Good evening @cindiwass, I noticed that your questions about knee replacement surgery seem to look like you copied them from my long list of worries and inquiries. I too have a pretty hard time trusting doctors. My first knee replacement was done 10 years ago and I had a compassionate and knowledgeable surgeon.

And now for my other knee. What a difference 10 years have made in the technology available to assist surgeons. I am having a Mako Robotic procedure next month. I selected the surgeon because of his interest in compassionate patient care. I just met him and he thoroughly explained the technology and used a video to walk me through the surgery.

Here is what I like.....using images which I will get shortly for him, he maps out the surgery. Then, without having to root around inside the knee area, he can direct the robotic equipment to follow the visual roadmap. This way he doesn't have to dig around in there himself. He clears shaves off the meniscus and uses all plastic to cover the area rather than the metal I have in my other knee.

This surgery takes about 45 minutes and with a nerve block, my pain will be much less and I will be able to come home the same day. Supposedly the pain is much less and the PT will start very quickly so that I can spend less time hobbling around.

Here are a couple of links that I found quite helpful. What do you think?

http://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/robotic-orthopedic-surgery/overview/ovc-20472153
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiLf4KGd494

May you be safe, protected, and free of inner and outer harm.
Chris