Total Knee Replacement

steve said:
How bad is your other knee? Will you still be able to hike with your bad knee, or will it need to wait 'till you get it replaced as well?
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It's not bad at all. I've only had one surgery on it and it was relatively minor compared to the ones I've had on my left knee. I don't imagine it will need replacing anytime soon, so once the new knee heals up, I'll be good to go again.
 
It's been 6 months now since my knee replacement. I've been trying to avoid discussing the ongoing shit show of health problems this surgery seems to have caused me, but over the last week I've learned some things that I think anyone who might ever be in the same boat should know. It appears I am very much allergic to my knee implant. The symptoms were mild at first but over time with prolonged exposure my body has just gone crazy rejecting it. Mostly in the form of itchiness and severe rashes amongst some other more subtle things. My little heart freak out in January may also be tied to it.

I'm going through a myriad of tests right now to figure out exactly which metals and glues I'm allergic to and which I'm not. It sounds like it's most likely a nickel or cobalt reaction though. I hadn't been exposed much to that in the past so I didn't know, but I found out afterward that my sister is allergic to nickel so it's likely I am too. After they do all that testing I'll probably be getting a knee re-replacement, this time one made with metals and glues that I'm not allergic to. Total nightmare scenario. Most people won't end up in this boat until they are in their 50's or 60's, but keep this in mind to save yourself a lot of trouble when/if you end up needing a replacement. There is testing that can be done in advance, but since only 10-15% of the population is allergic, they don't usually check before hand (crazy to me). I think part of the reason is the fact that it sometimes takes prolonged exposure before the reaction gets severe. Anyway, something to think about.
 
that sounds completely horrible, so sorry you have to go through it. I have heard a lot about allergic reactions against the artificial joints in the past
One of the reasons I definitely will not consider a knee replacement any time soon in the future, instead I will try the new treatment method of stem cell therapy first. They had good results with that and started to offer it in St. George a few weeks ago. Since I have rested my knee for almost 9 months I'm more than anxious to see how it behaves this summer. If I'm back to the pain and chronic inflammation even after the slightest efforts I will consider the stem cell treatment.

I wish you good luck and that you finally get a knee that is usuable without any pain or other issues.
 
Dang, that totally sucks. I can't believe testing for allergic reactions isn't standard procedure before major surgery.
 
steve said:
Dang, that totally sucks. I can't believe testing for allergic reactions isn't standard procedure before major surgery.
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Agreed, but even more than that, I can't believe that they use nickel, a material that 10-15% of the population is allergic to and often has a delayed initial reaction. It's the same thing that makes some people have issues with cheap costume jewelry. Let's stick that in someone's body! These are not cheap surgeries, I'm sure that using better materials like titanium right off the bat would be much cheaper than doing it twice. Not to mention the hell for the patient. I'm just hoping they can get this all figured out before the end of June. I hit my max out of pocket so it's all free at this point.

That stem cell thing sounds great but anything brand new like that is also a bit scary. There's really no good option. In hindsight I think I would have tried to put it off for longer. But then again I see people around me who have had two knee replacements in the same time and they are doing great. I dunno. This sucks on a whole new level of suckage. I better get some bag nights in before the next surgery otherwise I will actually have as many hospital nights (8) as bag nights (since Nov). :facepalm:
 
Nitonol is very common for medical implants, though I'm not sure about something as big as a knee replacement. Nitonol is 50% nickel and 50% titanium.
 
Wow, that's terrible! Hope they get that figured out soon for you!
 
Ugh, sucky. I have stainless in me and am grateful to have avoided these kinds of pitfalls. Sorry Nick.
 
Thanks guys. The continuing downward spiral of this thing is proving to be quite difficult to cope with. Being lit on fire is probably the closest thing I can imagine it being like. Patch testing begins next week. I have fingers crossed to get this thing out of me by mid/late-May. Trying not to lose my mind in the process, but it's proving to be difficult.
 
hang in there. I can only imagine how disheartening that would be. I'm not very patient with medical issues, especially since they're usually completely out of your control. Use this thread to vent all you need.
 
Really sorry to hear about continuing problems with your knee replacement. I hope the next round goes much better and that you can finally get to the place where this is just a fading really bad memory from the past.
 
It's to bad you have to start at square one. I hope it goes as well as it can in shitty situation like this.
 
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