OT: Recovery time for knee replacement.

How much time before you were back up and able to be on your feet? By that i mean back to work in a hospital as an RN? I know it can vary per person and I have googled it but I'm just curious to hear from people who have been through it.

Thanks!

I just had two total knee replacements this summer.  My right one was done on July 9th and my left one on August 27th (7 weeks apart).  My left knee will be 7 weeks post-op tomorrow and I'm going back to work on Thursday.  I have a desk job so I'm sure I'll be okay, but I could not imagine going back to a job where I had to be up and running around all day this soon.  I will still be going to PT twice a week and doing my own therapy at the gym and the pool another 2-3 days a week.     When are you planning to have your surgery?

I'm not actually the one who needs it. It's my poor boyfriend. He doesn't have a date yet. He is trying to figure out when the best time to have it done is. 

His surgeon knows his overall condition best and can give him the best estimate of his recovery time. Knees are one of the hardest joint replacement surgeries. Hope he does well!  It is soooo wonderful when the pain is finally gone.

I know a few people who were back at work after 6 weeks, I know two people who were out over 3 months due to complications (one) and a failure to really do the PT program. 

I had my worst knee done back in March and was able to go back to a desk job at 6 weeks out, but NO WAY could I have done a job that required a lot of walking or standing at that point.  I had to ice the knee almost the entire evening even after sitting at a desk and just walking a bit every hour.  It was significantly better for me by 8 weeks, though.

Lora

Yeah we figured as much. We're trying to figure out the best time for him to get it done. We have a Disney vacation scheduled for Christmas and in May he's going back to school to get his actual bachelors in nursing so he can eventually get his Masters and become a nurse practitioner. All of which requires him to be on his feet so we are trying to work out the timing as well as what he's going to do about his job. All is well with the knee you had replaced though? Is the pain and issues you were experiencing resolved? It's hard for me to wrap my head around the concept. He's had so much work done to his poor knee. His last surgery was about 2 years ago and the doctor who did that said if it didn't work his options are either a replacement or cadaver donor. According to the same doctor the latter isn't generally covered by insurance and he was worried about doing a replacement since my boyfriend is only 28 and I guess may potentially need another one later in life. I'm not 100% sure about either but I do know his poor knee is just getting worse so we are starting to explore some options and get as educated as we can.

I am now 7 months out from the knee replacement.  As far as walking goes, I have no pain whatsoever but I do get a "popping" sensation if my gait is at all off (I guess that is good in a way, since it lets me know when I am not walking properly, but it can be frustrating because I still have a tendency to swing that leg outward just out of habit from so many years of trying to avoid bending it very much because it hurt so badly).  Standing in place for long periods does make it ache, though (e.g., when we spent an hour no a half in line for a rollercoaster), extreme bending of it is still uncomfortable, and even now occasionally I get swelling that doesn't seem related to anything. Overall, though, it is  MUCH better than the pain and inability to bend it before.  Every step was painful on bad days and uncomfortable on good days.

I have never heard of using cadaver knees -- sounds positively gruesome to me and would freak me out -- but I was told that because of the cutting of bone and drilling into the bone that they have to do, there is a maximum of two replacements on a single knee.  I was a.so told that the expected longevity of a replacement knee depends a lot on how much, and in what ways, it is used, but that I hold be able to expect 15-20 years on the particular Stryker knee that I was given.  If he has his knee replaced at 28 he will definitely need another one down the line.  Technology may make huge advances on replacement joints between now and then, though.

Lora

Oh my! I meant a cadaver donor for cartilage. Oh wow what a typo! They've taken cartilage from everywhere they could from him so either he gets it (cartilage) from a cadaver or he gets a full blown replacement. Well that's encouraging to hear that overall you're doing well. Your other knee is getting fixed soon isn't it? I hope all goes well with that and you have a successful recovery with that knee too!

LOL. I might still feel a little creepy about cartilage, but that is far less creepy than someone else's whole knee!

yes, I am getting my other knee done on Nov 5th.

 

Lora