I am going to quote from an article in Arthritis Self-Management
November-December 2007 received yesterday.  It is about shoulder and elbow
surgery, but applies equally well to TKR.

"Among the most common causes of shoulder problems are OA, RA, and
posttraumatic arthritis (a type of OA that develops after an injury).
All of these can damage cartilage, bone, and surrounding structures so much
that it is difficult to use the joints normally."

"Most shoulder replacements are done on people who have OA, RA, or
posttraumatic arthritis.  Signs that suggest you need a shoulder replacement
include loss of strength and mobility in your shoulder and a reduced ability
to function."

"As with the shoulder, arthritis - such as RA, OA, or posttraumatic
arthritis - can damage the elbow enough to make it both painful and
difficult to move."

"People with RA tend to benefit the most from elbow replacement surgery."

... I had to stop driving my car for awhile ... the tires got dizzy.

You can do a TKR to repair the *damage* done by inflammatory arthritis, but
that still will not control the disease itself.  The pain of inflammatory
arthritis comes fromt he inflammation in the tissues and synovial fluid
surrounding the joint rather than changes in the joint itself.  What you
quote the orthopod as saying indicates that you are still at that stage.  At
this point the best way of treating your pain is by addressing the
inflammation and the immune system dysfunction that is creating it.

Over time the inflammation eats away at the cartilage in joints and possibly
even at the bone.  That is when a TKR would be helpful.  Even then though, if
you have active inflammation around the joint, a TKR will NOT take care of
your pain, though it will improve function.

The pain you describe (feels like razor blades are in my knees) is really
very typical of inflammatory arthritis.  I've also heard it described as
feeling like there's broken glass in the joint or (my best describer for a
couple of finger knuckles) as feeling like someone's shoving a red-hot poker
in the joint.

If you have a good primary care physician (PCP for typing ease) you might
want to get in to see him while waiting to see the RD (our shorthand  for
rheumatologist).  Your PCP can start the testing process and can start
searching for the most effective NSAID for you (everyone is different that
way!) during this delay in seeing the RD.  A quick steroid taper might also
help calm the inflammation for a while - that or a steroid injection, but
either will also disguise your symptoms somewhat when you see the RD.  But,
it can truly be worth a visit to a decent PCP to get help in the interim.

It's an unfortunate truth that there is a shortage of RDs throughout the
world and that leads to real delays in getting in to see them.  I wanted to
reschedule my 11/8 visit at the office that knows me all too well because my
mom was thinking about visiting that week.  The next opening wasn't until
mid-January.  We're rescheduing Mother's visit instead.  It's the reality in
a specialty that doesn't yield big bucks.

Stick around though - we actually understand what you are dealing with and
know the frustration of trying to live with pain and of adaptin to the
limitations it imposes.

BTW, my dad was a college prof at a large school.  If you know mascots, you
can guess which one from my munged email address.  When his knees, one ankle
and feet were really bad from RA and from traumatic arthritis, he got around
campus on a bicycle.  It saved him from having to walk and later, when he
went to PT, they said that had kept his knees more functional that they would
normally have been for his degree of damage.