Indeed. 25 years ago, medicare allowed a 7 day stay in hte hospital, and we had people sitting up and transferring to a chair 24hrs post op, and walking 3 or 4 steps that afternoon.

Think medicare, etc. has all cut down to about half the stay in the hospital, and yes, with morning OR time you'll get up and take a few steps to a chair before you eat dinner.

understood...lots. My point is the level 9 dramatic tone.

Oh! Sorry. It was a pretty dramatic experience.

I hurt myself and ended up with an awesome ortho who is specialized in knee and lower leg injuries. We were discussing knee replacements - something 20 years out for me, I hope, but I wanted to know if technology is advancing to just "liners" and partial replacements instead of cutting the end off your bones for a full replacement. He said there was a lot of new things happening but in his view the best path forward for most cases was total knee replacement, with little change from 20 years ago.

Something to look forward to ...

I definitely would check into wear / expiration of the materials. If you are only early 60s, is it going to hold up to 80+? Would it be better to wait 5 years toughening it out so you can get to 85+, which likely has other issues slow you down by then?

G

My Father in law just had a knee replacement last week at age 84. He is a trooper

Funny because I am hoping to hold off at least a year...
Chatting with my wife over lunch "but if you get it done earlier you could get disability"
"Uh, I will check on that but I don't think you get disability for non-work related injuries"
She is also freaking about the stairs, but I plan on doing some dry runs with the sit&scooth method or look into borrowing crutches and do a slow one leg hop one stair at a time (note to self, check youtube for handicap stairs... I'm even noodling the idea of getting a harbor freight winch and some sort of sled/harness... hold my beer and watch this...

Thing is my parents house is almost empty and ready to rent (ground floor house) so she has the idea I could convalesce there... but it is almost ready to rent and my brother and I are eager to start collecting that.

I had the total knee done this past December. I was up and walking the same day and spent 3 days in the hospital. Rehab at home started within a week, then I had rehab 3 times a week at the hospital. I used the heavy duty pain meds for 7 days then went to Tylenol. I had a walker for a while and a cane. I only used them for a short while.
I had an ice/water pump that pumped cold water into a sleeve that velcroed around the knee an hour on and an hour off througn the day for the first few weeks and all night and that really kept the swelling down (important). Most of the time you keep the leg elevated (and at night)
We have 16 steps to the 2nd floor and after about 2 weeks I was negotiating them fairly easily, one step at a time - you practice this at rehab. Also, a lot of stretching and massaging to keep the adhesions from growing in there and to gain flexibility. The rehab and doing the execises is key to recovery.
The doc told me no golf for 6 months (golf torques the knee with the twisting motions and places stress on the whole thing) He told me if repair is needed it is positively medieval so that got my attention. No skiing ever.
Insurance is helpful as the operation, hospital, doctors, etc was major bucks. i saw the bill. It is shocking and would bankrupt most people.
i am doing very well and walking, etc without pain or a limp. I am fortunate to have a great wife, and a great medical team.

^^^
Yes--the ice machine is a must.