Definitely think positive. I put off surgery and tried cortisone shots and exercise for 3 years before giving in. Thus far I know the right decision was made to go ahead with surgery. I have no pain now (4 weeks out) and can walk with a cane. I keep doing my exercises -- I will be honest and say the heel slides are not fun -- but they are the ones that get the ROM going. Yes, there is some discomfort for sure, but" pain" is not a word in my vocabulary. Please do all the pre-operative exercises you can to strengthen your knees/legs. I did lots of that on a daily basis and I think it helps tremendously. Each person is different I know, but with an ortho. Dr. you trust, I'm sure you will have good results. Good luck!

Yeah when you come to these sites, you're mostly going to see comments from the people who didn't do exercises before the surgery, and/or who didn't do the required PT after surgery. There are cases where it's not the patient's fault, but TKR has been around for almost 50 years. It's still a complicated and invasive surgery. But I exercised for a year before I had my knees done, and was rigorous in following post-op therapy. For both knees, I was in a good place quickly - no assistive devices by week three, virtually no pain or swelling by weeks 6-7.