Knee Replacement a simple surgery,Dr.Sharan S Patil.Sparsh Hospital.

We all know some life long pain in some way or other way are caused by such aliments in male and female by arthritis,diabetics and blood pressure.By the time we try to know it has already got in to our system and we suffer knowingly that we may be victims of any one of these worrisome deceases all our life.How we neglect our health is known only after we get in to ill health.My wife told me several times year after year that her left knee is paining but I never expected that her left knee cartilage will disappear and knee joint bone will ware out at a point and start touching the bottom knee joint both called by fancy medical names such as Femoral and Tibial.My friends were all telling me to go for knee joint replacement which was making me nervous physically and financially as such surgeries were having its own draw backs and I did think how my wife would be so very fortunate and lucky to escape pain, any side effects or infection and unforeseen happenings if she were to undergo this surgery. She was suffering silently and I was ignoring knowingly her sufferings. I did not knew of a person who had undergone a knee joint replacement and no one could explain what the situation will result in such discomforts as immobility at any time in any place.I had no computer and was not knowing even how to type a letter.I was a executive and I was living in all comfort and all required life's need,.I was having my own world and my own style.I never expected that one day there will be a retrospective back lash on my present in my future.Time was a good teacher as they say and I had to learn it late in my life.If only I was taught the basics of major diseases perhaps I would have been careful but no such learning was available to me in my high school or college curricula during those days or even today.I strongly feel that we should teach some basics of such diseases as arthritis,diabetics and blood pressure how they come and how to avoid them at an early age which will make our future generation well aware of their life style with good.habits only who will remember to live healthy life all their life.

Ever since my wife and myself relocated from our home town Bangalore it was for any simple reason we would go to Bangalore just to feel the air of our city and its places that we frequented during our long long years that we both enjoyed driving or walking in our favorite places. We did not use our car as we could not get a driver.By chance we met a guy whom we thought as a bank employ but turned out to be a private taxi driver the taxi being used by one our bank's employee for official use,as the taxi was not a public taxi but a private car we assumed that both were bank employes since they used to come to our place together.This tax.driver purchased a new car and we programmed to go on a short drive to the neighboring town where there was a century old famous missionary hospital.Here I thought of consulting the orthopedic surgeon on my wife's knee pain and its solution to get a painless knee.The.Doctor examined my wife's knee,took a X Ray and showed us the root cause of the pain 'the bones' touching each other and the missing cartilage.He was of the openion that unless the worn out knee is replaced by a artificial knee the pain in one leg might spread to another leg and the pain would be much more.We requested the Doctor to advise us the best hospital in Bangalore as his hospital was much far away from our place and we would like to be a hospital which was nearer to our place and it would be better it it was in Bangalore.as we were very near to Bangalore.He told us 2 hospitals and we thanked him and came home to plan our next move.

Myself and my wife met best of the best several knee replacement surgeons at few of the hospitals across Bangalore and we made a report and sent it to our children for further action as day by day I was seeing her in pain and suffering. Our learned children informed differently while our boy said it is a procedure in his country our daughter said quite the opposite warning of serious consequences of this surgery and we should be prepared for the same.Our daughter sent e-mails after e-mail and talked to us over phone almost all her week ends.She was most worried on our decision which we had indicated in our report with out any option to reject our report.I was sure to carry out the advise given by doctor as it was impossible for me to see my wife's suffering daily. Our daughter was worried that she may not make it to be present on the day of our surgery. Our son was sure to be here on that day which was our best plus point.I had fixed the surgery and had opted for 2 dates as was asked by my son.My thoughts were confusing and complicated but my wife was just not knowing what to do and rested her head on my shoulder.We made few trips for more consultations with the doctor and by chance we met the physiotherapist who advised us on pre surgery exercises to get well soon after knee replacement. He was kind enough to give my wife all the required excercises and help her do it properly.

Very soon the 'D' day came my wife took her bath prayed to God and was ready to go to the hospital the taxi which my friend had to send must have reached our home at 9:30 AM but it did come even though I had told my taxi friend that my wife much reach the hospital at 10:00 AM for her pre surgery tests which needed her to be on empty stomach for the few tests.I told my driver to take out our car and head to hospital at Bangalore.We reached the Hospital in 25 minutes but got admitted only after some procedures but sample of her blood was taken and we headed to the canteen run by the management which was satisfactory.We returned to the hospital and rested in our room for the Doctor to come no doctor came till lunch hour and we again went to the canteen with our children as they had arrived had lunch and came back to our room to rest.It was by late evening that all tests were completed when we were visited by the Surgeon and he did see all the reports that were made and said everything was normal and my wife would be wheeled in the OT at 7:00 AM sharp and she was advised not to drink even water or eat anything after 10:00 PM.Our children left after late in the evening after taking dinner as hospital will not any one other than one attendant to the patient to stay overnight in the hospital.Both of us slept praying to God to give us all his blessings.

