1. How long is the replacement likely to last? I'm planning on being

             Todays replacements do well and can last up to 20 years or
longer with proper care and feeding (lol).  1st time revisions are also
becoming more common and by the time you need one, if you need one,
technology should have progressed even further.  Barring infection, which is
the number 1 concern, you shouldn't have too many problems

2. How painful is the recovery, and how long does it take?
                       Pain is individual and difficult to gauge for
someone else.  Just be assured that you will be given proper pain medication
for the first several months to combat it.    6-12 weeks for the knee to
become functional.  Up to a year for the knee to max out its strength and
become totally pain free

Number 3 -sorry I can't help there

I love my knee replacements.  It is difficult now to remember the extreme
pain and terrible function of pre op.

Karen

Hello David.

Long time no see, so to speak lol. Long time since we met in Oxford.

1) You will never get an "answer" to this question. Knees are, in theory,
meant to last 10 - 20 years, but it depends on your age, what you do with
your brand new knee, and what sort of prosthesis it is. Your weight and
height can be a factor, whether you work, whether you do a lot of walking,
swimming, exercising etc. A revision knee operation is always more complex
than an original replacement, cos I've had two of those.

My left knee is doing OK, and that was last replaced in 2000. I've had my
right hip since April 1987, and I've had other joints which have had varying
degrees of success.

2) Anything from 6 weeks to 3 or 6 months, with the worse pain being soon
after the operation. Lots of physiotherapy on a CPM machine in hospital,
then physio at your nearest hospital. I used to do lots at home as well.
Also, you will experience some discomfort as you have to lie on your back
for six weeks afterwards with a foam wedge between your legs. Turning over
at night can be a problem.

3) After your knee replacement, your qualification to receive DLA depends
entire upon how far you can walk, and whether your walking has deteriorated
or improved since the operation. You need to get in touch with them, but if
you are not receiving mobility DLA before your op, you won't get it until
you are able to prove the operation has not been a success and you are
having difficulty mobilising. If you are receiving DLA before your
operation, they will normally give you several months to see if it has
improved your walking. After all, the success rate of the op is about 95%,
and they might assume you are now much improved and stop it, unless you keep
in touch with them to say otherwise.

Sadly, I don't think they will care whether you live in the country or in
the town. It is purely based upon how well you can walk.

Splodge

Dave,

First off, I am in the US.  I had both my knees replaced at the same
time in 1981.  I have never had any kind of further surgery or
revisions.  At the time I was told have he replacements or find myself
in a wheel chair within six months.

At the time I was the youngest person they had done this with at the
Cleveland Clinic.  My Rehab was filled with men and women in their 60's
whose major complaint to rehab was this hurts too much..  Guess what it
does hurt because muscles, tendons etc. which were not being properly
used had to be retrained.

I vowed that I would make a success of this, my second major surgery. I
did all of my exercises for more than a year and have never regretted
the time.  My old knees are still going strong.

I don't know what "DLA" is so I am unable to comment.  What is it?

Don W