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Replacement artificial knee operation.

George J

George J

Herefordshire member
In the second half of December I shall have the first of two operations on my right knee. The first to remove two pins that were installed to fix my tibia, broken in an road traffic accident on my bike, and after that has recovered, the actual fitment of an artificial knee joint. So firstly six weeks not driving, and then potentially six to twelve weeks also not able to drive.

As self-employed, I am not going to get any statutory sick pay, and so far have drawn a blank on how I can finance potentially up to eighteen weeks off work in the next twelve months.

I have made contact with the CAB in Hereford, and they suggested that a face to face might bring up some ideas, but it looks a bit grim in money terms. I had hoped to stagger on till retirement again in four and a half years time, but that is no longer viable as it sometimes is painful enough to wake me up at night and deny me any further sleep.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Best wishes from George

PS: Three photos of X-rays done in 2012. The first show part of the tibia fracture, and the next two are post-op.

IMG_8710 by George Johnson, on Flickr

IMG_8711 by George Johnson, on Flickr

IMG_8712 by George Johnson, on Flickr

PPS: The consultant at Hereford County Hospital is a wonderful fellow, who appreciated the point about delaying the start till December so it falls at the least busy time of year for me! I suggested taking the pins out at Christmas, as nobody wants gardening or decorating dome at that time of year [except family], but when the actual replacement occurs is only to be based on how well I heal from the pins and the availability of a slot for the actual main job ...
 
Thats tough going George, sorry to hear that. Any chance, some of the work could be subbed out?

I know, its probably the last thing you'd want to do.
 
Subbing out the work is not really an option. In the winter it is mostly either working inside painting and decorating, or outside doing what essentially is a skilled job pruning fruit trees and so on. Easy to get wrong and not easy to straighten out even over a few years.

I am trusted by my various clients, even to the point of being left alone inside a house without the owner necessarily being there. Not really fair to ask someone to accept an unknown person. Plus, I would probably have to pay a sub-contractor more than I actually charge for my own efforts.

It does look possible that Universal Credit may cover the case, albeit at a lower amount than I actually earn, but it is really about not letting the situation getting out of hand.

I am not really worried, because that will not help.

It does appear that the Hereford CAB team is running a session the day after the General Election in the Public Hall in Bromyard, so I shall try to fix an appointment.

Thanks and best wishes from George
 
George -I know where you're coming from. Am a one man electronic security band. ALL the guys that I used to be able to rely on to cover for me are either dead, disabled or retired from the trade. My knees haven't suffered the Trauma your's have - but so far I've been able to go for a twice yearly series of shots in the knees and daily very effective physical therapy exercises (Rejuvinix treatment here in USA) plus acetaminophen every 6 hours have kept me going .One hint -for the last few years I've been sleeping with a pillow between my legs to keep knee pain from waking me up -I can't work if I don't get a decent nights sleep. I've got 10+ years on you -as you age self employment becomes a real challenge.
 
Sorry I can't help with the financial side of things but I can offer advice about recovery. I've had both my knees replaced, the right one in 2006 and the left in 2008. Always do as much physio exercises as possible after the operation, it's likely to be painful (it was for me) but stick at it. It will help prevent the build-up of internal scar tissue which is what restricts movement if allowed to build-up. The other thing to do, if you can, is to exercise to build up your leg muscles before the operation as this will speed up your post-op recovery. Good luck and hope it all goes well for you.
 
To reinforce what John's posted; doing the exercises, both before and after the op., is absolutely crucial George. It'll hurt, but after a few weeks you'll forget you've even got a prosthetic knee. Good luck old bean!
 
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