When Knee Replacement is the right Choice - big announcement #2

It's not as emotional this time around, but it is still a BIG decision.  I'm not as scared and I know what to expect.

I'm moving ahead with knee replacement #2, this time for my right knee, on November 21, 2019.  

Anyone who has lived with knee pain understands how it inhabits all of your life and affects the scope of what you do. 

Soccer? NOT A CHANCE
Tennis? NO WAY 
Downhill Skiing? NOT SINCE 1985
Run? HAD TO GIVE IT UP
Hike? DOWNHILL IS TOO PAINFUL
Walk? NOT FOR TOO LONG
Simply Standing? PLEASE GIVE ME A CHAIR

Looking at the stairs like they are your enemy?  MOST DAYS
Simply getting off the couch to walk across the room? UGH....

If the pain is bad enough, choices get whittled down to movement when necessary, not for joy. I know all about this with a lifetime of knee pain, 11 knee surgeries under my belt (ha ha!), one knee replacement, and limited choices in how to move making staying active and fit even more challenging.

Thankfully I found the solution to the staying fit part through weight training and riding a bike the right way and wrote a book about this to help others (Healthy Knees Cycling) and am working toward an online program to help people outside of the Bellingham area.  

BUT, When do you make that big decision to have your knee replaced? 

Of course you have to see your doctor.  If you are like me, your doctor may say something like "you have arthritis and qualify for a knee replacement.  You tell me when."

Surgery is not the end all.  You've got to do the work to make your surgery worth while! So before the surgery happens, get ready!  And you may find with weight training and bicycle riding that your knee pain reduces or even goes away.  Then you don't need surgery!  HUZZAH!

If you've done the weight training and are riding a bike and that is not enough, then...

Here were my decision points for knee replacement: 

• Knee alignment is changing (getting "knock-kneed" or "bow legged") 
• You've done all that you can to stay strong (weight training and cycling) and the pain is persistent
• Knee pain is keeping you awake at night
• Your knee is keeping you from doing regular activities
• Your back or hips are starting to hurt too
• You are worn out from enduring the pain...

I hope this helps you when considering surgery or knee replacement.  Do all you can to get strong first - hire a personal trainer if you don't know what to do.  That is WAY cheaper then a knee replacement!

In the next 7 weeks I will journal how I am training for my total knee replacement like it is an athletic event - to give you some ideas of what you can do to strengthen your legs and core too.  

To your Healthy, Happy Knees,

~Robin

PS - if you want to see the rather emotional video from my first knee replacement decision, here it is!  Big Announcement #1 (October 9, 2017) https://healthykneescoach.mykajabi.com/blog/my-big-announcement-the-journey