lovetocookandsew
Former BoneSmart Staff Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2013
- Messages
- 6,176
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Northern California
- Gender
- Female
- Country
United States
I am so tired of hearing that people are being told they are too young for this. Your knees are bone-on-bone or close to it, and in pain, should be the only criteria. I was told I was too young at first (I was around 54) and needed to wait until I was 65-68, but I told my (first) doctor that was a really lame criteria as my knee was keeping me from living my life. If I waited until I was 65, I'd have spent (at the time) 10-15 years (!!!!) in pain and sitting on the sidelines of life. Then at 65 or 70, I'd get a new knee, but by then I would not want to do as much as I do now. And my youngest granddaughter would be in college and I'd have missed out on her entire life. So what if I may need a revision in 20 years, at least I'd have lived all these years, and worry about a revision if needed. No one should be told to sit around for 10 or 20 years, in PAIN, then come see us. I think it may come from an old-school way of thinking, when the knees didn't last as long, maybe. If I get 20 years from this knee, I'll be 78 by then and if I'm still alive, will definitely be less active than at 58. If a doctor tells you you're too young, tell him/her this should be done on younger patients, if needed, to keep us active and fit. People who can't walk or move around have no life; are likely to become bored or unhappy and maybe even depressed, all of which usually lead to being overweight/obese. I fought to keep my weight down, but after my knee got totally painful, and I could do very little, I gained 30 or so lbs. I tried to stay under 1400 calories per day, but if you're basically sitting all the time, the weight creeps up on you even on a low calorie diet. I'd have likely stayed the same weight I originally was at 1200 calories per day, but I tried it and I was starving all the time. So I gained 30 or so lbs over a couple of years; can you imagine what I'd have weighed if I waited 6 or so more years? Ugh.......My new doctor bases his opinion of when to do it based on test results, pain levels and quality of life. All of which meant I needed a new knee. And when he did the procedure, he found my knee was worse than expected-it was totally bone on bone, instead of heading that way gradually as previously thought from x-rays and other surgical procedures. It went downhill really fast. I also changed my phone ringer to a new song just before the surgery-I have the song, "I hope you dance" as my ringtone. My biggest goal is dance lessons for hubby and me as soon as I'm able. 
