It's over. He had his surgery yesterday morning. Took 4 hours on the left knee (it was worse than doctor expected ) and a little over 2 hours on the right one. This morning at 9 am. they had him "walk" to therapy. It was 153 feet from his room. He made it there with the help of a walker. Did 1 hour of therapy and then "walked" back to his room and fell asleep. Everyone says he is doing great and I think so too. He had therapy again at 1 pm and did just as good. Tomorrow he does it again. I am so proud of him. He should go home on Friday or Saturday. He says it still hurts like h@## but it is a different hurt than before. He knows this hurt will go away. Thanks for all the support.

I haven't, but our very best friends have had 5 of them. In fact we were out with them Saturday night, he just completed therapy from his January surgery where he WALKED OUT of the hospital with no crutches. He did the same thing on the last surgery and the one before that. He's a fireman/paramedic, years and years of lifting people played havoc with his knees. He was recuperating on the couch for about 3 days, but even then, he could get himself around pretty well without much problem. He took one pain med and then Tylenol after that for a couple of days. From what I've seen of his (and hers) surgeries, you have nothing to worry about! Most of his have been torn meniscus', this last one was some other thing, I'd have to ask him again but the Dr. did say that he's had all he can have, next time it's a full-blown knee replacement! Hope all goes well for you, Joanne!

I want to thank everyone for your good wishes. I will answer some of your questions. I am still going to to PT 3 days a week. My knee is doing very good & my range of motion is 125 which they say is great. My problem is my ankle. The Dr said when you have knee surgery your ankle will swell but when I fell the first time I hurt it. By the end of the day the ankle is 3 times the size it should be. I am having PT on that too. marie-ndcal, they have checked me for everything you asked about & all was normal. lisa fl, I am not home alone, my husband is here with me. I am not doing too much but my body was run down with that many surgeries in 1 year. 1 surgery was planned but the others were not. jemdandy, I know there has to be a reason for my passing out but no one has been able to find out why. I do not get tunnel vision before I pass out. I was talking to my husband & in the middle of saying something I stopped & was on the floor. I have no warning at all. This is not the first time I have passed out, this has happened over the years & many many tests. I don't think there is a test out there that I have not had & all have come back that I am fine.

I just did #1, 9 days ago. And I have to say, hearing about the successful TKRs here is helping me to keep going. I asked about robotics (which my surgeon offered Mako) and was told he feels he's just as successful/accurate without, and booking the facility that has the robotics is a much longer wait. Said he does upwards of 400 TKRs each year. There are now many dedicated outpatient facilities that just do joints; the staff is usually happy having regular hours and working with set teams; ask about the infection rates. And you're not in a giant hospital fielding ... everything that walks in the door. On the other hand, ask how they handle any adverse events. How close is the nearest hospital then? (and uh, does it have any availability if needed). While everyone is different, I have been pretty miserable for the past 9 days -- PT comes to your home from Day 1 (every other day or so) and everything that needs to be done, takes awhile. Exercise as indicated 3x per day. Ice. Try to get up and walk (with the walker) every hour. Eat. Rest. Take a crazy list of pills around the clock (short term antibiotic; pain pills (all sorts); aspirin (blood thinner); colace (stool softener); prilosec (to help your stomach deal with all the pills)... and push it is the order of the day in order to get full range of motion back. I learned that before they stitch you up, they put the new knee through all its paces to make sure its installed correctly -- so the new equipment works, it's just getting the swollen leg around it to cooperate. And when not moving, I have automated calf wraps that are motorized (they charge up like a calculator) and they inflate/deflate to help prevent blood clots....they get worn whenever you're not moving and all night for 2 weeks. Oh, and a compression sock for the good leg, eventually for the bad leg too, that's for a long time. And...I also wasn't aware that current standard practice is to use a tourniquet...but my thigh (nicknamed "shamu") is black -- and it hurt nearly more than the knee the first few days. Still hard spots and not comfortable to sit on that side... So you've heard all my bitching and whining, PT says it gets better after the first two weeks. Sounds like many folks were up and going sooner/more easily.