About
After 15 years of dealing with a painful osteoarthritic condition in both knees (worse in my left), my doctor finally convinced me to get my left one replaced in May of 2011. Being a glass half empty kinda guy, I did my due diligence and read up on all I could before committing to it. During that process, I was surprised at the relatively small amount of information there was out there regarding knee replacement surgery (compared to surgeries of the elbow and other joints). That said, I felt sufficiently informed (especially after calling up a couple other patients) and scheduled my appointment.
Almost two years later, I’m incredibly happy to say my left knee is WORLDS better. I can actually lightly jog now (used to run 10Ks!) My only regret is not getting both done at the some time. I’ll probably need to get the right one done soon, but at least I’ll know the routine inside and out. A couple years later I’m also now a licensed physical therapist, specializing in hip and knee recovery (yes, my procedure had a VERY profound effect on me!). That brings me back to the point of this page and site…
I’m hoping this site will help others who are in the same boat and as I continue my career in orthopedics, function as a bit of a diary and platform of my day-to-day dealings with new techniques, doctors and medical debates.
Finally, if you are getting your knee(s) replaced, I wish you nothing but the best and please (PLEASE!), if you have ANY reservations, make sure you get all your questions answered before your surgery. Sometimes, the best move we make is not one at all.
-Douglas
My name is Douglas and getting total knee replacement surgery in May of '11 changed my life...in more ways than one. Not only did it give me back my freedom, but I decided to make a career out of it. Now a licensed physical therapist, I created this blog to help out knee patients every step of their journey. 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the information. I am a life long hockey player who is one day post surgery on my third knee scope – where they removed lots of bits of debris and repaired another tear in my meniscus. I am forty six and looking at a partial knee replacement to play hockey for another 5 years, then a total knee and no more hockey. Which would be 3 surgeries before the age of 53. So now I am considering giving up Hockey for good and just playing golf. The question would be to just recover from this 3rd scope and put off the total knee replacement as long as possible, or getting it now and getting 20 years on a new knee – who knows what technology will exist then to revise it. Any thoughts you have would be great. By the way, I am the Administrator at an Orthopedic Outpatient surgery center in Orange, CA.
Hey Dan, thanks for stopping by. Don’t rule out being able to play hockey after TKR. Most doctors wouldn’t recommend high-impact sports after TKR (or even PKR), but as this study showed, there can be negligible difference in implant trauma after high-level sports, even years later. Sounds crazy, but I know folks who’ve run marathons after TKR. Of course, every injury/surgery is a bit different so your mileage may vary (and if it’s full-contact hockey, it’s probably up there risk-wise, especially with all the lateral hits). Wishing you the best during recovery!
I had total knee replacement on Sept 18, 2013. The worst mistake ever.
Constant pain 24-7. Being athletic kept me in shape, now i get various of pain to my new cobalt
Chrome knee. My knee is still swollen, it throbs, needle sticking pain keeps mr from being active.
How can the pain be minimized.
Hello Douglas,
I am currently struggling with the decision to go ahead with a TKR. I am a carpenter, 61 yrs. old with 40% of my medial meniscus removed and a current tear in the remaining medial meniscus. Recent pain after no significant event has forced me to consider TKR given that I was unable to walk on the knee for a couple of days. It is improving but after sitting it takes at least a few minutes before some movement allows me to once again walk on the knee which is still a bit painful and awkward going down steps. Have considered a Verilast knee. Have not found recent lawsuit info about it but negative info about recalls of the genesis II model back in 2010 popped up. Any thoughts? Dr. Venkatachalam in Chennai, India has proposed doing the Verilast knee using I Assist technology for locating the prosthesis for 12,000 USD…..recent news which includes a quote from the Doc in Indian News reveals a cost of 6,000 USD as advertised to Indian Citizens………….I was quoted the cost of 12000 over the phone by the doctor this morning………..the news article was from late 2014. More thoughts?
Upon discharge what medications might be given for example coumadin to prevent blood clots. Medicine prescribed for pain? Thanks you so very much,PATRICIA.