I might need surgery on my right knee.
Ron Knights
Posts: 1,805
I am 70 years old, and facing the usual health concerns. My right knee has bothered me for 30+ years. I just had an MRI test today. I got the test results, and will need the doctor to translate. It appears I have a torn meniscus (I think that has something to do with the ability to support my weight), and severe loss of cartilage. The cartilage helps cushion the bones while you move... Something like that. I have an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor on June 23. I wasn't able to schedule the appointment any earlier because I needed to get transportation. I live in a small city, and transporation options are limited. I might be offline for awhile, or not feel like hitting the forums. I usually try to have a relatively low profile these days anyway. It's just nice to be able to voice my concerns in public.
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both my meniscuses are gone, I have bone on bone with little spikey spurs
am on a waiting list for knee surgery but honestly don't think I will bother
not heard great things and I find walking a lot albeit slow helps immensely
the arthritic cervical joint in my neck giving me bursitis in both rotator cuffs on my shoulders is more of a worry
I had surgery to repair a badly-torn meniscus eight years ago. It's a common condition, and the procedures for dealing with it are now well-established and routine. In my case, they performed an arthroscopic surgery, making two small incisions to allow the surgeon to insert instruments and a fiber-optic probe so that they can see what they're doing. That's probably what they'll do with you too.
Recovery does take a while. Post-operative pain is relatively minor -- I think I only needed the prescription pain meds they gave me for a day or two, then switched to basic over-the-counter NSAIDS. However, while the incisions are very small, there'll be a lot of post-operative swelling around the knee, making it difficult to move. They'll give you exercises to do to restore range of motion, and they should also prescribe you physical therapy. Do all the exercises and start the PT as soon as you can: it makes a big difference. You'll probably need to use a cane to walk with for the first week or two, and it may take two or three months (including physical therapy) to get back the range of motion in your knee.
Your doctor will be able to advise you better than I can about the risks and benefits of the surgery. I'm younger than you are -- late forties when I had the operation, mid-fifties now -- so it may be a bit different for you. What I can tell you is that if you've been in pain for thirty years -- and a torn meniscus is agonizing -- you'll be amazed how much better you feel once it's taken care of.
For some years after the operation I was careful only to do exercise that wouldn't stress the knee -- swimming, cycling, elliptical etc. A few months back, I finally decided to try running again. The other day I hit my goal of doing a four-mile run at a pace of under eight minutes a mile. That isn't going to shatter any records, even for my age group, but considering that my meniscus was basically shredded, it's some kind of proof of how effective the operation was.
Best of luck with your knee; I hope the operation and recovery both go smoothly, and that you can put knee pain behind you for good.
I had my left knee done 25 years ago and the right about 15 years ago. The issue with a torn meniscus is that the flap can get shifted and ends up jamming the knee joint - like sticking a toothpick into the gears of a clock. Arthroscopic surgery for this is outpatient surgery - portal to portal about 3 hours and you walk out on your own. 15 years ago they put an ace (elastic) bandage on my knee, gave me a prescription for Tylenal-3 and set me up for 8 weeks of twice-weekly hour-long rehab sessions - and the rehab director cut it to 4 weeks on her first evaluation. Listen to the surgeon and follow the directions from the rehab team, you'll be fine.
I'm sorry to hear that, Ron. I hope everything goes well. Take care of yourself. *hugs*
In the early 1990's I had to have two operations to grind away the end of my thigh bone so new bone & carilage could grow there because the end of my thigh was collapsing. The second was fairly sucessful. The first op was done under local and the second under a general. Either way the op itself was painless keyhole surgery, with the biggest problem being drain removal before going home after the day surgery (the really weird feeling of the pipe being pulled out triggered a vomit reflex). Recovery was quick and relatively painless. You should be OK Ron.
On the plus side, you don't need knees to manipulate the DS controls.
If only we could take ourselves into Blender/Zbrush etc and fix it.
Being 71 myself, I sympathize with the knee problems.
