20 DAYS - 2 NEW KNEES

When I first met my surgeon,  I was hoping that there were some alternatives to try to keep me active and avoid replacement for a few years more.  All of the alt medicine things I had read about and had not already tried were discussed and it was clear that there are no new therapies to swap in at this point.

My question as to whether he would do both knees at once was answered with an immediate yes - that my history and level of fitness made me a candidate.  I spent some time researching and thinking about it. I really did not want to go through it twice, but also didn't want to aim too high if it was going to be much more difficult - why set myself up for failure?  The majority of the literature, both medical and anecdotal, suggests that the first weeks are harder,  but the recovery period then levels out and is the same for two knees as it is for 1.  The therapies and the time invested is
not that different.  So why go through the cost, time and pain twice?  I was in for 2.

Turns out there are not that many of us who do this - at least according to  my little post-surgery circle.  The hospital staff, the nurses,  in home and clinic PT techs all say the same thing - they have only seen 1 or 2 others.

I have no way of knowing if my first couple of weeks was more difficult than it was for others.  I had

It took a village!

excellent care from my family, no excessive pain, seemed to get around just fine and kept being told how well I was doing.  Now, I have a bit of comparing I can do in my PT class and I seem to be doing better than some in my group but only by degrees - which they measure all the time to check our progress toward flexible joints.

The one person who was suffering loudly was a man who had 1 knee done in May 2017 and the other one a few weeks ago - he was miserable. Glad I did it my way.