It's been a long time coming, at least I think it has been. I started having knee issues when I was in high school. I remember my dad taking me to the doctor to have my knee drained, the old "water on the knee." The doctor poked me with a syringe needle and pulled out this blob of gel. It was the weirdest thing. And just the beginning of many visits to a knee doctor. Through the years and up to date I have had four surgeries on my left knee and one on my right. The left one for reasons you can guess is the one that gives me pretty much all of my problems. I have had 3 cortisone shots, countless doses of ibuprofen, ice packs, and prescribed pain relievers. At one time I even got weekly shots of a medicine called Supartz which basically is a joint fluid therapy. It was a shot I got directly into my knee to help with pain and swelling and overall just masking the problem. They worked for a while, everything worked for a while. I have no cartilage left in my knee and I am pretty much sick of trying to work around it. My knee doctor continued to tell me every time I saw him for a new Vicodin prescription that I was too young for a knee replacement. It has been years that I have been asking him to just get it over with and give me a new one. Yet he continued to say no. Finally in April when I saw him, I think he just wanted to shut me up, he told me he was going to send me to see another Orthopedic Surgeon. He said if Dr Wilmink thinks you should have a replacement then you should have it done, because he is one of the best and he'll take care of it.
So on May 15th I had an appointment to see him. I took the MRI I had had done in March from my previous doctor with me and was ready to beg for a new knee. Dr Wilmink came in, we talked about what was going on and why I was there. He looked at my MRI and said I was a perfect candidate for a knee replacement, my left knee is bone on bone. He then sent me down the hall to have an x-ray which shows some different details to what the MRI shows. The medical term for all that's going on in there is Osteoarthritis. I have no cartilage and my knee cap is crooked as a result. I started to say I wanted to be able to rehab my knee and continue to be active and not wait til I was 65 etc etc and he was like, I completely agree. I barely got to plead my case. We talked a little more about everything that was entailed with a knee replacement and the procedure that he uses and how it works etc. And to be honest I kind of forget what else he was saying cause all I wanted to do was give him a hug cause he was going to give me a new knee. I left the office with some paperwork of everything I needed if I decided that this was the route I was going to take. I really just wanted to say, "I'm in, what date can he do it?" But in all the paperwork it explained what I needed to do to proceed as far as getting different tests done, authorizations, blood work etc. Within a couple of days I got a call from Dr Wilmink's office verifying that I was going to have the surgery and then I started making appointments to get it all going.
Here is an article I found about my doctor and the procedure that he uses for knee replacement surgery. It's really interesting.
Dr. Michael Wilmink, an Arizona Orthopedics Associates surgeon, said Baby Boomers and others with weak knees are seeking knee replacement surgery to maintain an active lifestyle.
"My patients want to run and tee off at the golf course for the next 15 years," Wilmink said. "Things have changed and people want replacements now."
Wilmink and the other doctors at their new hospital, Oasis on Van Buren and 40th streets, have adopted a new type of knee replacement surgery: the Signature Knee.
The Signature Knee technology still uses the same metal-on-metal replacement joint, but it customizes the procedure to the patient's bone structure.
"We're not making a replacement for the bell curve of average measurements," Wilmink said. "We're doing personal, accurate replacements that match."
With the Signature Knee technology, an orthopedic surgeon looks at a patient's MRI or CT scan digitally. Then with the assistance of an engineer, the two detail a precise measure of each bone cut and the best angles to drill into the femur and tibia in order to secure a replacement joint.
These plans then go to a mold manufacturer in Belgium, where a laser model of the knee joint and the placeholder for drill holes is created.
The mold must be used within about six months because a patient's knee joint may shift or wear down further.
The Signature Knee advertises a more accurate surgery, shorter surgery time, less blood loss and less chance of infection.
So here it is 5 days before the date my surgery is scheduled for, which is next Wednesday, July 23rd at 7:00 am. I am still at the point where I am really excited to get it done. I am sure on Tuesday I will be freaking out, and then on Thursday be wondering why I did it. LOL
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