See the surgeon tomorrow and scared

Gettysburg

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Hi. I am new here and scared to death. I’m a 66 yr old who needs both knees replaced. I have been reading a lot of the threads on this forum but I don’t know whether to look forward to having the surgery or wasting a whole year of my life in pain.

I’m bone on bone but I don’t feel continuous pain but I am very limited as to what I can do physically. Do you think it’s worth it for a woman my age? I’m thinking of putting it off till the Spring.

Any input would help. Thank you
 
Hi, welcome to BoneSmart.

Pain: you may kinda regret it for about a month, although I didn't -- recovery is painful, but arthritis is more painful. Recovery is temporary and gets better, arthritis is permanent and gets worse.

If you put it off til spring, you're putting your full recovery back whilst continuing in pain. What's the use of that?


- if your knees rule your life , it's time
- take charge, don't be dictated to; it's your knee, your future
- don't believe in either horror stories or miraculous recoveries that happened to 'a friend of a friend'
- there is no such thing as too young or too heavy or even obese for TKR
- choose a specialist surgeon who does several hundred TKRs a year. Ask the nurses, if you can; they know who's best
- all replacement knees are very similar, don't believe that a special new one will give magical recovery -- it's the skill of the surgeon that counts
- if you need two done, think carefully about the time gap between surgeries, it's not a trivial decision
- try to plan for at least 12 weeks off work
- your recovery is your time to be selfish and idle; plan to embrace this, you'll need it
- don't think you can work hard (even if you're an athlete ) to speed recovery, healing works at its own pace
- look at our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) thread and for full reference the Library index.

- finally, if there's any part of this that you aren't clear about, ask here; it's what BoneSmart's for.
 
Thank you for your replies. My husband will have a lot to contend with as I have 2 dogs and a puppy! Plus waiting on me. I don’t have any other family members to rely on. My biggest fear is after surgery.

I have elected to have a spinal with sedation for the surgery at this point I really have no choice, like donebyme25 it has to be done. It can’t be put off.
 
Plus waiting on me
There is often an assumption that having this surgery will mean you are disabled for many weeks or even months but this isn't true. I recommend you read my recovery thread to see how well I did with both knees! Knee recoveries UK style Parts I & II (Josephine). I lived on my own and had two cats. I also had no-one to rely upon but I coped!

As for the spinal, best thing I ever did. You don't have to be awake during the surgery either. You go to sleep as they do the spinal and wake up in recovery. Easy peasy!

Here are our recovery articles which should give you an insight into what it's like after surgery and what you need to do (and not do!).

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs

Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling

Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery

Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds


We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 

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