TKR Total Knee Replacement 2011

In 2010 I decided to move forward with a fairly serious operation on my right knee, Total Knee Replacement (TKR). This was after 7 other various operations on the same knee in the last 35 years. I had been told after the first operation I would have arthritis and issues with this knee for the rest of my life. OK, that's always something to look forward to.

At the age of 51 I might seem to be a young candidate for such a procedure but according to my orthopedic, Dr Steven Copp, it's becoming more common in our society for those who are active.  What I mean by active is getting out and felling the sun on your back or sweet on your forehead 4 to 7 times a week.  The pain and issues I was experiencing in both my knees stemmed from those activities.   But in my younger years it was easier to take a Tylenol and start again in the morning. 

I'm not slowing down at this point, life is way too short as I experience with cancer 16 years ago.  (That's another story altogether)  If I reducing things that impact the knee joints the most I can still be active:  cycling, hiking, swimming, surfing, etc..  I did a lot of sports in my earlier years: football, wrestling, basketball, baseball, track, etc.  Another 8 years in the army running in boots certainly wasn't ideal.  I know what really puts strain on those knees now and can get by without many of them.

One of my orthopedics told me to find sports that put less strain and impact on the joint.  He highly recommended cycling.  I hadn't been a focused road rider but I was certainly interested and in 1998 did my first century with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, LLS, Team in Training, TNT, program.  Our goal, raise $2500 over 4 months and then ride the Tour De Tucson in AZ in Nov.  That was the start.

I soon found I was having less and less pain in my knee(s) joints...why?  The doctors were telling me that this was because I was moving the joint, always good, which in turn forces the fluids to circulate in that area.  This smooth motion of a pedal stroke also reduced the banging of the bone on bone.  Previous operations had removed the natural shock absorption, meniscus. 

My first knee replacement, right knee, was operated on in Feb 2010 and in Oct of that same year I completed a 620 mile 7 day ride from San Francisco to San Diego with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) in their major annual fund raising event, Million Dollar Challenge.  No real issues and I had regained my endurance and strength over the 9 month period.  What was really impressive was the daily pain, arthritic in the joint, was gone. With that in mind I decided to have the other knee done this year.  The picture on the right is the result of my operation Monday, Nov 7th just last week.

Since I've started seriously cycling I've increased my knowledge and skills to a level that I often coach and assist others to complete events.  A question that comes up often is around knees and would TKR fix their problem.  I'm not a doctor so I will always say first ask a professional, orthopedic.

In my case it came down to I had tried all the other options and this was the last result.  As I mentioned earlier in this article, it's a serious operation that requires a lot of rehad and focus after.  Here is a link to a YouTube clip on the procedure.  WARNING this is very graphic:  Total Knee Replacement video YouTube

I'm going to follow up over the next weeks and month on my progress with this knee and what I'm experiencing.  I think it will help others think about this as a possible solution but hopefully realize it may not be the answer.  There are a lot of other things to look at and in today's medical field, new solutions are constantly coming out.

Send me your thoughts and questions.  More than willing to provide you feedback and my thoughts.

Thanks

Mike