I'm 63 and had both of my knees undergo TKR this year -- the first three months ago, and the second two months ago. My knees weren't as painful before my surgeries as it seems your knees are now, but three orthopedic surgeons told me before my surgeries that my knees were bone-on-bone as well, without any cartilage left.

My recoveries from my two surgeries have been much more painful, difficult, and long lasting than I ever imagined they would be, and I wonder everyday whether I ultimately made a good decision to have my knees replaced. My physical therapists have been telling me to be patient and that in a few months from now, as my healing progresses, I will come to see that I was wise to go forth with surgery. I'm not so sure.

I went into surgery not knowing as much as I should have about modern TKRs, but here is what I would now strongly suggest for you. Research surgeons that perform MAKO robotic surgery and that preserve ALL knee ligaments. Conventional TKRs don't use and benefit from the high-tech accuracy of computerized robotics, and they necessarily sacrifice (permanently remove) at least one or more knee-stabilizing ligament, including the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). I very much regret that my ACLs are gone forever. In my view the more accurate and less invasive/traumatic the surgery, the better.

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