[jyl]

A bunch of my friends have had hip and knee replacements. Most had drastic improvement in their mobility and became pain free. That includes a lady in her 70s. The couple who were very overweight *and* didn’t do the rehab still had significant improvement and are also pain-free.

I have one friend now post knee replacement who is (I think) not doing the rehab but is normal weight; I’m interested to see how she does (well, I hope, as we also hire her to clean the house and do yardwork.). One close friend used up his knee post-retirement with three consecutive years of Mexico-to-Canada backpacking trips on the PCH, and after resisting for a year had knee replacement; he’s had the only complication among my friends, an infection that required opening up and debriding but not a full re-do.

I wouldn’t hesitate to have these joints replaced. Shoulder - I’m not sure about, those stories have not been as reassuring.