Has anybody first hand knowledge about knee replacement surgery?

Hi Maureen,

I have several friends who have had knee replacements, and generally the results have been excellent. One of my best friends had both knees replaced, simultaneously, at about age 68. He was back playing tennis about 6 months later, and his knees have been just great for the last 5 years now. No problems at all. They had him walking the next day in a walker, and he spent regular visits to rehab for 6 weeks or so as I recall.

I have known perhaps 6 people who have had this operation and almost all have done well, except for one woman friend of about 64. Apparently one of the sections was not done right in the first place, and then separated. She had that surgically corrected and is now fully functional. She recently won the club championship in golf!

From what I have observed, most people come out of this wonderfully. Of course go to an orthopedist who is a very successful knee surgeon with a lot of experience. Go to the best you can. That is always good advice.

I would also get second and maybe 3rd opinions. Make sure that your husband's bone density and strength, etc., is sufficient to support his body weight on the new knees and his bones will knit well with the new knees, etc., and he is healthy enough to handle the operation. I assume those types of considerations would be a standard part of the assessment.

Good luck to you both!

About 2 years ago, my husband (in his 80's ) had both knees replaced ( both at once ) and has no more pain. The first 2 days after surgery were very painful and rehabilitation took several month.

He is glad he had them both done at once, because he would hate to go through it a second time. He stayed in the hospital intensive care unit for a week and then in a rehabilitation wing at the hospital for another week. He donated his blood to himself before the surgery but lost so much blood that he had a small heart attack during surgery. This was not discovered until after surgery when his blood oxygen level did not improve and they did a blood test.

I think they should have given him more blood during the surgery . He later got 3 more bags of blood .

At home I put a twin bed in the kitchen/ livingroom so he could be with me in the daytime and he loved it.

He has retained a cautious kind of gait and I am trying to teach him to make bigger steps and bend the knees more.

It is very important that he does the exercises they will tell him to do . However Hubby had a therapist ,who bent one of his knees too much at a rehab session and that knee was sore for weeks.

Another thing I remember my husband found to be helpful (no one told us that ). It was real painful to get into a standing position from sitting on the side of the bed.

He finally found out if he leaned forward as much as possible while getting up, it was easier and less painful.

Get the house safe for him , no throw rugs or anything he may trip on . He should never have open wounds on the knees, infection is the big enemy.

That's about it----I wish your husband all the best.

My wife had both knees replaced about 6 months apart. She believes it to be a blessing that such surgery is available to those in need. She was 70 when she had the operations, was active before and again afterwards allowing for a 6 week period of recuperation after each surgery. She'll be 75 next month and I'd have to shoot her to slow her down. LOL

A good friend of mine had his right knee done a couple of years ago. Strange - we were just talking about it today!

He now needs the next one done. The last one took 10 weeks before he could return to work - although of course that is not relevant to you and your husband. He also told me that after the first couple of days - the pain/discomfort was bearable and that he would do it again. Mind you - this guy would say it didn't hurt if they took his head off ! Which I think quite a few people have tried to do in his past!

Go for it - and good luck ... he will soon be chasing you around the kitchen again!

I only know one person who had it done and that was 5 months ago. It was extremely painful and still swells and causes him problems. His recovery is complicated because of overweight and diabetes, but he does the exercises and you must to keep your knee bending.He says he will never have the other one done, but I think that in another 6 months, he will see a lot of improvement and may reconsider the other knee. Good luck to your husband.

Yeah, any sort of hip or knee replacement is made of metal, so it will set off metal detectors. Just warn the security ahead of time and they'll usually check you over, making sure that the only part of you that's metal is your knee or your hip.

I had mine done when I was 83.

Still have no pain in my knees.

I was walking the next day,but not far. It took about six week of therapy,after that it kept getting

better. Prepare for some pain for those weeks.I had both done at the same time.Good Luck.

I would love know the answer to this question too.I am 63 and am facing both knees replacement, trying to put it off until fall,

I only know two who had the surgery, it was like a miracle for them, they were both younger than your husband, one was 59 the other 76.

I have knew several that has had it the past year and all surgeries were successful.