How I'm clawing my way back from near disability.
As promised, I am noting here that this is MY personal experience and not meant in any way to be medical advice. Even if I say “My surgeon said…”—which certainly sounds like professional medical advice—that's what he told ME in MY specific situation; it may or may not apply to YOUR situation. Please consult your own healthcare team, who are familiar with you, to resolve any health issues.
I remember being at work—back when I actually worked in an office—and walking to the break room for some coffee, and feeling pain in my left knee. Nothing major, just enough to make me favor it a bit. Maybe I had been sitting awkwardly, and tweaked it a bit? Surely it would go away in an hour or so.
It didn't go away, not in an hour. Not in a day. Not in a few weeks.
I was 42 years old, and I had arthritis.
Cue years of arthritis meds, physical therapy, injections, yoga for stretching…and the pain only getting worse. So the logical next step was to see an orthopedic surgeon—who immediately sent me packing, proclaiming that at 45 I was “too young” for a knee replacement. More meds followed, which again didn't help. Soon I was unable to walk without a MAJOR limp, listing side to side, and it was time to find another surgeon. As soon as he saw me walk, he committed to doing the surgery.
Before an elective surgery, you have to get a physical and lab work to make sure you're healthy enough to undergo the procedure. No sweat, I had always been as healthy as the proverbial horse.
Until…the combination of living with chronic pain and multiple arthritis meds sent my blood pressure through the roof. My almost-too-low BP of 105/60 was suddenly 160/90. No surgery until I got my blood pressure under control. By this time, I was already gaining weight because I couldn't exercise (not that I exercised much—usually getting off the bus at a stop further away from work and walking, mowing the lawn once a week in the summer, and shoveling snow in the winter) and the combination of weight and sedentary lifestyle due to pain made everything difficult. Sure, I cut back on sodium in my diet, but exercising to help take the weight off was impossible. So I suffered for over a decade.
Then, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. My company offered Hinge Health (paid for 100% by my medical insurance), an online physical therapy program. Hey, it was free, I figured I could at least apply and go through with the phone interview. I expected that they would tell me that my limited mobility wouldn't be enough to do the program. But I was wrong, and thus began a years-long series of physical therapy exercises that really did work. It took a lot of work, but my knees (by this time, I had arthritis in both) were eventually pain-free.
Now note, pain-free knees doesn't mean pain-free everything. My range of motion (ROM) was a horrific 10–92—meaning my knees were permanently bent, which puts a major strain on the quads. Although my knees no longer hurt, now my thighs were absolute jelly after being on my feet for more than 5 minutes. My Achilles tendons were swollen and painful. I couldn't go grocery shopping unless the store had an electric scooter. I couldn't participate in any activities with the grands, like Cincy's awesome museum center. By the time I walked from the parking lot to the door, I was DONE. So although from a knee pain perspective I was much better, I still couldn't do the activities I loved.
After a few years of pain-free (but not very functional) knees, my left knee started hurting again. When the pain didn't go away after a few days, I knew it was time. So I joined a gym so I could start lifting again (while sitting) and I even discovered a seated cardio machine that I could do (due to my limited ROM, stationary bikes were out of the question). I managed to get my blood pressure down from insanely high to borderline, and I had my GP refer me to a surgical group.
My first surgery (left knee, because that was the one that started hurting) was in mid December, 2025. Just over a week later, I joined my family at my daughter's house for Christmas and my other daughter—who hadn't seen me since immediately after the surgery—said she couldn't remember the last time she saw me move that quickly (and I was using a walker!). It soon became obvious that my now-straight left leg was now longer than my bent-knee right leg; walking wasn't as painful as it used to be, but I definitely had that up-down, up-down cadence.
Six months later, it was time to replace my right knee, and walking was IMMEDIATELY much better. I can now stand at the sink and wash dishes, or stand at the stove and cook, without having to take a sit-down break. My legs are now the same length and I don't wobble anymore. Now that I'm not on meds and not in chronic pain, my blood pressure is back to normal.
Today, I'm back to the gym, physically able to work out hard (with some reasonable precautions for leg work), and losing weight.