After dealing with knee pain and waiting several years the pain had become enough that it was time to get serious with the orthopedic doctor. They told me several years ago I would someday need a total knee replacement but to hold off as long as I could. It seems the knees did not last very long and may have to be replaced again when you got older. At age 50 it seems like everything starts to go so why not trade in the clunker for a new knee. It might just be another stimulus package or the new Obama health plan. Trade in your old parts for new ones.
Sure, I had seen the bionic man and all the metal parts but now I was going to have one in me. How bad could it be? The first mistake I made was to go to "You Tube" and see a total knee replacement being done on a patient. After watching the video and seeing the doctors with saws, hammers, chisels and screwdrivers, you might say I was a little reluctant to move forward.
I met with my doctor and who gave me a brochure that told all about my knew knee the companies name was Smith & Nephew. Now I'm thinking this is some guy named Smith and his nephew that came up with this in their garage, reminded me of Sanford & Son another well known duo. The brochure told all about how strong this new knee was and with me about to hold up 300 pounds on it, I wanted a strong knee. The brochure says ask about the Power of Ox!
Their website, no joke is www.StrongAsAnOx.com if you don't believe me just check it out for yourself. Now you know why I'm thinking Sanford & Son knee replacement!
The new knee joint is made from Oxinium material which is the result of a process that allows oxygen to absorb into zirconium metal, which changes the surface from metal to ceramic. The bottom of the joint is made from titanium. And to smooth things up between the joints there are pieces of plastic that snap into the joints. Sounds pretty cool until you realize they have to do all the stuff I mentioned from You Tube to get it in there. Now all I needed to do was set up my date of surgery and this was just a 9 to 5 routine job for the doctor. I'm scared to death and this is just a walk in the park to the doctor who does this several times a week. Of course I'm scared the doctor explained there are some risks involved. The risks include, but not limited to just one item on the list... failure to come out of the general anesthesia, nausea, blood clots, staff infection and of course the big one death! It's amazing how much better your knee begins to feel and you begin to think maybe I should hold off on this. Follow my blog and I will take you through my hospital check-in the hospital gowns and waking up in the recovery room! Isn't this exciting!
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