Wow that is a big head!!! Good luck rooting!!! 
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Hahaha, Thanks ladiesā¦I will suffer through it I guessā¦lol getting ready to leave for 4 days to go down to talk to the surgeon about my knees and see if he can talk me into getting one of them doneā¦(they only do one at a time so will think on it and see what he saysā¦)
Hope you ladies have a great weekā¦Will see you all again our Fridayā¦your Thursdayā¦
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Iāll pray for good news! If you need me just email me!!! 
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Starr, go for the surgery, the older you get the harder it will be on you!! Praying for a good outcome!! C-you when you get back from the visit with Dr. man!!
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Best wishes on your knees. Surgery is no fun, but the outcome is so often worth it. As you have described it, those knees have been pretty miserable. Go Girl, get those knees back to functional so to can do things like come to the States to visit that great grandchild.
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Thanks ladies for your encouragement and thoughtsā¦Got back home about an hour agoā¦Saw the Surgeon and this was what he saidā¦He said looking at my x-rays I should have already had my knees done a year or so agoā¦BUT because I will not take prescription pain meds and only take IBās that I had not exhausted all of my other options yet and he thought that since I was still hobbling around without a wheelie walker, crutches or a cane (even though I only last about 10 minutes walking on my legs, canāt climb stairs and if I donāt have something to hold on to would literally fall off a curbā¦lol that I should hold off another year or so if I canā¦SOOOOoooooo here I am back again and no changes to the plans yetā¦Probably next year I will tell them that I want to go ahead and get one doneā¦I have heard that 9 out of 10 people have improved mobility and only 1% end up with infections (or so the doc told me) so the risk might be worth itā¦but they really would like me to wait till I am 60 but I would be in a wheel chair by then for sure with the way my knees are degenerating so I think next year, I might go for itā¦He told me that if there was any significant changes to my 'quality of life - hahahahahahaha! that change occurred about 4 years agoā¦lol anyway, I can get in touch with the office and schedule an appointment at any point so long story shortā¦I could have saved myself 4 days motel stay, petrol cost, wear and tear on my body and the car and just stayed homeā¦lol So another year ahead of me.of the same ole same oleā¦:
Thanks so much Nikki and Lynn, Michelle and Carolā¦you ladies are the best everā¦very appreciatedā¦
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Starr, I plead ignorant about health care in Australia, but do you have some rights in this case? If your knees are so degenerated that you can hardly walk, can you force the issue or get a second opinion? Narcotic pain medication is not a good long term option for degenerating joints. It may make things a little more comfortable, but brings with it a raft of other problems. I cannot understand why the doc would say you are not ready for surgery because you are not using a walker! If that is a determining factor, goodness, get one for a time, even if you just park it in the corner, so you can get things fixed and get on with your life! Same with some pain medication - you donāt actually have to take it, do you? Itās sad that you have to be basically crippled for a year because you are not using pain medication or a walker! I know I am looking from the perspective of the US health system, but I have seen the beneficial result of surgery in restoring function and life to many people as an orthopedic nurse. Best wishes with this. I so hope you donāt have to wait longer! You are too young to be made old by your joints!
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So, are you supposed to wait until you actually fall off the curb and break a hip before theyāll fix your knees? Tell him youāll try the pain meds. Fill the prescription (but donāt take them, heāll never know) wait a month, rent or borrow a walker, then go back and tell him nothingās helping.
I have not had a knee replacement but I can tell you that the pain from my hip replacement was so much less than the pain I had before that I was driving and back at work in 2 weeks.
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I had a total hip patient right out of surgery tell me that his preop pain has been so bad that his post op pain was nothing in comparison! He never did take any meds while he was in the hospital.
Thanks Carolā¦The system here in Australia is quite good or at least it was back when I was here in the 70āsā¦I have not had any experience with them since I came back which is a good thingā¦I hate hospitals, being ill or anything else that leads a person to be thereā¦lolā¦There are several systems hereā¦you can go private or private insurance and probably do it whenever you wantā¦Because my condition was pre-existing before I understood the system here, it is not possible to buy private insurance for a pre-existing condition so I would have to pay for the surgeries and all expenses out of my own pocketā¦not sure if they make you pay up front for that or notā¦the other system is free medical for citizens through their medicare systemā¦With this system you basically get diagnosed and put on a wait list and go have the surgery when they ācall your nameāā¦so to speakā¦so that is not a problem at allā¦the problem is meā¦in that I do not know at what level I am supposed to go on the list so I go with the advice of the docā¦I have a super high pain tolerance so where someone else MIGHT go to be worked on, I am sort of likeā¦is this the point I need to go get fixed yet or notā¦So here is what I asked and was toldā¦
me: Do I need to have the replacements according to the x-ray -
Doc: Yes- past due but we base it on how you feel as far as amount of pain and quality of lifeā¦What do you take for pain and what sort of devises do you use?
