Today is week 9 after my bilateral TKR (for the uninitiated: total knee replacement on both knees at the same time). Hopefully recalling some of my experiences over the past few weeks and the weeks to come will help you if you're planning to have your knee/s done - TKR from a patient's perspective.
Firstly - it definitely is worth it. Accept that it's going to be flippin' sore for the first few weeks, but the outcome is magic - a new lease on life. Especially if, like for me, walking was extremely painful and 10 metres was far!! Now I can wander through shopping malls (something I had not been able to do for the last two years or more) - initially rather to the detriment of my bank balance!
So, why did I have to have the operation? Simple, there was practically no cartilage left between the joints in both knees and osteoarthritis had set in. The constant pain was exhausting and movement was extremely limiting.
My doctor - more about him later, but he is brilliant (and not just my opinion), was hesitant of doing the TKR because of my age (48). Knee replacements are apparently for more elderly people. Yep, when I first saw him I was 48, very overweight and very unfit. He was also hesitant about doing bilateral total knee replacement - however I convinced him that time and money-wise it was the best for me. Furthermore, I have a super-positive outlook on life, which really benefitted me in the healing process.
Well, finally, I have the blog off the ground. Next post, we'll start from the very beginning - (all together now) a very good place to start ...
Have a fabulous day!!
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