Replacement ankle

[Boz330]

Anyone here had this done? I would be interested in your comments about rehab time, pain level, results, how long it took till you could walk reasonably normal, or how long you have had it and level of satisfaction.
I have had both knees replaced and that went exceptionally well. Now my right ankle is suffering from too many jumps on the old round parachutes when I was young. It was fun but is definitely coming back to haunt me. I was going to try and put that or fusing off till next year but the pain has gone up exponentially in the last couple months and even the cortizone isn't doing much and wears off pretty quick.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Bob

[redneck1]

I'd say its all about quality of life ...

How much is your pain level affecting your quality of life now ?

Let's say you have it done and its less then successful , will you be any worse off then you are now ?

A yes answer would be enough for me to hold off , but a no answer ...
Well that's a no brainer .
Anything in between ..... Only you can answer that

[Shawlerbrook]

I am heading that way myself. My neighbor had it done a couple years ago and he is very happy. One consideration is age as you don’t want to outlive the joint replacement. I figure the longer I can put it off the better the replacement joints and surgery techniques will get. I hurt my ankle 40+ years ago and it only started hurting about the last 15 years. It is slowly getting worse.

[umwminer]

My sawbones says that the Ankle replacements are not durable enough for active outdoor use and recommends fuzing as the gold standard for pain relief . I said “ hell , if you fuze it , will I be able to bend it ?” He said “ you cant bend it now and it hurts real bad . Get it fuzed and it wont hardly hurt when youre banging around on it .”
Sorry , didnt answer your question ,
But I‘M wondering too.

[Boz330]

I'd say its all about quality of life ...
How much is your pain level affecting your quality of life now ? Way too much. I was walking 1.5 to 3 miles a day back in the spring depending only on schedule. I walked a .5 mile this morning and wished I hadn't.[/COLOR]

Let's say you have it done and its less then successful , will you be any worse off then you are now ? I would hate to think about that in my decision but I was going to put it off till next fall but that plan is sinking fast because the pain is escalating quickly.

A yes answer would be enough for me to hold off , but a no answer ...
Well that's a no brainer .
Anything in between ..... Only you can answer that

Being laid up is not what I'm looking for, for the remainder of my life. I'm nearly 75 and still working and enjoying working. Other than joint issues I'm still pretty healthy and want to keep going which is why I'm asking for other folks experiences. How long will I live, who knows, I seem to be losing friends way to fast so it might be weeks or years. Quality of life IS the issue at this point.

Bob

[Rightbrained]

It doesn’t sound fun either way but I wish you the best of luck with your decision .

[redneck1]

At your age if both you and your doc think that you will improve your quality of life I'd go for it .
I'd even go so far as to say even if it does limit you somewhat on what you can do physically it might still be worth it .

I think a mistake most people make is looking at it from the point of view of what you used to be able to do .
Be real with yourself and look at it from what you are able to do right this minute .... And from what you might be able to do a year from now if you do nothing .

Something else to consider , how much will you improve the quality of life of those around you if you improve your own .
Might your general attitude improve if your pain level is drastically reduced...

And that is in no way shape or form a derogatory remark , there is no way for me to know if your pain level has impacted your personality .
Its just some thing I believe is important to consider

[gbrown]

Its about quality of life, as many posts have said. What quality of life can you expect if what you have now sucks? I faced a similar situation with the back a few months ago. Excruciating pain, was walking like a duck or penguin, don't know. Finally decided, if I wanted any quality of life to do the things I enjoy, gotta do something. Here's what's really important-- shop around, find someone who is an expert and qualified. I'm lucky to be 2 hours from the Houston Medical Center. Found a guy at Methodist Hospital. I still don't walk a 100% right, but pain gone and I'm on the way to "normal". Maybe a few months til I can get back to my hobbies. I have hope, now. Best of luck, my friend.

[fatelk]

My wife has had 5 ankle surgeries in the last 7 years. Right now she's recovering from a fusion of the secondary joint. The previous one was a replacement of the primary joint. The one before that was a fusion of the primary joint. The first fusion put stress on the secondary joint, hence the replacement. The replacement was very successful for that joint, but the damage to the other joint was already done, so it had to be fused.

The doctor wanted to fuse both joints, but when we looked into that it seemed like a terrible option. Her entire ankle would have been fused solid with no movement at all, and walking with a club-foot like that would have put stress on her knee and hip, likely resulting in the eventual replacement of one or both. The doctor readily admitted that, but still recommended the fusion because it was an "easy fix" with the highest likelihood of making the pain go away.

My wife is relatively young, and we have young kids that she wants to be able to keep up with, so the thought of hobbling around with a club-foot did not appeal.

[BigAlofPa.]

All though not an ankle. I had my left hip done. When i couldn't sleep anymore. It was time. And im very happy with my replacement. It's been 8 years now. I was walking the night after surgery. I had the muscle sparing procedure. Now im dealing with quadricep reattachment. The surgery was 3 weeks ago. The recovery is going but very slow. Bob im hoping the best for you. Hang tough!

