Here are some tips that worked for me: first, clear a path through the house in the areas you need to walk through. Remove area rugs, move furniture if necessary, so that you can easily navigate with a walker. When you choose a walker, make sure it is sized correctly - not much wider than your body, and with 2 wheels which should NOT swivel. Also have a crutch or a cane handy. I spent 2 nights in the hospital, learning to use the walker, and then needed it for another 3 days at home. After that, crutch for perhaps a week, then cane for when the knee was tired and aching. It helps if you have one of those higher toilets, or have some support to get down and up. I used our smallest bathroom where I could hold on to the vanity to ease myself down. The hospital will probably give you an icepack, and I suggest to get a yoga mat for when you start doing your knee exercises. Some people do them on the bed or a couch, but that tends to put extra pressure on your back. Floor is preferable, in my opinion. Otherwise, I can’t think of any special equipment you could need. Within a week you should be able to walk for short periods without any device. Good luck!

Also, shower chair is very valuable. To hang one leg out straight at first and then later before you get balance back. It would be awful to fall on new knee. I live in rotten winter weather and got handicap permit asap. Again, don't want to fall. You will be icing a lot! If you can rent or borrow one of the polar ice machines it is just wonderful. Later for occasional use you can use freezable packs. You can get heavy duty ones on Amazon for very reasonable price. I still use daily after exercise at 11 weeks out. I had first knee done in summer and second in October -- the pain and recovery period where totally different for each. I think previous response is generally optimistic for being off walking aids so soon. Every knee is different and my second one has been so much more difficult than the first. You will need to pace yourself depending on your particular recovery experience. Your Dr and PT will also advise you. I would not have even thought of exercising on the floor. My "good" knee was bone on bone during the recovery of the first and now they are both still rehabbing. I could never have gotten back up! Be prepared for a lengthy rehab time frame. If you luck out and it progresses faster that will be wonderful. I was amazed at how different the knees did with same surgeon, same PT, same everything. All the best with your replacement!

TRY to get PT NOW. Exercise - get it strong. Follow what your vetted PT instructs you. Where r u? Is you ortho THE BEST?

My ortho is Dr. Mohit Bansil. He has great reviews and is board certified. I'm in Palm Harbor, Florida. I've always been active so I feel confident about rehab

One more thing: if you have access to a pool (indoor at a fitness center, for example), please consider getting a (temproray) membership. I did, and it is sooooooooooo much easier and less painful to do the post-surgery exercises in the water. I credit that with my fairly speedy recovery. Was super lucky, I guess. Within 10 days of surgery I was able to walk 1/3 mile, crutch in hand, but not using.

I belong to LA Fitness and they do have a pool! I'll definitely do that for additional therapy! Thanks so much for the great advice!

Hello @dkapustin, you may notice I actually combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled, "Having knee replacement: how to prepare and questions about PT." I did this so your post, and those who have replied to you, could reanimate a good discussion on how to prepare for an upcoming knee replacement and tips and tricks for when you return home. If you are replying by email, I suggest clicking on VIEW & REPLY so you can read some of the older posts as well.

Hi @dkapustin - I had my right knee replaced April 2017 and I'm having my left knee replaced the 29th of this month. I will echo what many of the others said: it's important to do some strength training prior to the surgery. Going into it strong helps.
- In my case, my surgeon kept me in the hospital (Mayo Jax) for 2 nights. In the hospital, I used the walker. I also had to learn to go up and down stairs since we have stairs front & back in my house. Right before I was released, I was at 105 degrees flexion.
- I started in-home PT once I was home. Also, iced my knee after exercise and kept it above my heart as much as possible. One week after I was home, I traded the walker for a cane. I could do 10 minutes on the stationery bike and I could take a shower.
- 10 days after surgery, I could walk around outside with a cane. I'd gotten to 120 degrees flexion, but I still lacked about 5 degrees on total extension. Extension was the hardest for me.
- 2 weeks after surgery I could walk around anywhere in the house w/o a cane or any aids. At 2 weeks, I got the stitches out. It hurt. (Take some Tylenol before you go for stitch removal!)
- 3 weeks after surgery I got 100% full extension. I also got completely off pain pills during the day so I was allowed to drive. This meant I could start going to out patient PT. By this time I could walk outside w/o cane.
- By 5 weeks, I was walking 1 mile every morning. (Prior to surgery I walked 2 - 3 miles each morning.)
- By 6 weeks, I could walk 1.5 miles. I still limped noticeably when tired. Also, still occasionally needed to take pain meds at night in order to sleep
- By my 8 week check up, my right knee had become stronger than my left. So my operated knee was officially now my "good" knee. I had 125 flexion and 100% extension. I was released from PT the following week.
-By 12 weeks, I felt pretty much completely normal. I didn't limp anymore although there are things I still can't do comfortably including kneeling on my operated knee and twisting it sideways.
Hope this helps. It was actually helpful to me to go through that timeline and guess where I'll be in the next few months. As others have said, every surgery is different, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my left knee recovers as well as my right one did.

@dkapustin Hi, and welcome to Connect.
I have had two TKRs and my ortho told me that what I was doing pre-surgery was perfect. I did a lot of pool exercises and pool jogging, and also my recumbent bike. You can continue those after your surgery. You do have to wait for a while before going in the pool, until the incision heals.
I used a walker for a very short amount of time, probably no more than a week. I never used crutches, just a cane for a short time. When/if you go to PT you will get helpful exercises that you can do at home. It's easy to shrug them off, but don't -- do those exercises! They definitely help.
I was able to shower immediately and had surgical glue, no stitches. My timeline is pretty similar to @debbraw.
After my second TKR, I had a lot of pain for a while. During that time my surgeon was seeing me more regularly than typical because he was concerned. He did xrays but nothing wrong showed up. When I was at about six weeks the pain suddenly just went away. My surgery was on 10.17.2017 and on 12.08.2017 I was in NYC and walking all over the place with no pain or discomfort! So if you do have pain more than like it will pass, and I am sure your surgeon will check to make sure there does not seem to be a reason for it.
For me, the surgery had the best possible outcome. I can walk miles and miles now with no discomfort at all.
JK