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Thread: Mom is going in for a total knee replacement

  1. #1
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    Mom is going in for a total knee replacement

    So I guess my mom is going in for a total knee replacement surgery. I am so worried and scared and depressed. I probably shouldn't have quit therapy.

    My mom is in her early 80s, so no spring chicken indeed. Oh I know it's not my position to tell her to have it or not have it. I'm not the one in pain everyday from knees afterall. She is otherwise in quite good health, overweight (maybe 40 pounds), takes medicine for high blood pressure, but otherwise has no health issues, very sharp mentally, so NO cognitive decline. Oh I lost my dad near a decade ago, and medical procedures were what pushed him over the edge toward death, but he had Alzheimers and was in bad health in many ways.
    Trees don't grow on money

  2. #2
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Well that’s worrisome ANM. I hope her knee surgery is worth it. It is painful to recover from.

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    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    I hope it goes well. It sounds like sheds a reasonable candidate given the rest of her health and the possibility of years free of pain. I’ve only known one person to have full knee replacement. (Both knees about a year apart). But she was in her late 50’s at the time so not exactly comparable. Both were completely successful but recovery definitely took months.

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Yes, while it's not an easy recovery, a lot depends on attitude and overall health, and it seems your mother is in good shape with both of those. I wish her the best. Where will she be recovering? f
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    My aunt was told to have one at 80 and she decided it was silly at her age since she probably wouldn’t live that long. Fast forward to her living until 96. She said it was a big mistake not to have it. She went to a nursing home the last year of her life because she couldn’t walk. Her mind was great.

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    Good luck to your mom. I hope all goes weĺl.
    To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
    Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
    In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown

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    My mom had knee replacement around 80 or 81. She did all the exercise pre op and continued after. She was in rehab a week or so. She was eager for the therapy and showers. She was already starting dementia, but she walked every evening. She died at 87 never regretting the surgery. Good luck to your mom. Sending healing thoughts.

  8. #8
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Actually add my MIL to the list of people who had successful knee surgery in advanced age. I think she, too, was 80 when she had it, and she was motivated because she hated the idea of being immobile or cane/walker-dependent.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  9. #9
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    My father had double hip surgery and came through it well. I've also talked to knee-surgery patients who strongly recommend the operation. Please don't worry.

  10. #10
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    Mom got the surgery and is doing well, still too soon to tell if it has improved her walking and pain as she is still in bed and on punches of morphine for the pain. But her knee was a complete mess before surgery, 3 1/2 hour surgery and a really bad case, and surgeon is optimistic now. So she should be better off. She is perfectly lucid. Someday of course the other knee may need to be done, they were both a mess, but this one was causing most of the pain. I would have worried less if she had been in her 70s rather than 80s, 80s can certainly be a time when the body is weak and frail and doesn't recover, but she was actually healthy enough going in I guess.

    Now we move to the second set of problems haha, which is less worry, but still must be navigated. How to keep an ex-opiate addict sibling who lives with her, off her opiates when she gets released from the hospital etc.. Opiates in mom's case are recommended, recovery is speeded if you are not in pain. She may stay with me. In a one bedroom apartment that is also an office (but I may take some time off work), oh yea ideal setup but ... yea second tier problems . But surgery seems to have gone very well and that is the main thing for now!
    Trees don't grow on money

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