Need a New Knee? Don´t Panic! A Self-Help Manual for Before, During and After Your Knee Replacement Operation

I had a full knee replacement 2 years ago – after 18 months of steadily increasing pain, and decreasing mobility. For the last few months, I could only walk with the aid of a walking stick, and was in constant pain, particularly at night. In spite of this, my surgeon’s decision to operate took me by surprise – up until the moment he said “the time is right”, he had insisted I was too young, too overweight… nice to be too young for something, but how did he expect me to lose weight when I could barely walk???

That, then, was my journey towards a new knee. And that is (almost) the last you will read about it here. This is not a personal diary, although it has arisen out of my personal experience of a knee replacement. Rather, it is a manual. A manual that I hope will help other people avoid the problems I had. A manual that tells you the things you didn´t even know you should be asking, and is designed to help you through the process from the moment the surgeon says those momentous words – “You need surgery”. A manual that will help you to gain peace of mind before, during and after surgery. A manual that will, I hope, help you through the process and recovery, and make that recovery quicker and easier than might otherwise have been the case.