Josephine, you are so right. I went the doctor this last with problems in both knees, I tore them both up racing dirt bikes 30 years ago in my late teens, early twenties. The right one HAD to operated on then, it was completly blown out. The left one hasn't really been stable since, but I compensated and basically gave up any activity that put pressure on my knees. Things like tennis ,softball, backyard sports, motorcycles; stuff I had done all my life. I basically aged myself 30 years at once. Anyhow, the pain in the right one that they 'fixed' got to a point I thought something had to be done and I went back to the doc last November. One Dr. looked at my knees, gave the old pull and turn; then x-rayed them both and told me TKR was my only option for the right one, bone on bone and bone spurs had developed all around the joint. The left one could be stabilized arthoscopically. He said do the TKR first and when it was recovered enough come back and do the left. This Dr. was a nice guy, he talked to me and seemed to listen and care about me, not just my knees. However, he doesn't do replacements and put me off on another Dr. for that. The replacement guy, I swear hasn't talked to me more than twenty minutes throughtout this whole process, exam until now. No info, no explaination, no Q & A. nothing other than "Its going to have to be done. We'll get you fixed up." Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that all docs are not alike, after all, they are just people doing a job. Just like all of us have the job of getting better. Some move faster than others and some have different personalities than others that allow for different approaches and different perspectives. Sorry for the long post, but you guys are really the only folks I have to talk to. I haven't decided about going back for the left knee yet.
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