Having knee surgery soon. first time having surgery. what to expect?

Question

I am having knee surgery in a few weeks. i dislocated my knee about 2 years ago and it is still messed up. they are cutting the tissue off the outside of my kneecap because it is too tight and is pulling my kneecap onto its side, and then they are cutting the tissure and muscle off the inside edge of my kneecap and reattatching it farther in because it is too loose. I have never had surgery before, and i was just wondering what to expect. has anyone ever had a similar surgery done? what was the recovery time? how bad did it hurt?
i might add that i am a very serious ballet dancer, dancing for about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, so my knees are quite strong for my age. (i'm 15.)

Answer 1

You are young and will heal well and quick. Just plan on taking it easy for a few weeks. I am sure your Doc will get you on a great re-hab and sports physical therapy program.

It will be sore, but not too long as you rehabilitate. Do not go off of that program for they have been developing their skills for years now and know what they are doing.

See you on the dance floor in no time, and do not get addicted to day time TV :)

Answer 2

Well, i had two knee surgeries in the Army. On the second one, the Doctor chewed me up because I was not using the crutches. She said the reason, that I was to use the crutches for 6 weeks was to give my knee time to heal. But after one week, I think, I was walking limping on it. I told the doctor that it did not hurt. She said, that I did not feel nothing cuz inside was numb but by walking on it, I was making the injury recovery worse. She said, it was numb and I was given 6 weeks on crutches with weight off of the knee to give the knee time to heal. She said that was probably why I had the second operation cuz I screwed up the first time. Well the first doctor said nothing. Even when the time for recovery is over ask the doctor how much dancing you can do. And if the doc says stay off the knee, stay off the knee though it does not hurt. Remember the first couple of weeks the knee is numb inside. Also before the op, exercise the knees with weights ALOT, and build up muscle.

Answer 3

I am sixteen years old. Three years ago I got hit by a softball and it knocked my knee cap out of place. In April I went to an orthopedic doctor. I had an MRI and on May 10th I had a four part patella realignment. It consisted of looseing the outer tendon, tightening the inner one, stretching my quad muscle over my patella and unattaching my tibia, turning it and reattaching it with screws. I was in physical therapy from May until August. I am just now starting to be able to do everything again. I have to admit at first it is pretty painful, but my physical therapist was great and he made it fun. All I have to say is do the exercises they give you even though it may hurt. It will definately pay off in the end. I now have no pain at all, except when it gets cold. Good Luck!!!! : )

Answer 4

The most important thing is to listen to your doctor. If he/she says to ice your knee 5 times a day and take it easy for the first two weeks, follow his/her advice. Each knee surgery is different so the recovery will be different. Your doctor knows what's best for you.

My husband had knee surgery in August and of course didn't listen to what his doctor said. He was up and about too early and not putting enough ice on his knee. Six weeks after surgery his knee was very swollen and very painful. He had to have 12 ounces of liquid drained from his knee because of not following doctor's orders.

Hopefully the same doesn't happen to you. Good luck!

Answer 5

199 yr old marcus aurilius here. My Army friend Jim went skydiving with Korean Spec Ops people . Let's say, as 'Nam vets , we are over 53 and under 70. He messed up his knees. Being his only friend i had to wait for his surgery to get done; get instructions from the doc, hook up his knee pads cold water circulation device , etc. He kind of wishes he had not had the surgery. It's fast surgery. Healing is slow for him, as we are older. YOU R younger & may heal faster. I would take extra liquid minerals (better than pills) a week B4 your surgery, and when U get home. Good luck with the ballet.

Answer 6

You'll heal very fast because of your age and general excellent health. But it WILL swell, and hurt. Follow the surgeon's advise closely, they know what they're talking about. There will be a tendency to over use it--fight the urge! And relax. Remember a balance between diet, rest and exercise. Best of luck.

Answer 7

Well my aunt recently had one of these done so i know what to do! Your suppost to get 1 or 2 days of full rest! Then after that each day she needs to do a couple of laps up and down the living room or something. Then try lifting her knees up! All this will eventually help it to feel better and mover around more!

Answer 8

The price of knee joint replacement surgery is very low in India as compared to USA, UK and Canada. My cousin also got her hip replacement surgery in India through the forerunners healthcare .She is more than very happy with the results. She is totally pain free now. She just paid 25% of the amount she was quoted in USA and is all praise for this forerunners healthcare company.


Forerunners Healthcare is very famous in India. I read a lot about them in the Newspapers and magazines. I have read a lot of their patient stories also. They arrange financing for USA, Canadian, UK and other international patients who plan to have surgery abroad for low price, as all joint surgery is not covered by insurance in USA or by NHS in the UK. They also have photos pasted of their International patients. You can checkout their website. There are huge cost savings. As a doctor I personally believe that your surgery can be easily handled in India, as the quality of healthcare available In India is simply best in the world. The surgeons are USA/UK trained and facilities are 5 star.

http://www.forerunnershealthcare.com
Hope this helps.

Answer 9

your age is on your side it really should be a very fast recovery time ...give yourself all the time needed..do not become impatient