Walt, who used to teach positive thinking and stress management, needs all his resources to get through this pain, and possibly a knee replacement revision surgery.Walt got a Zimmer knee replacement in April 2010 and on a scale of 1 to10, his pain is still registering seven. And his knee is still swollen. "I am having pain treatment and cortisone shots; my doctor pulled fluid out of my knee twice to check for infection but there isn't any," says Walt, who adds that there is no explanation why his knee still hurts, except that the Zimmer NexGen knee is a defective device. Although Walt knows his knee replacement is made by Zimmer, he isn't sure of the exact model, but it could be the Zimmer NexGen CR-Flex Porous Femoral component.
"This Zimmer knee has really messed up my life," Walt says. "I can't bowl anymore, I can't walk any distance, and it's even messed up my sex life. I used to be a very active person; I went to the gym three times a week and I've taught stress management for 30 years but this has really cut my quality of life way back—I'd say by 80 percent.
"I've had two previous knee replacements and the pain has never stayed this long. This is chronic pain, not acute. It is so hard to find a position where the pain subsides and it often wakes me at night. Every morning I wake up at 2 or 3 am and put a cold pack on my knee; throughout the day I switch it from hot to cold, trying to alleviate the pain.
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"My wife wants to take a trip overseas but I don't think I can get on a plane with this knee. She is worried that I'm going to get depressed over this, even though I teach positive thinking. Now I get pushed around in my transporter chair. If not for my wife, I would be house-bound. I try to move around as much as possible and work through the pain; I can't be a couch potato.
"I had x-rays and got the results a few weeks ago—everything looks fine. But I went online and found out that the best way to find out if the Zimmer NexGen device is defective is by having a bone scan. So I guess that's up next. Then maybe a lawsuit..."
READER COMMENTS
karen ashley
on
Not one day in thirty years have I been free from pain in that leg. It disfigured my beautiful legs and cut short my hiking, running, and dancing activities.
Only after changing to a raw organic vegan diet with frequent fasting have I been able to get relief over the past few years...
Cheryl Von Walker
on
I was a patient that was a Smith and Nephew so called Recall. I went into surgery with the agreement and my insurance HealthChoice approved the same agreed request from Surgeon Michael Williams of Oklahoma City and Edmond Oklahoma requested implanting this companies #1 knee system. It was also the same knee system he had already implanted in my left knee 6 months before.
I woke out of Anesthesia to find out that he had changed His Promise and I have found he implanted through his letter to this company he explains if he would have 'cemented' the macro textured knee system they would not have these problems. Either way, I was not a patient being age 46 and an active and working career single woman, that would have fit his decision to have Change his promise to that knee.
I would have never agreed to anything other than Smith and Nephews commercialized knee system that is in my left knee already that has been tried and tested for 30 years now to be at my time be of the success rate of failures of 4/30,000. I did not go into surgery uneducated about all this information and was not fooled UNTIL HELPLESS UNDER ANESTHESIA.
He changed to a FDA UN-Approved knee system. Then be warned, I hired the Patrick Ryan and son Jason Ryan Law Team and they brought on with them a father and son team Larry and Darren Tawwater all from Oklahoma City. They all collaborated and manipulated my truths and records to hide all these crimes of surgeon and Company I think because Company has paid fines to government for Illegally paying Kickbacks to all these surgeons and Royalties. My surgeon did admit on my first surgery he did work with this company. I was trapped along with extortion and denied all this information and never told the actual discovery even when requested over and over. So beware! You must be diligent but it will never be completely honorable, sad but true.
My attempts have been difficult but I have made every step to follow every legal protocol as a normal citizen without legal knowledge can do. I have been denied 4 attempts with work to Oklahoma Bar and then records that were again enough to open diligent investigation by the Oklahoma Medical Board. I have shown this same evidence to my Senator Tom Coburn and had denied letters from him 2 times with his attempt to accuse me of asking him for legal counsel when I was asking to have the chance to speak to the Senators committee investigating these Kickback laws broken. I have been successful being heard by a national news media and waiting to hear from them and along with a national magazine dealing with political matters.
I have a desire to help other patients feeling alone as I did and I wish you luck in finding a surgeon. I hope you do not listen to public that think something is wrong with you because that is what you will deal with. Public and Doctors will let you die before admitting to the fact that the only thing monitoring these Oaths of Honors is the Single Individuals Integrity. No person allows themselves to believe that and I found that to be true from even my closest friends and family which is these criminals perfect cover. You have had a bad and Un- approved products put into your body and you have your bone dying. You have a dislocating knee causing the pain. You must get help and the depression is normal and make sure you have the rest of your health monitored such as your Blood Pressure Health etc. These things feel apart for me along with anxiety attacks etc all at age 46.
I had to have 3 total knee replacements because no other surgeon would take me. This same surgeon would not be as aggressive as he should have been on the first surgery and caused me to have to go in the third time. You should not have to do that. I was this surgeons 1st of 6 patients and all 6 of his patients failed.
Again, I wish you the best and believe in yourself and only what your body tells you. Do not allow outsiders to put you down because they have no idea what it is like to have open bone wounds inside their bodies and no one to look at their injury to see how bad it is. Broken legs that are compound fractures are normally sickening to people but that is what we have inside our bodies........ So stay strong and know these people thinking you have some illness is a joke!!
Best Wishes
Sandra Martineau
on