Early morning OT staff came to prepare my wife for surgery and I also got ready after my morning chores and prayers.Our children had also come to wish her surgery to go through with out any hitches and glitches.My wife was very bold and did not show any sign of worry or fear in her face.God had given her all the strength.The Surgeon came at 11:00 AM and my wife was wheeled in to the OT for her procedure for her left knee replacement.I had given my camera to the duty doctor to take Video and pictures of Knee Replacement Procedure.He did it but in parts and not the way I had told.He said he was sorry that extra staff were not possible to get in to the OT and so he took the pictures and few video's when ever time permitted for him.

It took 90 minutes for the complete procedure to be over and my wife was back and was fully conscious when she was seen by us and she even was laughing at us.I slowly remember what was going on in my mind at that point of time.She was not complaining of pain which was my serious concern. One of the men who was from pain management came and he told me that one of the gadget fixed to my wife was something like morphine and she will not have any pain.That was a shock to me he further said if there is any serious pain I must call him.That was another shock to me.When I asked him what he would do if there is serious pain he said he would set the gadget to release more morphine that was another shock.He gave me a printed sheet and told me to keep asking my wife how is the pain and record it in the sheet.Some how by god's blessings the pain was never very serious and my wife bravely tolerated all the pain if it was there.It took 6 days of continuous morphine doses to go to her body by a puncturing a hole in her back fed by computer controlled morphine injector.This was monitored and morphine doses adjusted after seeing her pain chart.It was this part of surgery that confronted me if I had taken a right decision to make my wife under go her knee replacement procedure.I was so much confused that it was not possible for me to talk to even my children.Prior to surgery during consultation with the surgeon my wife was told that knee replacement surgery was a SIMPLE SURGERY. If the surgeon had told all about the pain and problems that this surgery would face perhaps we would have not undergone the trauma of this surgery and we might have had a trauma more dangerous than what we went through.At last we completed ten days in the hospital and came home safe with out any complications that this PAIN FULL SURGERY we faced, the pain though it be a temporary PAIN.

I am waiting for further 3 months when she will limp no more in her life nor have pain in her knees any more.Her limping walk and suffering are history now.

WARNING IF YOU UNDERGO KNEE REPLACEMENT FIRST CHECK ON PEOPLE WHO UNDERWENT THIS PROCEDURE AT YOUR CHOICE HOSPITAL WHO ARE 100% PERFECT AFTER THEIR KNEE REPLACEMENT IS DONE AND MAKE SURE YOUR PHYSIOTHERAPY MAN IS PERFECT AND NOT A JOKER AS I HAD FROM THE HOSPITAL THAT SENT TO GIVE THE PHYSIOTHERAPY TO MY WIFE HE GAVE WRONG EXERCISES DUE TO WHICH HER JOINT WENT DOWN BY A HAIR BREADTH DOWN AND HAD TO UNDERGO THE PHYSIOTHERAPY ONCE AGAIN AT A VERY HIGH COST AND MORE SO THE PAIN AND MORE SO HER WALKING WAS ONLY LIMPING. IT WAS NECESSARY FOR ME TO MAKE MY WIFE UNDERGO FURTHER 3 MONTHS PHYSIOTHERAPY TO ENABLE HER TO WALK WITHOUT LIMPING.HOWEVER SHE CANNOT WALK ON A ROAD WHERE THERE ARE MANY UNDULATIONS SHE CAN WALK ONLY IF THE ROAD IS PERFECTLY LEVELED AND SMOOTH.SHE CANNOT STAND FOR LONG HOURS OR CLIMB STAIRS NORMALLY BUT CAN WALK IN A EMERGENCY.

The 30-day mortality rate for total knee replacement is about one in 400, or .25 percent. That means that 99.96 percent of patients survive the treatment. Researchers in the UK recently reported in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery that among 2,428 total knee replacement patients over a 10-year span, 99 percent survived at least one year; 90 percent were alive after 5 years; and 84 percent were still living after 10 years. Overall, mortality rates are highest 30 to 90 days following surgery.In addition, relatively few complications are known to occur during the hospital stay. Based on Healthline’s analysis of over 1.5 million Medicare and privately insured patients, 4.5 percent of patients under the age of 65 experience complications during this period. However, the same data set showed that the complication rate more than doubles for elderly patients.Post-operative infection takes place in about one percent of patients. The same-day-death rate for this same group is extremely rare (.001 percent). Although blood clots represent a significant risk—as with most orthopedic surgeries—common preventative measures have reduced the occurrence to less than two percent of patients. Cases of osteolysis—when plastic or metal fragments are released from the knee implant into the body and cause inflammation—are also uncommon.