surgery and bad knees?

[jrnyc]

is there anyone out there who has bad knees...pain from tears or arthritis, etc, and has had surgery to the sacrum, with pelvic fixation...
since you need to bend from the knees after surgery, are you able to manage with painful knees?
this last year my knees have gotten bad, with a torn meniscus in the left and cysts and arthritis in the right...both are painful, with left being worse, but they tell me not bad enuf for surgery...
i am concerned about bending if i finally go thru with the surgery, which would be from T4-sacrum or T11-sacrum, with pelvic fixation....originally, all the surgeons i consulted, including Neuwirth, Lonner, Anand, and others, agreed fusion could be from T11 instead of from T4, because i got pain relief from botox shots in thoracic area...but...i get less relief from those shots now, AND i fear i would need a revision above T11 if i had fusion that started there, rather than starting fusion at T4..

also, all surgeons told me thin people have trouble with screws...i am down to 91 pounds from lack of appetite due to pain meds....i cannot seem to force myself to eat...
the surgeon today who did my SI joint shots said i would likely need screws removed after surgery once my spine fused...

worries, worries...

jess

[JenniferG]

It is a concern Jess. I think you would probably need to avoid bending your knees as much as possible after surgery. I had no troubles with my knees pre-op but for some weeks after surgery, my knees did hurt from using them as opposed to my back, for bending.

My knees obviously got used to it and haven't hurt for a long time, but they do take a hammering in those early weeks, when they are unused to carrying the load.

If your knee surgeon knew you were thinking about spinal fusion surgery, he might be more inclined to do your knees now, than later, perhaps?

[Karen Ocker]

Knees

I have not trouble with knees yet but I am much older and sometimes they are achy. One can bend from the hips with a fusion to sacrum--like me. I can really do everything. Your back misalignment might be aggravating your knees.

I am totally pain free- 9- years after a very complicated revision of the old-fashioned 1956 surgery.

[jrnyc]

thanks for the replies..
Karen, my left knee has an actual meniscus tear in it...i do not think it had anything to do with my spine....my right knee has a cyst and arthritis...arthritis most likely connected to my severe Lyme Disease that went undiagnosed for a year and a half....i have arthritis in my spine too, due to the Lyme, as well as elsewhere in my body...it is a dreadful disease, far more damaging and dangerous than most people know...
the surgeon said my meniscus tear isn't bad enough for surgery, though i will probably get another opinion on that...i know how successful arthroscopic knee surgery can be, when needed, as i used to work with someone who had it done...but the knee surgeon i consulted with couldn't have cared less about my spine...he recommended some exercise to strengthen my thighs, even when i told him it is hard for me to exercise because of back pain!

Jen, i am wondering, since my knees have these problems, whether the knee pain that you describe from overuse after surgery...wondering if it would get easier after my fusion was further along...

just one more worry in terms of going through with the surgery...

thanks again...
jess