Beat the clock

[PaFrank]

I was scheduled for a bi-lateral knee replacement next week.... but pre admission testing required a stress test..
Stress test showed 2 blockages, one 95% which they cleaned out and put in a stent yesterday... the other blockage is 80% and they will do that one in a couple weeks..
I had NO SYMPTOMS... had I not had the stress test, I was likely 3 cheese steaks away from a massive and likely fatal coronary..

I'm still annoyed that I will have to wait 3 more months for my new knees, but fortunate that I'll still be here!

[pcox]

I'd rather be lucky than anything else I can think of.

[Major Tom]

My wife has had 2 knee and 1 hip replacements in the past 23 months. Watch out for infections as she had 3 of them, one very serious and 1 quite a problem. Check to see that your orthopedic surgeon has had no serious infection problems in past surgeries. Those infections can prolong recovery by months.

[Allen]

Glad all the blockage was found in time. As much as you're dreading the knee replacement you can thank it for discovery that otherwise would not have been found till it was too late. My mother had both knees replaced and my wife had a hip replaced when she was 60. It is no picnic in the park but the doctors are getting better at it and the knee replacements have become fairly common.

Best of luck with everything and keep us posted.

[Sunray]

The 'stress test' they made me do, despite my telling 'em my stress was fine and didn't need testing, involved a tread mill with my breathing restricted. It didn't tell anybody anything about blockages. The angioplasty did that. All four of arteries were blocked. Almost heard the 'clunk' when the probe hit the blockages. It was nice of 'em to let me watch on the TV they used.

[Allen]

The 'stress test' they made me do, despite my telling 'em my stress was fine and didn't need testing, involved a tread mill with my breathing restricted. It didn't tell anybody anything about blockages. The angioplasty did that. All four of arteries were blocked. Almost heard the 'clunk' when the probe hit the blockages. It was nice of 'em to let me watch on the TV they used.

Sounds like the exact same test they did on me years ago.

After running my pulse rate up to 270 I flipped the switch on the treadmill. They wanted me to keep going but I said "nope we're not going to cause a heart attack". The angioplasty part was like a sonogram best I remember. The doctor I used was considered one of the best in the region (in their opinion). His professional results were: "either you have a problem or you don't have a problem". I had no blockage just a room full of quacks.

[RED]

I was scheduled for a bi-lateral knee replacement next week.... but pre admission testing required a stress test..
Stress test showed 2 blockages, one 95% which they cleaned out and put in a stent yesterday... the other blockage is 80% and they will do that one in a couple weeks..
I had NO SYMPTOMS... had I not had the stress test, I was likely 3 cheese steaks away from a massive and likely fatal coronary..

I'm still annoyed that I will have to wait 3 more months for my new knees, but fortunate that I'll still be here!

I had a similar experience. I had a toe amputated in the VA hospital on Dec.6,2018. I am not diabetic but the phalanges bone was infected. The VA totally botched the procedure and the wound would not heal. I was urged to get a second opinion so I went to a civilian foot surgeon. I saw him on Jan 19th and he sent me directly to the hospital and said he might be able to save my leg. That night the hospital monitor started alarming around 12:30AM and my heart beat got down to 26 beats per minute and mu 02 reading was 85%. They sent me directly to the Acute Care Unit and did EKG's and a MRI. The heart Dr. prescribed a pacemaker that was causing the infection but didn't want to implant the PM until he was sure the infection was controllable. They operated on my foot on the 22nd and sent the bone pieces to the lab to find out the exact bacteria. The results showed 2 bacteria, neither of which the antibiotic the VA had prescribed was appropriate. They installed the PM on the 25th and finished the toe with a skin draft. I was put on a mixture of IV antibiotics for a 6 week regimen and got out of the hospital on Feb 1.

Thank you VA, you may have saved my life by completely botching the first surgery... they didn't send in the toe to be cultured, they did no post op X-rays, they didn't consult an infection specialist, they left a sharp barb plus a 6MM fragment in the wound, all of which caused it not to begin to heal in 6 weeks. My out of pocket costs for the 2nd surgery plus the pacemaker will top my annual out of pocket cost Medicare and a supplemental plan of $6,700. My life and leg are worth it to me.

[PaFrank]

My Cardiologist and Knee Surgeon are both at Jefferson (Philadelphia and Langhorne PA) They have the lowest infection rate in the industry at .2%

As crappy as this area is to live in, socially, politically and economically, Philadelphia is LOADED with teaching hospitals and you really can get outstanding medical care around here.

[PWC]

Well Red, I truly am glad to hear you are on the mend a d I hopenothing else gets in the way.

[Mark in Ottawa]

I have had three knee replacements and nobody suggested a stress test in advance. Fortunately all went well though. My strong advice is to take very seriously their statements on the importance of physiotherapy after the surgery. I have the impression that you are going to have both knees done at the same time. This certainly reduces the total time spent in hospital but I suspect that it will be much harder to get around in the first few weeks. I had my first two done 6 months apart and then had my right one (which was a partial knee replacement) redone 5 years later to replace it with a total knee replacement. Oddly, my wife has two partials as well. All were done by the same surgeon in our small local hospital that happens to specialize in knee and hip replacements. The improvement is well worth the effort.