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It's standard to do one total knee replacement at a time. The given reason is that there's a significantly higher danger of dying on the operating table (though it is still very very tiny). The fact that this is a teensy weensy chance leads some surgeons to be willing to do both knees at once. If you're having a uni-compartmental repair, you're more likely to have an offer of doing both knees at once than if you're having total knee replacement. I'm not so sanguine about that: my one friend who had uni-compartment simultaneous knee repairs had one of them go bad and had to get a total on that knee. I don't even know what uni-compartmental repairs are meant to be for--I didn't investigate thoroughly because my knees were so far beyond anything like that. One of my friends, last I heard, was opting for both knees, done at Stanford (the hotshot regional hospital in Palo Alto), because she didn't think she could commit to doing intensive rehabilitation two times.
Welp. I've got to say I was already in favor of ggetting one knee done at a time because I had an instinct it would be easier to do rehab with one good leg, and now I have to add that almost three weeks after the first one I am sure of it. From the beginning, when I was first in the hospital and my operated leg was still feeling the effects of the block, I could use my "good" leg to manipulate the operated one and get into and out of bed. And now I can use my "good" leg to move the operated leg around beyond where it's ready to go, in "passive" straightening and flexion exercises. It's quite exciting when you hook the "good" heel around the lower leg and pull that knee closer than you could get otherwise.
The result! Today, after a one-hour walk with the neighbor, I was able to mount my front stairs with regular steps, not just half-steps. I can't wait to show the physical therapist tomorrow. Now all I have to do is to stop being so tired all the time so I can get my bike set up for stationary.
The walk was to the duck preserve, and if I'd been normal, it would have been a thirty minute walk, so not bad. Lots and lots of teenaged ducks today, including one small odd breed with juvie feathers trying to fly. It was really cute, rearing up out of the water and beating its little wings so fast but not rising an inch.
Welp. I've got to say I was already in favor of ggetting one knee done at a time because I had an instinct it would be easier to do rehab with one good leg, and now I have to add that almost three weeks after the first one I am sure of it. From the beginning, when I was first in the hospital and my operated leg was still feeling the effects of the block, I could use my "good" leg to manipulate the operated one and get into and out of bed. And now I can use my "good" leg to move the operated leg around beyond where it's ready to go, in "passive" straightening and flexion exercises. It's quite exciting when you hook the "good" heel around the lower leg and pull that knee closer than you could get otherwise.
The result! Today, after a one-hour walk with the neighbor, I was able to mount my front stairs with regular steps, not just half-steps. I can't wait to show the physical therapist tomorrow. Now all I have to do is to stop being so tired all the time so I can get my bike set up for stationary.
The walk was to the duck preserve, and if I'd been normal, it would have been a thirty minute walk, so not bad. Lots and lots of teenaged ducks today, including one small odd breed with juvie feathers trying to fly. It was really cute, rearing up out of the water and beating its little wings so fast but not rising an inch.
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