.
I was hunting 4 months after surgery.
My only drawback (?) was that on really cold days, that metal implant made my butt cold sitting in a box blind!
Since then, I've had my right shoulder replaced in 2019.
Next month, I'm going to have my right ankle repaired.
Right now, doc says I'm "bone on bone", causing pain.
They'll jack it up a little then fuse it in place.
I'll lose a little flexibility, but no more bone on bone pain.

NOTE: when damaged joints start causing problems, DON'T WAIT!
The sooner you have the problem addressed, the quicker you recover and your quality of life increases.
I recently saw a hunt in Alaska where a guide took a hunter into the Wrangells on a sheep hunt.
The hunter was successful and had decided to do the hunt AFTER having both knees replaced.

Today's orthopedic surgery is a God send to us old farts, decreasing pain and increasing mobility!

 

[MarvB]

Good to hear, I’m following this thread as I’m scheduled for TJR on my left knee on 4/19. Last year the downhill in Salmon was a bit more than it’s up too anymore

 

[EKY Hunter]

This morning I did my home therapy and got 90 degree flex. I noticed my swelling for some reason went way down last night. I’ve been persistent with therapy as I want to get back to my lifestyle. I keep at it and post updates. I have orthopedic appointment tomorrow morning.

 

[MarvB]

Are you using a Tens unit or any cold therapy with your recovery?

 

[MarvB]

Knee replacement used to have a life span, so I am guessing your doctor who said "to young" you need another doctor. I asked mine that exact question and he said that was true 10 years ago and replacing a replacement is HARD, but today the knees they use will outlast the person, over the last 5 they've supposedly made better glue, so that now lasts as well.

Friend of my is an ortho doc (primarily shoulders) and told me that there used to be a lot of push back on Drs by insurance companies if the patient was younger (regarding replacements) as the ins co felt that too young and the joint/device would eventually fail again and they’d be on the hook for a second surgery. I went through this a year ago last December and “settled” for another clean out, shots, and a debridement all of which just made the pain worse and the knee stiffer. First surgery fixed me up for nearly 40 years, second not at all... looking forward to the replacement next month with the hopes it one-n-done and I can get back to doing everything I want!
Good luck in your rehabs gents!

 

[Straight Arrow]

Severed my patellar tendon crashing in the rocks during a backpack trip, was hoisted out of Gates of Mountains Wilderness by Two Bear Air, knee was opened up and stitched back together by Alpine Ortho in Bozeman, wore a grizzly-bear-trap-brace for six weeks 24/7, then began a five month PT program with an outstanding therapist. Continue to follow the knee strengthening, stretching, and balance exercises. I ran (using the term loosely) 2 1/2 miles the other day and can hike strongly. I look forward to many more hikes, backpack trips, and elk hunting throughout my senior years ... and this lame guy is no spring chicken! So work with your therapist, do the exercises, stay positive ... try to run out of money before running out of mobility!

 

[EKY Hunter]

Are you using a Tens unit or any cold therapy with your recovery?

I ask about using a tens unit and my therapist said it wouldn’t help on my injury. I just use a ice machine that pumps cold water to my knee. I use it throughout the day from time to time

 

[Dave N]

I ask about using a tens unit and my therapist said it wouldn’t help on my injury. I just use a ice machine that pumps cold water to my knee. I use it throughout the day from time to time

Those are AWESOME!

 

[glass eye]

Just go hunting !
I nearly lost my leg at the knee when I was 13 and I've lived with the pain ever since. I'm 58 and in 2013 I tore the meniscus on my good knee while hunting tahr in the New Zealand Alps. I continued to hunt after we came down from the mountain, albeit close to the vehicle, and managed to arrow a nice chamois, wallaby, and a couple goats while hobbling around in pain.
I had procrastinated in getting surgery for the torn meniscus and in time I walked it off so to speak.

two years ago I took a friend to NZ and he too had a motorcycle accident that nearly took his leg. He cannot bend his knee at all, it is permanently fused, and he still managed to climb some steep cliffs in spite of his impaired mobility and fear of heights.
My point is....don't let pain stop you. It may slow you down but don't let it keep you on the couch.

 

[EKY Hunter]

That’s inspirational. Good going

 

[Otto Matic]

Friend of my is an ortho doc (primarily shoulders) and told me that there used to be a lot of push back on Drs by insurance companies if the patient was younger (regarding replacements) as the ins co felt that too young and the joint/device would eventually fail again and they’d be on the hook for a second surgery. I went through this a year ago last December and “settled” for another clean out, shots, and a debridement all of which just made the pain worse and the knee stiffer. First surgery fixed me up for nearly 40 years, second not at all... looking forward to the replacement next month with the hopes it one-n-done and I can get back to doing everything I want!
Good luck in your rehabs gents!

Had my hip replaced at McBride Ortho in OKC in 2005.
Same day, a friend had his knee replaced.
Six weeks later, I kept a cane in my truck, just in case.
My buddy was still on crutches but doing VERY well.
Knees are just harder to recover from.
The hip the surgeon used in my hip was designed by THE Dr. McBride the clinic and hospital is named after.
The last time I had a checkup, the surgeon that did the implant told me he had on patient who had recieved a "McBride" hip in 1958 and WAS STILL DOING WELL! No problems! That was in 2017!
Knees, hips and shoulders are pretty much a piece of cake with knee recovery the longest, then shoulder and hip recovery is more healing than rehabbing!

 

[Otto Matic]

NOTE: messed up an elbow playing football in high school.
The joint is now "bone on bone".
The only way to pain relief is an elbow replacement.
An elbow replacement can only handle 5 to 10 pounds max and is relatively fragile and will not stand up to any "compression" or "shock" load. No hitting, slapping, elbowing OR falling on the elbow.
If you should fall and break a bone, it can't be repaired.
Elbow replacement surgery has a 24% failure rate.

 

[MarvB]

I ask about using a tens unit and my therapist said it wouldn’t help on my injury. I just use a ice machine that pumps cold water to my knee. I use it throughout the day from time to time

Yeah I’ve already got a Tens and a ice/air cast from my last surgery but am looking into those ice water pumps. I’ve gotten wear I can deal with the knee pain, more nagging than anything else, but my knee will lock out at 80% of straight extension whenever it feels like it (no rhyme nor reason for it I can prevent) and then it’s like I’m wrestling with myself to get it to release so I can walk. Happened on our hunt 2-3 miles back in and took me nearly a half hour on the ground to get it back straight. Was thinking I’d have to use my partners Nosler to finish the job!

 

[glass eye]

Yeah I’ve already got a Tens and a ice/air cast from my last surgery but am looking into those ice water pumps. I’ve gotten wear I can deal with the knee pain, more nagging than anything else, but my knee will lock out at 80% of straight extension whenever it feels like it (no rhyme nor reason for it I can prevent) and then it’s like I’m wrestling with myself to get it to release so I can walk. Happened on our hunt 2-3 miles back in and took me nearly a half hour on the ground to get it back straight. Was thinking I’d have to use my partners Nosler to finish the job!

When I tore my meniscus in my good knee it would lock up on me like you described. Took several months, maybe a year I guess, but eventually it worked itself out. Never had surgery done on it.