Daddy!Marcs is going in next week to get his right knee replaced.

Frankly it was a long time in coming, and even though he could wait to get it done there was a cancellation and he magically ended up getting something a little sooner than "a year from now."

So, anyone out there had knee replacement surgery within the past couple of years? Or had a relative who had one within that time period? [The reason for the short time span is because joint replacement surgery technology has vastly improved from, say, 5 years ago.]

I mean, I can dig up the medical literature and all that, but first-hand accounts of been-there-done-that would be a huge help for moi. I'm even thinking of passing on a print-out of comments to the Parental Units so they'd have some first-hand testimony. (Just giving fair warning there.)

Among the things I'd like to know:

• Pain. How bad and for how long?
  
  
• What kind of drugs should my parents expect? (I.e., blood thinners, prophylactic antibiotics, etc.)
  
  
• How quickly did they get you back on your feet? Did they make you get out of bed and hobble around the same day? Or did they wait a day or two?
  
  
• How long was your hospital stay?
  
  
• My dad has the option of going home right after hospitalization, or stopping for a couple days at a rehab center between hospital and home. Which option would you recommend? Home first? Or rehab center first?
  
  
• Which is better during the recovery process: walker or crutches?
  
  
• How long was it before you could return to normal activities of daily living? We're hearing anything from 6 weeks to 3 months.
  

Just some things to keep in mind about Daddy!Marcs: He's in fairly good health and in his mid-60s. My parents also live on the second floor for Ye Olde Compound, which could be a factor in choosing the rehab-center-first option.

So my All-Wise and All-Know Flisties, any information you could give me would be mucho appreciated.

Gracias

Still feeling blah-ness, although a little less like crap.

Even though the picture is darker, it was taken (believe it or not) at 9:15 a.m.

Yes, it took that long to clean the snow off my car and to change my coat (it was soaked through because of rain).

Gah! What an awful mix. Snow and rain. Bleh. The picture even looks it, too.

Below is January 7, 2009.