After I returned from my 8 months holidays, travelling around the world (Cambodia, China, Iceland, Costa Rica, and more) and returning to an office setting I quickly stiffened up in most of my joints.
My doctor ordered another xray which showed significant deterioration in the left knee since the xray only two years before. I finally agreed it was time to consider a knee replacement. She made the referral and I was scheduled to meet with a team for assessment.
Prior to my appointment, a friend told me about stem cell treatment which her father and a few other family members had used. After some reading I decided this was the route for me to take. I filled out the forms, revisited my doctor and had her sign the referral forms and send me for xrays on my right side as well. My doctor was aware of such treatments but was not aware of any happening in Canada. She is interested in how my experience will work. Very quickly I received a call from Capri Clinic. I scheduled an appointment for a month after my knee replacement assessment.
In April 2017, I attended for a meeting with the knee replacement team at our local hospital. I was not sure of what it would entail. This was a two hour appointment. The first hour was with an RN who has first hand knowledge of tje process - she has already had two knee replacements. The second hour was with a physical therapist. The intention of the assessment team is to give people all the information they need to make a good decision if knee (or hip) replacement is the right decision for them. If a decision is made to move forward to replacement then the person is fast tracked to the orthopedic surgeon.
My first hour reviewed my medical history and a bit of a medical was done. Embarrassingly, my bmi was 31, which meant I had to be checked for diabetes. The procedure and the recovery process was explained. The first hour felt very routine and comfortable. The second hour was frustrating. The therapist asked me what I was hoping a knee replacement would do for me? I answered - have the pain gone. She replied that there would be no guarantees of such. I indicated that much of my pain is as a result of the bakers cyst. The therapist indicated that the bakers cyst would not be removed during a knee surgery. The cyst is part of the synovial fluid system and that is not touched during a knee replacement. I expressed my frustrations and disbelief that the knee would be opened up, the cyst would accessible but would be left there - it didn't make sense to me. She indicated that is just the way it works. I expressed that this helps me make my decision. Further information indicated many people need a knee replacement every 7 to 15 years. Recovery time is 2 to three months. It's is very painful. Not all work. However, even with all this negative information she seemed to be providing me with the information that would lead me to the decision of a knee replacement. She then looked up my xrays and showed me the difference between my 2015 and 2017 xrays. She indicated the bone below the knee is bowing and an additional surgery may be needed. Some times a wedge needs to be added if the deterioration is too great. I was becoming increasingly frustrated.
I did not know that further waiting could cause additional damage. I did not know that the bakers cyst would not be removed.
My appointment almost ended when I said I was going to try stem cell regeneration instead of knee replacement. The therapist stated that she felt my knee was too far along for stem cell to work. She would give me until October to make a decision. This worked for me as this would allow me to pursue stem cell and see it it would work for me.
My appointment at Capri Clinic is scheduled for May 23rd. Information provided on the website for pre-injection clients states no anti-inflammatory (and certain other) medications for one week prior to injection.
On May 10th I was working out of town. In the evening I fell in parking lot of the hotel and injured my ankle and scrapped up both knees. I fell getting out of my car, slammed into the car parked to me. I was laying between the two cars with my car door open. I couldn't roll over to get up. I thought I had broken my ankle. The ambulance was called and they helped me up and checked my vitals. Because I could stand and hold my weight they did not need to take me to the hospital. The following is the picture of my foot that night (Wednesday). The second picture is Saturday night.
My doctor ordered another xray which showed significant deterioration in the left knee since the xray only two years before. I finally agreed it was time to consider a knee replacement. She made the referral and I was scheduled to meet with a team for assessment.
Prior to my appointment, a friend told me about stem cell treatment which her father and a few other family members had used. After some reading I decided this was the route for me to take. I filled out the forms, revisited my doctor and had her sign the referral forms and send me for xrays on my right side as well. My doctor was aware of such treatments but was not aware of any happening in Canada. She is interested in how my experience will work. Very quickly I received a call from Capri Clinic. I scheduled an appointment for a month after my knee replacement assessment.
In April 2017, I attended for a meeting with the knee replacement team at our local hospital. I was not sure of what it would entail. This was a two hour appointment. The first hour was with an RN who has first hand knowledge of tje process - she has already had two knee replacements. The second hour was with a physical therapist. The intention of the assessment team is to give people all the information they need to make a good decision if knee (or hip) replacement is the right decision for them. If a decision is made to move forward to replacement then the person is fast tracked to the orthopedic surgeon.
My first hour reviewed my medical history and a bit of a medical was done. Embarrassingly, my bmi was 31, which meant I had to be checked for diabetes. The procedure and the recovery process was explained. The first hour felt very routine and comfortable. The second hour was frustrating. The therapist asked me what I was hoping a knee replacement would do for me? I answered - have the pain gone. She replied that there would be no guarantees of such. I indicated that much of my pain is as a result of the bakers cyst. The therapist indicated that the bakers cyst would not be removed during a knee surgery. The cyst is part of the synovial fluid system and that is not touched during a knee replacement. I expressed my frustrations and disbelief that the knee would be opened up, the cyst would accessible but would be left there - it didn't make sense to me. She indicated that is just the way it works. I expressed that this helps me make my decision. Further information indicated many people need a knee replacement every 7 to 15 years. Recovery time is 2 to three months. It's is very painful. Not all work. However, even with all this negative information she seemed to be providing me with the information that would lead me to the decision of a knee replacement. She then looked up my xrays and showed me the difference between my 2015 and 2017 xrays. She indicated the bone below the knee is bowing and an additional surgery may be needed. Some times a wedge needs to be added if the deterioration is too great. I was becoming increasingly frustrated.
I did not know that further waiting could cause additional damage. I did not know that the bakers cyst would not be removed.
My appointment almost ended when I said I was going to try stem cell regeneration instead of knee replacement. The therapist stated that she felt my knee was too far along for stem cell to work. She would give me until October to make a decision. This worked for me as this would allow me to pursue stem cell and see it it would work for me.
My appointment at Capri Clinic is scheduled for May 23rd. Information provided on the website for pre-injection clients states no anti-inflammatory (and certain other) medications for one week prior to injection.
On May 10th I was working out of town. In the evening I fell in parking lot of the hotel and injured my ankle and scrapped up both knees. I fell getting out of my car, slammed into the car parked to me. I was laying between the two cars with my car door open. I couldn't roll over to get up. I thought I had broken my ankle. The ambulance was called and they helped me up and checked my vitals. Because I could stand and hold my weight they did not need to take me to the hospital. The following is the picture of my foot that night (Wednesday). The second picture is Saturday night.
This was not a good time to not be able to use anti-inflammatories.
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