Knee Replacement Installed Wrong
Hi, my name is Denise and I am a 46 year old female with a Total Knee Replacement horror story. I had a TKR 2 years ago in my right knee. Since day 1 I have had excrutiating pain and could not bend the knee more than 30 degrees. I have complained to the O/S and he more or less just blew me off, saying the pain was in my head. The most amazing this is that he NEVER once took an X-ray of the knee. I went to PT for a year and still could not bend the knee. All the O/S did was get me hooked on pain medication. I tried to go to see other O/S's, but they would not see me, saying that they don't see Dr.----'s patients. A year after surgery he took me back to the OR and did a manipulation under anesthesia, he said that I had alot of scar tissue and that he wanted to break the tissue, well that didn't work, it only made the pain worse. I kept insisting that something was wrong and he dismissed it every time. He also had me on antibiotics for a year and a half, claiming that maybe there was an infection somewhere. My knee was not red, it didn't look infected, it was just always swollen. I am not able to walk without a walker or a cane and I can only walk a little bit. I don't sleep because the pain is so severe. My family has been very supportive and it kills them to see me suffering so much. My heel on my foot is totally numb and my hip is very painful too. Finally after almost 2 years of suffering I got int to see antother O/S. He took X-Rays (the first ones ever taken) and told me I need alot of work done and that he couldn't do it. It was too complicated. He sent me down to the University of Miami to see another O/S. I brought with me my medical records and copies of the X-Rays. The first thing out of his mouth was "How do you feel about amputation" I thought he was joking and my response to him was "Sure cut off my leg, at least I wouldn't have any pain any more", well he wasn't joking. My husbnd and I were in shock. He started explaining about amputation and we literally walked out of his office. By the way, I do not have health insurance and all of this my husband and I paid for, over $50,000. I am now on Social Security Disability and Medicare goes into effect on June 01, 2004. This doctor said to come back in June to discuss the amputatiion. We walked out! This was in March of 2004. We knew that there had to be other options, thru a family member of mine that is a surgeon in Durham, North Carolina I got in to see an O/S there. My husband and I drove up to NC(we live in south florida) in April. He took his own X-Rays and examined me. He said that he knew immediatly what was wrong with my knee. OK, are you ready for this....The Total Knee Replacement was installed wrong!! He explained that is was put in turned the wrong way, that is why I cannot bend it, it is mechanically impossible to bend it the way it is in there, that is why I have so much pain. He said that the artificial knee is flexed, he also said that they cut away much too much bone. My husband and I were in shock, we couldn't believe that it could be put in wrong, he said that it is in backwards. But he said that he could help me without amputation. On June 30th I will be having surgery again. They will be taking out the TKR and putting in a new one, They also have to put metal rods into my bones to stableize the new knee. We are very thankful that we went to NC, they were wonderful, they treated us with kindness and respect. I will be there for about 3 weeks and then come home and continue therapy. We have hired an attorney to represent us. We don't want this surgeon to do this to someone else. If anyone out there has had a similar experience I would love to hear from you. I have never heard of this happening before. I would love to discuss this with anyone out there. Thanks for letting me "vent". I know everyone that has had a TKR will understand what I have been going through. Thank You
From:
dekneesy7@bellsouth.net
