Part One in the series Jill’s knee replacement journey
Jill explains how her knee problem began, the moment she realised something was seriously wrong, and why she decided to have a total knee replacement rather than managing her condition with other treatments
When did your knee problem begin?
It was about 18 months ago. I do Pilates, and I noticed my left knee was starting to make noises where it hadn’t before. It was a sort of creaking, cracking sound when I moved. If I placed the palm of my hand on the kneecap and moved my leg, I could feel the joint physically grinding underneath it. Strangely enough, it wasn’t painful at that stage. But it certainly didn’t feel good.
When I looked at the X-ray, I could see the cartilage in my joint had completely worn away
Jill
At what point did you realise it was serious?
One night, I went to bed as normal but when I woke up the next morning my knee was very swollen and painful, and I couldn’t put weight on my leg. I elevated my leg, to encourage the swelling to reduce. I used ice packs to help with that too. But after two or three days, I knew the problem wasn’t going to go away.
What happened next?
I saw my GP, who ordered an X-ray. When the results came back it was a shock, to be honest. Looking at the area between my tibia (the shinbone) and femur (thighbone), you could see there was just no space between the bones.
Did you know you had osteoarthritis in your knee?
I suspected it. But when I saw those images, it was very clear. The cartilage covering the bone endings had completely worn away. All the cushioning in my knee joint had gone, so the bones were just grinding against each other. In other words, I had what they call severe, “bone-on-bone” osteoarthritis. At that point I knew enough to realise I was probably looking at surgery, and possibly a knee replacement. So I booked an appointment with Mr Bailey to get his opinion. He asked me to do an MRI scan first, then we looked at the results together.
I realised that having the operation now would be like future-proofing my knee
Jill
What did Mr Bailey recommend for your knee?
The first thing I asked him was: “What does it look like inside?” The answer was “a bit of a mess”! So then I wanted to know: What are my options? We talked about non-surgical approaches. I could have a corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injection to reduce the swelling and discomfort – but the effects would be temporary and it wouldn’t address the underlying problem of my severe arthritis. Alternatively, I could have a partial knee replacement (PKR), to replace the area of my knee with the most damage. Or, lastly, I could have a total knee replacement (TKR).
Did you consider managing your knee problem instead?
To be honest, not really. That first flare-up happened so suddenly; I thought, How many times is it going to happen in the future? Also, the damage in my knee was only going to get worse. I’d noticed the grinding was already getting worse when I went up steps, for example. I knew that, if I had a partial, I’d be looking at a total knee replacement in a few years’ time. But I thought, I’m in my mid-70s – I really don’t want to be going in for these operations when I’m 85… In that sense, having a total replacement would be like future-proofing my knee. Of course, every patient is different. But for me, it felt like a no-brainer.
How long did you have to wait for your replacement?
There was a waiting list, of course, but a slot became available in late autumn. This was about four months after my initial consultation with Mr Bailey. Once I’d made the decision to have a TKR, I felt very positive and I was comfortable with my decision. It felt like we were making the right choice, at the right time, for the right reasons…
Read on
You can read the next part of Jill’s story here: Part 2 – Preparing for the Operation
