Ankle Replacement

[IanS]

Tanks Kira,
Sunday would be great, possibly around 9am your time would be 10 pm Saturday my time. I think there is one day plus 13 hours difference. Pointing my toes was something I was doing a lot....darn. Well I guess I really need to wait until I have spoken to you. I sent you my e-mail address in one of the private messages so if you have anything that you could send me by e-mail, I would really appreciate it.
I think when I see my Doctor on the 11th, I will suggest that he at least puts together a hand out for his patients so that they can know what to expect and what to do. I was only in hospital two nights and then sent home. As I only lived an hour from the hospital, I guess that is normal for here.
Right now my dorsi-flexion is also limited and I can just about get the ankle to 90 degrees. I was bending my toes to try to increase the circulation in the top of my foot to reduce the swelling.
Talk to you on Sunday/Saturday.
All the best,
Ian

[KiraB]

Hi Ian,
not sure how to get my private messages... I can't see the function anywhere... i might just be having a blonde moment though hehe will try and find it, will try and get on early sunday morning my time. will try and find you on skype before that!

[unregistered]

Hi Kandy and kira,
Firstly congratulations to Kira for such a big mile stone of riding 600km's only 6 months after a replacement. I bet you felt so so good, and you thoroughly deserve too after what you have been through.

Secondly to Kandy,
If i was you I would go get a second opinion from another foot and ankle surgeon about your ankle. If you live in Sydney or Melbourne you will have a few options as most of the experienced foot and ankle surgeons are in those two cities. Melbourne in particular has the foot and ankle surgeons most experienced in ankle replacement. The surgeons in Melbourne also mostly use the agility replacement which was designed in America, but I am not sure that it is as good as the ones in Europe.
I have had a tibio talar ankle fusion and I can tell you it does place alot of stress on your other foot joints. I am now having a few problems with the mid foot and sub talar joint. If you have the choice of a replacement or fusion my advice would definately be a replacement over a fusion. I am on 38 and have been told by my surgeon that in 5 years he is hoping to reverse my fusion into a replacement, so I think a replacement maybe an option for you.
I hope whatever you decide that it gives you a more painless lifestyle.
Judy

[Kandy]

Hi Judy

Thanks for your reply and your advise. I will try to find out some names in Sydney or Melbourne. I'm from Brisbane. It's good to know that they do replacements somewhere in Australia. It would be worth a visit to find out about whether it is an option for me or not. Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your foot. That has been such a concern and also how I would be able to drive if I cannot move my ankle? I do have an automatic but it is my right foot. My thought is that it would put strain on my knee which also has Rheumatoid in it. I will do some more research and also if anyone knows of good specialists who do ankle replacements I would love to hear from them.
Good luck to you!
Thanks

Kandy

[unregistered]

Hello Kandy,
There are some good surgeons in both Melbourne and Sydney. In Sydney there is Mr Kim (henry) Slater and Martin SulLivan who are both very good from what I here.

In Melbourne the most experienced surgeons at ankle replacements are Mr Mark Blackney, Mr Tim Schneider and Miss Alison Taylor.

With regards to driving an automatic car and having a fused ankle it is achievable but very hard to drive a manual car with a fused right foot. I have an automatic and find it okay, however on long trips I use cruise control as it is harder to keep constant pressure on the foot pedal.

I hope this is of some help and I think all the surgeons listed have their phone numbers on the past foot and ankle forums.

Kind Regards
Judy

[Kandy]

Hi Judy,

Thank you so much for those suggestions on Doctors. I will be following that up as the more I read the more I am convinced fusion is not going to benefit my situation. Do you know how long the replacements are good for. I know with other replacements they don't usually do them on anyone under 50 I think. I am nearly 44 so I hope that doesn't cause a problem for a replacement?

Cheers

Kandy

[KiraB]

Kandy,
My advice for going down the replacement route is get the most experienced surgeon you can find at the exact operation with the implant the are currently using! There is a huge lurning curve with this operation. Ask how many they have done, success rates, revision surgery rates and how long their patients implants have lasted as alignment has a lot to do with how long it will last. Ask about what implant they are using and why they use it. I would preferably go with a 3 peice implant like the Hintegra or the STAR over the older 2 piece implants. Ask how much bone would be removed in the operation, and their sucess rates at replacing the whole implant should it fail. Also the different implants fail in different ways so could be good to know how their one fails predominantly when it does. Go and see the two best ones you can find and interview them, I found with this approach making them justify why you should go with them and their implant overr the other surgeon is a great way to be sure of your decision, and also makes the decision very easy as one will stand out as the right surgeon for you. Also forget genreal OS you need to go and see a foot and ankle specialist who only does this operation day in and day out. I had mine done with the hintegra implant with the surgeon who created it, I am only 26, I also saw the surgeon who created the STAR both agreed replacement was my best option and my age was not an issue at all. So your age should be no problem if you find a very qualified surgeon.

My replacement has been wonderful right from the beginning, easiest recovery of my 6 operations by a mile, and I hope whicheve way you go that you have a similarly great result!

Keep us posted
Kira =)

[markl]

Hi all,

Interesting thread - thanks to you all for your contributions.

35 years ago, I broke my ankle (Potts fracture) and had it fixed with a plate and two pins. For most of the intervening time, I have been able to do more or less whatever I wanted including running, skiing and squash albeit with limited (about 50%) ankle movement up and down and chronic pain which one learns to live with.

In the last few years, the ankle has deteriorated somewhat (less movement, more swelling, increased arthritis) and I am now revisiting the treatment options. I asked about replacement options quite a few years ago but the answer was unequivocally negative from the local sawbones. My how things appear to have changed!

I shall monitor this thread from time to time and if I have anything useful to add esp. regarding local (Sydney) info will post it here.

Cheers,

Mark

[unregistered]

Hello Kandy,
I can tell you the surgeons in Melbourne mainly use the Agility ankle replacement. However Miss Alison Taylor at knox Private Hospital has used the STAR and Mr Blackney has used the Hintegra (Mercy Private Hospital). however both Mr Blackney and Mr Schneider (the Avenue Private Hospital) mostly use the Agility ankle replacement. I can say that these doctors do alot of replacements but mostly on patients over 60. However there are a few patients in melbourne who have had replacements who are aged in their 30's and 40's age group.
I hope this is of help.
Judy

[BROKEN ANKLE]

dear unregistered,

I am very glad that you said Mr Blackney has used the Hintegra because Kira said its the best. I live near sydney but will hapily go to victora, instead of having to go overseas, what do you think the cost would be for that operation?