Hi Everyone. I wanted to take a quick moment and drop a note to remind my readers of one thing. I have said it before, but it needs to be said again. I am not a medical professional. I do not give medical advice. Any concerns you have regarding being ready for a total knee replacement are your decision. It is your decision to undergo a tkr, not mine.  It is a mutual decision between you and your doctor. Not mine.
I have received emails lately stating that this blog is scaring some people away from having a tkr. That is not my intent, that is your own interpretation of what you are reading. I wish I would have found a blog like this one prior to my tkr so that I would have been better prepared for what to expect. So…I started this blog since I couldn’t find anything else out there. It is intended as a way to be reassured that we tkr patients are not alone. If anyone views that as being scary, that’s not my concern. As one doctor I know would say…”with that type of mindset…you’ll never recuperate properly since it’s so much work and pain”.
If read carefully, you will find that this blog is helping many people through this major surgery’s recuperation process. There are some wonderfully insightful comments posted by my readers expressing their support and personal experience. I thank each and every one of them.
It is only natural to be apprehensive about undergoing a major surgery. (Although, honestly, I wasn’t apprehensive at all. I was looking forward to it.)
However, please do not insult either me or my readers by stating the information is scary and changing your decision about having a tkr. I don’t buy that excuse. I was going to say something else here…but I’ll be nice. 🙁
This blog is informative. Change your interpretation. Be grateful you’re getting this realistic insight.
7 thoughts on “No Medical Advice”
Janice Upton
I had bilateral knee replacements 6/30/08. It has been wonderful reading your tkr blogs! I have been encouraged, entertained and helped by reading what you have gone through and tried in your recuperation. I found your website after the surgery but even if I had before, I would have made my decision based on my x-rays, general health and OS recommendations-not what I may read on the internet. It especially has been helpful that you have shared your very real ups and downs through the process. Sometimes if I just read how wonderful certain people have done, it makes me feel there must be something wrong with me. It helps to know that ups and downs are normal! Keep it up and don’t let anyone’s negative comments get you down.
sharon
the blogs that you are reading here are REAL. from Real people, with Real surgeries and recoveries. just like anything else you read it is meant to be information that you can use as you see fit. maybe your os failed to mention something you read here and you can ask about it. but mostly it is to help with your recovery to know that you are not alone and that there is someone else out there that is going through the same surgery and needs alittle encouragement to get through the months ahead. for the people who are scared by what they read, maybe that’s a good thing. because this is not a surgery you should go through scared. and alot of this information or comments are real and should not be news to a patient considering a tkr. they should have heard this already from their os. it is upsetting that some people have to turn a good thing into something terrible. knowledge is power, and we should all have it when it comes to making surgical decisions, good doctors welcome it. keep on blogging for all the GOOD it brings and take it for what it is worth. good luck.
booktoots
Janice and Sharon,
Thanks so much for your encouraging comments. They mean a lot to me. 🙂
You two ROCK!!!
Everyone has a different recovery, but having tkr (I also had total hip replacement four months before tkr – March 2008 and July 2008) was the best thing I have done for myself.
Marie has presented information on “her” recovery. You will probably not have the same type of recovery as she has, I can walk two miles and have no after effects, no swelling or pain. Marie had an injury, I didn’t, replacements were due to arthritis and were probably more hereditary, my mother had thr also.
Keep up the good work, Marie, we all need good information and you shot from the hip about your recovery.
booktoots
Thanks for your comment, Charleen. We go way back! 🙂 I appreciate your support.
Gotta agree with everyone’s comments here. How recovery progresses depends on the individual. I never took the blogs at medical value, only getting medical-value info from the doctor. My own blog, like this one, has mentioned my TKR journey, mixed in with tech writings, deafness issues, humor, and other things. Yes, I’m a deaf TKR patient.
I’m done with outpatient rehab, now on to my own rehab til my next surgery. I’ll know after mid-August when it’ll be.
In short, I’ve gone from my left knee being painful bone on bone without cartilage, to being pain-free post-TKR surgery. I’m beginning to get back to things I couldn’t do. A few weeks ago, I used a garden weasel to break up hard ground for about 30 minutes. I’m not quite up for mowing the lawn yet. Could be next year.