For decades I was a bodybuilder, and had naturally strong legs that I worked heavily. But I overdid it once and heard/felt a knee tendon or ligament beginning to tear. I stopped the lift immediately and never did such heavy leg days again but my left knee has bothered me for about 25 years now. I was muscular and over 200 pounds in my 30s, and reached a muscular max of 220 in my late 40s, I stopped lifting in my late 50s because of joint issues (knee, hip, feet, back) but didn't stop my bodybuilder eating habits, and have been over 230 for the last 10 years 
. So, I've been carrying a lot of weight for more than half my life now and both knees are now hurting from arthritis and/or degraded cartilage. I have been considering knee surgery for the last 6 months or so. Keep us appraised of your progress.
Hope that your surgeon is in top form on the day.
And make sure he operates on the right knee, not the wrong knee.
Best of luck to you.
Good luck with the op, Ron - hope it gets you mobile again!
Thanks, everyone for your words of encouragement, insight, and humor. I am deeply touched. I do have an idea this type of procedure is fairly easy or routine these days. I've struggled with my weight for decades. Over the past 6 years, I reduced from a high of 330 pounds, down to 274. I still remember my best times. In 1980, I had gone down from 200 pounds to 160. I had a 32" waist. At 30 years old, I was in the best shape of my life. I could ride a bike 50 miles non-stop, and out-raced everyone in the indoor track at the YMCA. Everything went downhill starting in 1983. It's one of those "long stories" which will not be told here.
These days I really want to get out and walk, or ride a bike. We have many miles of paved bike trails around Hastings, MN, and we're near the Mississippi River. I love being around rivers etc. I'd make YouTube videos again, like I did when I lived in Maine.. Thanks again for your support.
Well, first of all, let me say I'm sorry to hear your knee went all crappo on you Ron... (you don't mind if I call you Ron, do you?)... (I was gonna call you Dave, or maybe Octavius... that seemed like a good gladiator name... I think people don't take gladiator names as often as they used to and it's kind of a shame...)
Anyway... Even though I had nothing to do with your knee problems (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), I feel for you Octavius... Dave... Don?... Ron!
Sorry Ron... unless you like Octavius better.
Ron's good, I'll stick to Ron until I forget and start calling you something else okay Dave?
Anyway... don't worry this isn't going to be another one of my really long and hard to read responses to your posts like I used to do at Hivewire... It's going to be much shorter, but actually harder to read...
I epoh s'taht ton a melborop... Megh... writing backwards is too much trouble... so never mind... this will be regular difficult to read...
Anyway... I wish there was something I could do to help... I'd offer to drive you there (the knee doctor) (Kneeologist?) but you sound far away (Minnesota?) and my wife doesn't like when I drive far away by myself because there is always some unpleasantness and I'm asked not to return to that area anymore and eventually I have to detour around too many places when we go anywhere, and Minnesota is one of those places my wife has always wanted to visit... or was that Hawaii?... Hawaii or Minnesota... one of those... I know it's a place I can't drive to... You can't drive to Hawaii, but I'm not welcome in Wisconsin and Iowa anymore so technically it would be harder to get to Minnesota from here... I could wear a disguise but people always freak out when they see a gorilla driving...
Anyway...
I'd offer to fix it myself... for free even... but you probably want to keep using your knee for knee stuff and I'm not really experienced in Kneeboneology or knee stuff in general, so it wouldn't be the soundest idea... I could whittle you a new knee out of oak or mahogany, or even make a cool Fullmetal Alchemist kinda steampunk knee out of scrap copper and brass... but that's probably not as good as having your actual knee working.
I'm thinking it's probably better to let the kneeboneologist fix it, he'll probably do a much better job than I would...
Unless he's an alcoholic or something... I hope you asked him about that before you made the appointment... I always ask that of doctors before they try and fix something on me... usually that's been in an emergency room, but they still seem a bit put off by that question... but seriously, they started asking questions first... like "how'd this happen?", "are you crazy?" and "that wasn't a good idea was it?"... etc, etc...