[Lloyd Smale]

had my right ankle done. Total ankle replacement about 5 years ago. It was GOD sent! Before i couldnt walk 10 yards and sometimes just getting out of bed in into the living room would about take your breath away. Was it an easy operation?? NOPE. Recovery time and recovery pain were a good amount worse then my hip replacement. Count on a good month that you will need a walker. First couple weeks are rough. I HATE narcotics. Took them for years with my back problems. 5 surgeries on it too. Told the doc i didnt want narcotics. He about insisted i take them for the first week. After that week i had to call in and get one more weeks worth (only needed them for 3 days with the hip replacement) . I NEEDED THEM. It was the toughest surgery recovery of all of them but today i can walk 5 miles and do about anything anyone can do. I still have residual soreness in it. Most comes from the fact that ankle was so swollen for 15 years that it did nerve damage and theres nothing they can do about that. But i dont even need over the counter pain meds for that. What ever you do dont get talked into an ankle fusion. I know two people that have had that done and both slowly got back to the same level and the locked up ankle eventually wore on there hips and knees and once its fused theres nothing else they can do. but dont expect a cake walk. Recovery was substantially tougher then my hip replacement or any of my back surgeries as was therapy afterward. But all that said its probably the smartest move i ever made.

[Boz330]

had my right ankle done. Total ankle replacement about 5 years ago. It was GOD sent! Before i couldnt walk 10 yards and sometimes just getting out of bed in into the living room would about take your breath away. Was it an easy operation?? NOPE. Recovery time and recovery pain were a good amount worse then my hip replacement. Count on a good month that you will need a walker. First couple weeks are rough. I HATE narcotics. Took them for years with my back problems. 5 surgeries on it too. Told the doc i didnt want narcotics. He about insisted i take them for the first week. After that week i had to call in and get one more weeks worth (only needed them for 3 days with the hip replacement) . I NEEDED THEM. It was the toughest surgery recovery of all of them but today i can walk 5 miles and do about anything anyone can do. I still have residual soreness in it. Most comes from the fact that ankle was so swollen for 15 years that it did nerve damage and theres nothing they can do about that. But i dont even need over the counter pain meds for that. What ever you do dont get talked into an ankle fusion. I know two people that have had that done and both slowly got back to the same level and the locked up ankle eventually wore on there hips and knees and once its fused theres nothing else they can do. but dont expect a cake walk. Recovery was substantially tougher then my hip replacement or any of my back surgeries as was therapy afterward. But all that said its probably the smartest move i ever made.

Thanks Lloyd, that is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Several other folks on a skydiving forum I follow have had similar experiences. I had both knees replaced 7 years ago and the recovery wasn't near as tough as I expected but my attitude was that I was going to make it work and it has.
My ankle has been swollen for several months now and I can already tell that the limping around is affecting other joints. I try and walk some but 1/2 mile is tough and 5 months ago I was doing 1 1/2 to 3 miles depending on my schedule. I don't even do that every day anymore. After the knee replacements most of my back issues went away automatically because I wasn't favoring the strongest one. I'm not crazy about drugs but I would sure rather use them for a short period than a much longer period just to function.
What brand of replacement ankle did you get? The 2 that sound the best are the Wheeler Medical and the Stryker (sp). The doc I'm going to right now uses the Wheeler.
The best time of year for me to undergo this sort of thing would be late summer when my work slows way down, but gives me enough time for recovery before hunting season. I was deer hunting 3 weeks after my 1st knee replacement, CAREFULLY mind you but hunting.

Thanks again,
Bob

[Lloyd Smale]

Thanks Lloyd, that is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Several other folks on a skydiving forum I follow have had similar experiences. I had both knees replaced 7 years ago and the recovery wasn't near as tough as I expected but my attitude was that I was going to make it work and it has.
My ankle has been swollen for several months now and I can already tell that the limping around is affecting other joints. I try and walk some but 1/2 mile is tough and 5 months ago I was doing 1 1/2 to 3 miles depending on my schedule. I don't even do that every day anymore. After the knee replacements most of my back issues went away automatically because I wasn't favoring the strongest one. I'm not crazy about drugs but I would sure rather use them for a short period than a much longer period just to function.
What brand of replacement ankle did you get? The 2 that sound the best are the Wheeler Medical and the Stryker (sp). The doc I'm going to right now uses the Wheeler.
The best time of year for me to undergo this sort of thing would be late summer when my work slows way down, but gives me enough time for recovery before hunting season. I was deer hunting 3 weeks after my 1st knee replacement, CAREFULLY mind you but hunting.

Thanks again,
Bob

tell you the truth bob i dont know what brand it is. All I know is there was one older brand they had a bunch of problems with and the one i have is a newer unit that is suppose to be better.