I Canceled my TKR. Now I'm regretting it!

[Celle]

My neighbor is probably 20 years younger than I and the doctor told him to just put up with the knees as long as he could so he gets around with a bit of a limp at times but no plans for surgery.
For me at 70+ with no cartilage at all and an unstable knee, it's either compromise quality of life or replace it and get on with life without the ache or feeling like it's going to collapse when the bones shift.

I think your neighbour, at about 50, has been wrongly advised. Walking around, limping, is also compromising his quality of life.
50 is not too young to have a knee replacement, since the replacements can last 30+ years nowadays. I would advise him to seek a second opinion, from a surgeon who will consider the state of his knee and the impact that has on his quality of life, before he/she looks at his age.

 

[floridoris]

You probably made the right decision to cancel the surgery for this month, simply because even when you know (and have accepted) that you need the surgery, it's still quite scary and nerve-wracking. If your nervousness is compounded by uncertainty, that's probably much worse.
I put off knee replacement surgery for around 4 years. (Recently, while going through some of my things, I found an article about knee replacement surgery that I had saved from 2011, so as long as 8 years ago I must have been in pain - enough to save an article about knee replacement, when I didn't keep any articles about other joints or other conditions.) Anyway, I knew it was time when the pain had gotten unbearable, and I knew there were no other viable options remaining.
It may be helpful to see another orthopedist, just to get another opinion.

 

[Cynof4]

When your pain is preventing you from enjoying any activity in life that you want to participate in it's time to look for solutions. I'm 53 and my husband and I are recently empty nesters. We have been active all of our lives- hiking, fishing, diving, hunting and cycling together. When I could no longer keep up with him because of my knee I knew it was time to seek medical advice. I want to spend the next decades of our life as active as possible- still chasing rainbows. Could I have waited? Probably. I could still walk and was not in constant pain. But, OA is a degenerative disease. This recovery is tough. Not going to lie about it. It's one of the hardest things I've done in my life. But, I'm looking forward to returning to doing the things that I love.

Cynthia

 

[Rockgirl4]

I forgot to add that I DID have major hamstring pain, especially in the area of attachment right behind the knee (the pain was both slightly above and slightly below though). I had to go to PT for 3-4 wks last year, just to deal with that hamstring issue.

My 2 PTs said it was most DEFINITELY related to the degeneration in my knee, as the entire joint was chronically inflamed, with obvious swelling to block my range of motion. One of these PTs had been helping me with this knee for 2 solid yrs, and he could notice the changes happening over time. He's the one who finally told me to get more opinions regarding TKR.

I had previously spoke to the PA at my surgeon's office, as my surgeon was wishy-washy about my future. She was brave one day and told me flat-out I needed the TKR and that until I got the knee replacement, the hamstring pain would never completely resolve and would need constant professional attention 1-2 times a year. It is a well-known fact that swelling inhibits muscle activity and can cause the soft tissues in the swollen area to hurt, inflame, and not work correctly. This can include tendons.

Interestingly enough, I had my TKR 16 wks ago and now have NO HAMSTRING issues. My TKR did fix that problem, and I wonder if it would help you too. I'm finally back to walking 3X a week, a mile at a time, and even steep hills at times---no hamstring issues at all. I'm adding strength training back slowly too, but all the things that aggravated my hamstring tendons/muscles before the TKR are no longer an issue.