Oh Darlin, my heart goes out to you! My friend and neighbor that done a few months ago. It's tough but so worth the effort. The absence of pain, once post-op and post-rehab, will help so much in keeping you healthy, active and young. The alternative is unthinkable at your age. Trust me on that one. My sweet mom put hers off too long and then it was too late: surgery was no longer an option. That was a year ago and her health has spiraled downwards dramatically since then. An active life keeps your heart healthy; an inactive life, due to a screwed up knee, takes a heavy toll on your heart and your overall health. Go for it!.
Lynn

Lynn-
You're such a sweety!
I hope it'll turn out well...with the "Lube" in there! Dr. said it can take a few days or more to feel full benefits.
Yep-
Neither the Dr. or myself are believers in the IDIOTIC philosophy of "lets wait a while...".
NEVER understood that kind of thinking for anything!

Faron

Ugh, Faron. Sorry you've been in such pain. Hope this gives you some good relief. Maybe this seems crazy, but below is an article about doing squats to strengthen knees that you might find interesting (or off putting!). Many of the commenters talk about doing squats after knee damage/surgery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mark Rippetoe: how squats save your knees

That's an interesting article!

My Ortho-Surgeon/Dr. specifically told me NOT to do much/any stair-running, squats. Since my damage is on the back of the kneecap(Patella), he doesn't want me to do these.

He's a very respected Ortho-Surgeon here in the Upper-Midwest, & has been with a few Olympic teams over the years. He's done countless hips, knees, etc., since coming to Fargo in the mid-80's.

Therefore, I'll defer to his advice, but that article DOES intrigue me!

Faron

Wow! The thought of it makes me cringe. I hope it relieves your pain.

Jana

Hmmm....still a little sore in the behind-the-kneecap area. Hopefully it'll subside. Walking around all day is pretty good, but it's good to be done @ 5pm I'll tell ya!
(burning a 1/2-day of vac. today...)

Faron

Hope it kicks in soon. I agree on the idea of going ahead and getting it done. Take it easy and let yourself be pampered a bit! You definitely deserve that!

Uh oh, DH has been getting Synvisc injections for 5 years now and it has always been covered by Anthem. Thanks for the heads up!

Homersmom-

Oh my! 5 years?!?!?
Does he need knee/joint-surgery? If so, why is he putting it off for so long?

Faron

Having a replacement would mean that he would no longer be able to play squash, which is his favorite workout. He knows it will need to be done at some point, but is holding out as long as the injections still provide relief. He was only getting the injections in one knee, but now gets them in both.

Aaaahhh...
Gotcha Homersmom!
I thought returning to something like that would be possible after a knee-replacement?!?!? Admittedly, it might be a little while though! How old is your DH? Any MRI's done?

Faron

His surgeon (who has performed 2 arthroscopics on his knees, and worked on his rotator cuff) told him that once he had a replacement, he could no longer play squash. I don't know if it's due to the lateral movement or just the explosive moves that occur during the game. DH is a very young 68! He's had all the diagnostics done - his surgeon told him that he'll know when it's time to call it quits with squash. He loves the game and looks forward to playing two to three times a week. He doesn't have pain during the game, but afterwards he's usually a bit sore. As long as he doesn't use it as an excuse to get out of housework, it's fine by me!

He was asked by one of his Doc's to do an interview for a publication - we got a chuckle out of it when he saw that the name of the magazine was "Geriatric Times".

Here is a link that might be useful: Senior Athlete

This post was edited by homersmom on Sun, Mar 2, 14 at 15:02

I had both of mine replaced at the same time 2 years ago when I was 62. I asked my orthopedic surgeon about what limits he placed on physical activities and his answer was informative. He said that he had some patients who still jog, play tennis, basketball or sky dive after TKR. His comment was that that they felt it was important to their quality of life to continue these activities even though he had advised them that it might lead to another replacement or other even more serious injuries.

He told me that I shouldn't play singles tennis but that doubles would be OK as long as I played conservatively. I used to water ski but I wouldn't even dream of attempting that again. I don't plan on playing tennis either - I'd much prefer to do everything I can to enhance the longevity of my new knees. I walk, swim, work out at the gym and do water aerobics.