me: I only use IBās though some days I use as many as 6-8 and other days 1-4 depending on what activity Iād been doing. I donāt use any devicesā¦Canāt use a cane because I have very weak wrist and it puts me off balance and you Sir told me the last time I was here that I was too young for a wheelie walker - they are for old people and you didnāt want me to become dependent on one. I can not climb stairs, can not get up on a curb without leaning on the car or something to pull me up and can not get off the curb unless I sort of āfall off itā using a car or hubbyās shoulder as a supportā¦I do try to keep my knees locked because I know that as soon as I bend them, they can and probably will go out from under me (has happened before so know from experience)
Doc: How long can you walk for before needed to sit and why do you need to sit?
Me: Generally about 7-10 minutes and sit because my legs get stiff to a point I can not bend the knee at all and cause excessive pain.
Me: So at what point will I need to have the surgery?
Doc: You are still very young and we really do like for a person to wait till they are 60, if possible. You have not really exhausted all other options yet?
me: What other options and am I supposed to wait till I am actually wheelchair bound?
Docā¦There are stronger pain medications you can take and using other devicesā¦
Me: I wonāt take prescription pain medsā¦that is why I am not on themā¦not necessarily because there are days I couldnāt benefit from more reliefā¦
doc: Why wonāt you take prescription Pain medsā¦
me: I have a 9 year medical background and I know that most are addictive or cause other side affects or both that I am not willing to risk or endure as I have had excellent health up until about 5 years agoā¦So are you now saying that I am old enough to have a wheelie walker (said with a smile)
Doc: No not old enough but may benefit from oneā¦
Me: So do I have to be in a wheelchair before you will put me on the listā¦
Doc: No, but if you are still getting around ok, I advise that you wait a bit longer if you canā¦
Me. Why is that?
Doc: Knee replacement only last about 10 years and have to be redoneā¦The revisions have a very low success rate and long recoveryā¦so if we do your knees now, you will need them done again by the time you are 65 (still very young) and the pain and mobility will most likely be worse than what you started off with before any surgery was ever done so we prefer to wait as long as possible before doing the first surgeries.
Me: So what you are saying is that I need the surgery - have needed them for several years, but because I have a high pain tolerance and am able to still get around, you do not think I am really ready at this point and can go a bit longer before having surgery so are advising I wait another year and see how I am then?
Doc: In essences, yesā¦that is my advice.
Me: so with my tolerance of pain, am I causing more damage that will make more problems for me once I do go for surgery?
Doc: No, your knees are about as bad as they will get - there can be further degeneration but it is progressive like any bone degeneration and is expected so with the amount of activity you are doing, it will make little to no changeā¦and we do remove both ends of the boneā¦(How exciting that is, huh? lololol)
Me so ultimately, you are telling me that we need to wait another year and make a decision then because, in your opinion I can eek out another year or two with my kneesā¦
Doc: Ultimately it is your decision but my advice is that we wait as long as possible for the longevity and success of your first replacements.
So based on all that, I think that if I had gone in and moaned and groaned and insisted on being added to the list, I would be on the list for replacements now but I am probably what some people would call ātoo honestā I just go in and say how I feel and what I do and have to just listen to the doc because I have never had anything like this to compare it toā¦I have never been a whiny person and sort of grin and bear it with pain issuesā¦I know the squeaky wheel gets the oil but I figure that there is no need complaining till it is absolutely unavoidable so will just wait and see what happensā¦He did tell me that if I felt like I was declining more quickly and experiencing more pain, I could schedule to come in before the 12 month appointment and we would go from thereā¦He wrote me out a prescription pain med but I wonāt be filling it and I canāt tell them that I have been taking it if I donāt for several reasonā¦Firstly, because I just canāt lie about itā¦lol and secondly, if I tell them I have been taking them and they are not working, when I do go into hospital for the surgery in the future, they may give it to me there thinking I have been taking it and what if I am allergic or have adverse reactionsā¦So anywayā¦that is where we areā¦The docs advice and my decision based on his advice so another 12 months and will see what happens thenā¦
Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayer and advice and suggestionsā¦I will remember them for my next visitā¦
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According to the recent studies the success rates with hip surgeries is pretty good, but knees are not, actually after the op large proportion of people are either not better off, or considerably worse off.
I also have badly painful knees, one worse than other, as well as hips and shoulders. My shoulders have very limited movement; I find it difficult to to dress and especially undress. I also will not take painkillers; I tried in the past but rather deal with the pain than the medication side effects.