Anyway... I'm sure you'll be just fine and he's probably not an alcoholic... I probably shouldn't have even brought that up, because now you'll be trying to smell his breath or checking to see if he has a bottle of whiskey in his doctor bag... a friend of mine is a doctor and he has a rubber chicken in his doctor bag... he doesn't know it yet because I put it in there the last time I was there and I guess he hasn't opened it yet... I only did it because being a doctor is stressful and I thought he could use a laugh... I'm sure he'll call me to tell me when he finds it... he called right away about the plastic spider in the Sonogram machine... for some reason he didn't find that so funny.
Anyway...
I'm sure this is way longer than you care for and probably not very helpful... I just wanted to maybe make you smile or grin or get a headache read my post... you have a headache already don't you?... I'm sorry...
Anyway...
Feel better Octavius... or Don... Dave... RON!
Ron!
Feel better Ron and keep us updated on your knee... I hope everything goes well.
Cheers Bro.
...ow, I had that happen about 32 years ago after raking fall. Fortunately arthroscopic surgery had just become the normal procedure. and yes, it was a "same day" outpatient procedure and after about a week and a half (with a knee wrap) I was up and getting around without crutches and after a few weeks of light therapy was fully recovered.
My brother had the same injury back in the late 60s and then it required full open surgery followed with couple months of recovery and therapy. We ended up renting a hospital bed and placing it in the dining room so he didn't have to contend with stairs. He was on crutches for over a month. As the injury occurred while he was a member of the school's wresting programme, the costs were fortunately covered.
As my case was the result of a third party's negligence, I received a rather generous settlement and one of the things I did that late spring was go to Hawai'i for several weeks (as well as paid for the next year of college). One of the things the therapist mentioned was good ongoing treatment were warm swirling waters and hey why not enjoy a lot of sun, Mai Tais, and broiled mahi mahi while I was at it?
Had the same surgery in February. Not too painful was out from work for about 3 weeks. Came back just in time for the covid-19 quarantine. So, fortunately, I've been able to recuperate and work remotely too. So good luck Ron, don't let this stop you from doing the things you love.
McGyver, "long time no see?!" With that in mind, it was a real pleasure to skim through your post. I like your sense of humor, but will not even attempt to copy you! Thanks for the humor, and the well-wishes!
kyotokid, I didn't think you were that old?! Obviously, the injury wasn't good, but the vacation and stuff sounds great! Alliekatblue, I'll hang in there. I'm glad your surgery turned out ok. The worst thing now is that my right wrist won't tolerate any weight or pressure. I use my cane on the right side. But maybe I should have the cane on the left side since the bad knee is on the right?!
Mine was the left knee and I used the cane on the right
Sorry for your troubles and hoping everything works out the best possible. I had my knee done in 2005 and have almost zero cartilage ever since. Sucks, but not getting it taken care of would have been worse. These days they've got more sophisticated diagnostic equipment and less invasive techniques to fix things. Every reason to be optimistic for the long term. Have my fingers crossed for you and hope you give the occasional update.
...or use 3-D printing to make him a new one. Go Ron go!!!
You're the only one who can get me to read wall-o-text. :P
But you can't force me to repost it. lol
It always amazes me how long some of us have been around, even before Daz existed. I hope everything goes well with your knee Ron.
...yeah, in my mid 60s now. . Yeah also had several cracked ribs on the opposite side so using a pair of crutches just after the accident was painful and I ended up only using one What happened I was walking across the campus one evening heading to a friend's place when I fell into a hole that contractors (who were building a new set of residence apartments). There were no barricades or even tape and the lights in that area of campus were out (they accidentally cut into the underground lines the fed the lighting system in that section). hence the Settlement I mentioned. Had I turned just a few more degrees when I stepped into nothingness, I would have landed with my lower back on steam pipes and would be in a wheelchair these days.
