Thank you for the prayers and continued good thoughts. My daughter is healing from surgery and I came back home today after a week of spoiling DD, SIL & 3 GK's. It is so nice to feel so "special"...God blesses us all in such mysterious ways! Jeanne S.

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!

Patti, this is all so confusing for you and your DD. I may be clutching at straws here, but does the hospital where the surgery was performed have a Patient's Advocate? If so that person should be able to pull all of this together. Getting that done, though, isn't going to help with the physical pain and agony that she is suffering from right now, and I would think she would need a specialist who can sort it out and recommend something for that. I had a Hysterectomy when I was 39. One ovary was removed and part of the other was removed, leaving part to produce hormones. That worked fine for 13 years, after which I was prescribed Hormone replacement pills. Haven't taken them for several years now. I've said that to make the point that with both ovaries gone, one of those doctors should have prescribed Estrogen replacement for her. I would think she should insist on that now and it will surely help her to feel better. I wish her well and hope she can get the replacement meds quickly. Then she will feel more like taking care of the other part of the problem. And for you, Patti, I know Moms suffer right along with their children, regardless of age. Take care. Sue

Oh my good friends! I love and appreciate all you so much! Reading your replies has lifted my spirits and my courage. Honestly! Since I have no choice in the matter (well, I do have a choice: stop doing anything that requires the use of my left leg.....) I might as well have a good attitude. Knowing I can come here for support means a great deal! In answer to the questions...I hope I don't miss any!... Fear and terror is how I lost the weight. Truly. See, the joint works fine. The weakness, pain and swelling is in the femor and the tibia. Any exertion created problems. My leg hurt while I was sleeping. When I started feeling the prongs of the joint moving around is when I got serious about weight loss. Basically I cut out the sweets and used portion control. If I wanted to have a dessert, I didn't eat bread or potatoes with the meal. I pretty much ate what I wanted but the portions were very very small. Eating a high protein breakfast each day kept me from snacking. Two months of physical therapy helped immensely and now I am in pretty good shape. I blew it the last week what with the holiday sweets and treats but they are all gone now. Insurance: My insurance will pay for the second surgery. However, everything involved in this process is in subrogation. If you recall, immediately after the accident my surgeon's PA read the radiation scan and scheduled a knee revision for the following month but I could not get into the see the surgeon for another ten days. During that ten days I got calls from every insurance company involved, including our health insurance, wanting to record or conversations and asking me to sign documents. This is when I sought the advice of an attorney. I told the surgeon I could not agree to another surgery until I knew the bills would be paid which is when he said the knee was not injured and told me to carry on with normal activities and come back in a year. Basically I have turned everything over to an attorney. The last time we spoke he mentioned a settlement. I told him for now all I was concerned about is the bills got paid. You see, there is still over three thousand dollars of medical bills incurred immediately after the accident that have not been paid. For now I just want to be able to walk again and stay out of the poor house. As some of you pointed out this time around I know what to expect and can prepare. Thank you for putting this into perspective for me. The surgeon says I will spend at least three days in the hospital for physical therapy. I spent less that 24 hours in the hospital the first time around which horrified my current doctor. He said he requred more time to observe and monitor my progress before letting me get over a hundred miles away from him. The first time I was told I couldn't go home until I learned how to use crutches. Considering I've spent a LOT of time on crutches in my life (this is the twelve surgery on this leg since I was a kid) I proved in a hurry I was crutch-competent. LOL I got in the room at 8 o'clock at night and was on my way home by 8:30 the next morning. I came home with a staph infection (something the surgeon was not very concerned about; they referred me to our family doctor for treatment) which set me back considerably in my recovery. Apparently my current knee can't be re-used. It will have to replaced. I wonder if they will let me keep it? LOL This leg has been broken, set, rebroken and reset and the knee rebuilt once and I have the hardware from each episode. I'd like to have the knee to add to my collection. LOL How morbid is that? Thanks again everyone. I appreciate it! I will keep you updated. Lori