And Marie, keep on writing. I will also.
Cindy
Thanks so much for your blogs. I do not take your blogs as medical advice. I am 7 weeks out of a left total knee replacement. I was bone on bone. When I got up to walk, I had to stretch before I could get moving. I tried the cortisone shot, it lasted 2 days and in that time I still had some pain. I had the synvics shot they did nothing for me. After almost falling down the steps I knew it was time. I had the surgery Friday, I came home Monday, and started home therapy that Wed, for 2 weeks. I now go to physical therapy 3 days a week, it’s hard I won’t lie, but I can now walk without pain. You have to listen to the therapists, and do what they say. It was the best thing I had done.
Thanks Marie, I enjoy reading your blogs
I had bilateral knee replacements 6/30/08. It has been wonderful reading your tkr blogs! I have been encouraged, entertained and helped by reading what you have gone through and tried in your recuperation. I found your website after the surgery but even if I had before, I would have made my decision based on my x-rays, general health and OS recommendations-not what I may read on the internet. It especially has been helpful that you have shared your very real ups and downs through the process. Sometimes if I just read how wonderful certain people have done, it makes me feel there must be something wrong with me. It helps to know that ups and downs are normal! Keep it up and don’t let anyone’s negative comments get you down.
the blogs that you are reading here are REAL. from Real people, with Real surgeries and recoveries. just like anything else you read it is meant to be information that you can use as you see fit. maybe your os failed to mention something you read here and you can ask about it. but mostly it is to help with your recovery to know that you are not alone and that there is someone else out there that is going through the same surgery and needs alittle encouragement to get through the months ahead. for the people who are scared by what they read, maybe that’s a good thing. because this is not a surgery you should go through scared. and alot of this information or comments are real and should not be news to a patient considering a tkr. they should have heard this already from their os. it is upsetting that some people have to turn a good thing into something terrible. knowledge is power, and we should all have it when it comes to making surgical decisions, good doctors welcome it. keep on blogging for all the GOOD it brings and take it for what it is worth. good luck.
Janice and Sharon,
Thanks so much for your encouraging comments. They mean a lot to me. 🙂
You two ROCK!!!
Everyone has a different recovery, but having tkr (I also had total hip replacement four months before tkr – March 2008 and July 2008) was the best thing I have done for myself.
Marie has presented information on “her” recovery. You will probably not have the same type of recovery as she has, I can walk two miles and have no after effects, no swelling or pain. Marie had an injury, I didn’t, replacements were due to arthritis and were probably more hereditary, my mother had thr also.
Keep up the good work, Marie, we all need good information and you shot from the hip about your recovery.
Thanks for your comment, Charleen. We go way back! 🙂 I appreciate your support.
Gotta agree with everyone’s comments here. How recovery progresses depends on the individual. I never took the blogs at medical value, only getting medical-value info from the doctor. My own blog, like this one, has mentioned my TKR journey, mixed in with tech writings, deafness issues, humor, and other things. Yes, I’m a deaf TKR patient.
I’m done with outpatient rehab, now on to my own rehab til my next surgery. I’ll know after mid-August when it’ll be.
In short, I’ve gone from my left knee being painful bone on bone without cartilage, to being pain-free post-TKR surgery. I’m beginning to get back to things I couldn’t do. A few weeks ago, I used a garden weasel to break up hard ground for about 30 minutes. I’m not quite up for mowing the lawn yet. Could be next year.
And Marie, keep on writing. I will also.
Thanks so much for your blogs. I do not take your blogs as medical advice. I am 7 weeks out of a left total knee replacement. I was bone on bone. When I got up to walk, I had to stretch before I could get moving. I tried the cortisone shot, it lasted 2 days and in that time I still had some pain. I had the synvics shot they did nothing for me. After almost falling down the steps I knew it was time. I had the surgery Friday, I came home Monday, and started home therapy that Wed, for 2 weeks. I now go to physical therapy 3 days a week, it’s hard I won’t lie, but I can now walk without pain. You have to listen to the therapists, and do what they say. It was the best thing I had done.
Thanks Marie, I enjoy reading your blogs