Recovery form the surgery was nothing compared to the pain I endured just after the fall. I was on two powerful pain killers and still don't remember about ten days of my life save for when I asked my flatmate what was the deal with the stack of empty pizza boxes on the porch, he told me i just kept ordering pizza every day. Yeah, some really good meds. The Surgery was a piece of cake (no where near what my brother had to go through) and I was only in "post op" pain for only a few days (more pain killers but nothing like what I got after the accident) then just stiffness for which I was given a regimen of simple exercises to work out. As the surgery was near the yule holidays and I was travelling back to see family, I got the bulkhead row (which had the most legroom) all to myself both ways flying old Braniff Airways (with the big leather seats) Was like having a living room sofa (crikey, I miss how flying was back then). By the time I was ready to head back home Olympia, I no longer needed the crutches, but still kept them with me in case as I was warned back then that sometimes one of the drawbacks was the possibility of a "trick knee" that could give out without warning (my brother had that happen on occasion) as the procedure was still relatively new.
I still get a bit of an ache in that knee now & then particularly in cold weather (my arthritis hasn't made matters any better either). but as for normal walking, it doesn't bother me unless I turn too quick or misjudge stepping off a curb (so much for my tennis and skiing career [in the 70s, I was both into tennis and an avid skier as well as one of those "hotdoggers" who did the flips and tricks that were frowned upon back then and yet is now an Olympic event]).
...yeah I still remember "making art" with pencils, pastels, brushes, and paints. "Modelling" back then meant building scale aircraft (both display and radio control) and cars or messing around with clay.
Alliekatblue, it figures, I've been using my cane on the wrong side all these years. I've had this cane for maybe 10 years. I started using it because the right knee would sometimes collapse on me. Roman_K2, you know that's not too far off. I bet some people have already had new 3D-printed joints! Go! Diomede, thanks for the support. These days I pretty much only use the iMac once or twice a day. The iMac has all my DAZ Studio stuff on it, and I use it to check the DAZ forum mostly. The rest of the day I sit on my recliner, and use a special computer desk. I read comics from Marvel Unlimited most of the day. (I bought a year's subscription. I have a 17" PC notebook connected to a 39" monitor for reading comics!
Kyoto Kid, yeah so we're pretty close in age! Malander, I'm really dating myself when I mention I got my first computer (a useless Commodore VIC-20) back in 1983!) That was even before the Internet! Thanks again, everyone. I will most likely check the DAZ forums once or twice a day. I don't want to flood the forums. Oh, my apologies if I mis-spelled anyone's names! I'm a bit loopy these days.)
...I date myself when I mention the first I worked on was a Burroughs 6700 (though LeatherGryphon has me beat)..
I cheated, I got a head start.
My younger brother had a similar/related issue with one of his knees...from carrying too many boxes of books working at Borders Book Store for years. He was using a cane for a short while after the treatment. I wish you well.
Thanks, Kevin. Hey guys, like my Dad used to say: "You're only as old as you feel!" I may put off my appointment. I spent too much money, and can't quite cover the money I'd need to pay to have my taxi driver make the trip. I get paid on the first week of July... so it's not putting off too long.
Best luck to you! Maybe you‘d like to try the combination that helped me enormously: Acupuncture and gelatine! It sounds funny, but it works - at least for me. An orthopaedics professor in Salzburg, Austria, gave my sister the tip.
I had six acupuncture sessions twice, at two-year intervals. In addition, I ate all the gelatine dishes I could get or make - sweet or salty, whatever. It's very easy if you pay attention to certain things, and there are tons of recipes on the internet. The simplest is fruit juice with dissolved gelatine; let it set for about two hours in the refrigerator. Fortunately I have loved this stuff since I was a child! There is also ’medical‘ gelatine to drink, but itis overpriced and doesn't taste good - money thrown out.
At first I ate at least half a litre of prepared gelatine every day for four weeks, then twice a week, and with a weekly meal I keep my knee fit. Plus walking as much as possible, but of course not in the acute stage. Get well soon!
caravelle, I'd like to try acupuncture sometime... I need to see if my health insurance pays for it. I love Jello! I should buy some.
I can only recommend it. It's delicious, contains no or very little fat (ok, you can also make it like panna cotta
... ) - and it's fun!