Good evening @persia, and a special invitation to get some additional and important information about your planned TKR. You are fortunate to have a caring husband and a "lovable" orthopedic surgeon. So let's start by jumping to your major issues.....how hard is the rehab and how much pain will you experience?

The post-surgery pain will be directly related to the quantity and quality of your pre-surgery exercises. It is extremely important that your leg be strong and supportive. That TKR knee will need the best support you can muster, You don't want to begin the next chapter in your life unprepared.

And, you will want to continue exercising post-surgery to avoid scar tissue build-up and i-band discomfort. Actually, you can have a nerve block which makes the surgery pain very faint for the first day or so. Your surgeon will sit with you and explain the purpose of the post-surgery medications. You may wish to have a walker or rollator to help get you out and about quickly.

One other subject....and that is the type of material used for the replacement. You can now have a non-metal material that has been designed to fit your knee. You will also appreciate having a robotic type of surgery which guarantees greater accuracy and completeness.

How do I know all this? I have had two TKRs about 10 years apart. Today the knowledge is greater and the technology used is designed to make your surgery less of a struggle, guaranteeing greater success.

Some time ago, I opened a discussion entitled "I'm Still Learning......" You might find it helpful as it was written after the 2nd TKR.

Please let me know when you have additional questions or concerns. I am sure that you will find more troublesome TKR posts on Connect. Please remember that thousands are pleased with their TKRs and return to a new life of painless activities. However, they don't seek out a forum to help with problems that just don't exist. So you will see a higher percentage of "problem" posts.

Here is a knee photo taken after my second TKR. The one on the right is the new one.

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