My 84-year-old father-in-law is about to have knee replacement surgery. What kind of post surgery challenges can we expect?

I am a healthy 78 yr old man leading a comfortable retired life in SW Florida. Except for one thing, my left knee is worn out and gradually getting worse, the pain also. My orthopedic surgeon ( who replaced my right knee 11 yrs ago when I was 67 ) says he's done all he can, my only recourse now is a total knee replacement.
My thoughts though immediately go back to my uncle, who was 82, very healthy but had a noticeable bad limp due to a worn out knee. His 46 yr old daughter finally decides toy get married. My uncle is old-school-tough-Irish,.." I'm walking her down the isle, WITHOUT a limp ! "
Goes to a specialist who tells him he'll do a knee replacement on him, - should not be a big deal. My 82 y.o. uncle went under the anesthetic and never woke up !
So my knee pain, although getting worse, is still not bad enough. Can't help thinking of my uncle,..no way will I undergo that surgery at my age,.. will take pain pills instead. My uncle's doctors assured him like crazy,.." Jack, there'll be no problem, believe me ! " Yeah right ! A knee replacement at age 67 OK ( did have heart problems even so, atrial fib that I am still living with ), but at 78 ?? NO WAY !!!.

I want to keep updating my post as I know when I was researching before my Dad had his operation, there was a lot of negative and frightening posts I had read... and not many encouraging posts for the person going in for the operation or their families and what to expect.
He is looking at coming out Monday, pain medication has been changed and he is now totally lucid and with it. He still has pain that is manageable (he swears it is no where near as bad as he thought it would be)
He is walking further than he could before the operation and it is only day 10. Yes his bottom is a bit sore laying down all day, its awkward getting in a comfortable position at times but he is already seeing the improvement and the pain is getting less every day.
Hope this helps others x

My Dad had his done last year at 85. After the operation he stayed for rehab. While it was difficult to have him in the hospital for weeks, it was the best thing for him. They put you on this machine that flexes the knee pretty much right after surgery. At first he said it was painful but he quickly got used to it. The rehab is pretty intense but he met some people and it was much better than driving him to PT repeatedly. If they offer the option of keeping him there you should consider it.

The one problem he had was he developed a urinary tract infection. We'd visited him one night & he just seemed loopy. I spoke to the nurse who assured me that it was the pain meds. This was right after he was moved, so I thought he had less pain meds, but I figured she knew what she was talking about. The next day my SIL went to visit & said he was really loopy & falling asleep. Within an hour we received a phone call from the hospital saying he was in the ER with 104!!! fever! Just about killed the poor man. Come to find out it was the urinary infection, he actually was off the pain meds. You really need to make sure someone is paying attention to his care.

Dad is fine, he is glad he had the operation and he gets around so much better. Good luck with your Father in law.

To answer N1K2R3's comment about "why?"...my father-in-law is a VERY active and healthy 84-year old man. He has been in extreme pain for over a year now. He did try other options for relieving his pain (shots, different shoes, physical therapy), but nothing gave relief. After his pain started to alter the way he walks and cause back trouble he was advised by his doctor to have the knee replaced. Yes, it was an elective surgery he chose because of need. I suspect he'll be with us for at least another 10-15 years so he was looking for the best way to live those coming years pain-free.

Knee replacement is not for everyone and should be viewed in light of physical ability and overall health. I believe it was the right choice for him.

Thanks to each of you who responded to my question. My father-in-law is on the road to recovery now and your shared words of advice helped us prepare for his recovery phase.

Anytime an elderly person has an anesthetic, there is a strong possibility that they will have some dementia type confusion following. My father in law had a valve replaced at the Cleveland Clinic and when he came out of surgery we were concerned because he was quite confused and not himself. The staff told us this is not unusual for someone his age, in his early 80's at the time. Eventually, about a month, his mind did clear and he was, almost, his old self once again. A cousin is experiencing the same thing with his 90 year old mother who just had shoulder surgery. So, don't be alarmed if your father seems a little out of it for a while following his operation. That isn't to say not to check for other causes. And if he does have a problem, he may never be completely like he was before. Sometimes they don't come all the way back and lose a little of the sharpness they had prior to the anesthetic. Best of luck and I hope all goes extremely well with a rapid and full recovery.

My very healthy 80 year old father recently died from having a total knee replacement. Although death within 24 hours is rare, it does happen. An important factor associated with a significantly increased mortality after total knee replacement is an age of more than 70. My family wishes we had known this before supporting my father with his decision to have the surgery.

To N1K2R3: Arthritis is more than limping a little or a stiff knee. Arthritis is extremely painful and controls your life. At age 44 I prefer to have my knee replaced and live again than sitting alone in pain for the rest of my life. There is no "mind control" and this is not a "knee adversity." Unless you have experienced the pain, you don't have a voice in this conversation.

Niki, take your father to an orthopedic doctor to find out the cause of his hand pain. He could have carpal tunnel syndrome, tenosynovitis, or perhaps arthritis; only a doctor can tell, and that should be determined before just administering pain meds as the facility staff if apparently doing.

Even if he can't answer, a doctor can tell by touching, moving, etc., and noting the facial response; x-rays can also be done, which would probably be the first diagnostic step.

Not doing an MRI would I think be more dependent on whether or not there are any artificial metal parts in the body rather than age, but I think it also might depend on a particular doctor.

We've discovered that some doctors, especially the physiatrists we've seen, don't want to go to much effort to diagnose senior orthopedic conditions.

My mother has had her knee replaced, but NOT at 84 years old. My friend had both of her knees replaced too. I know with my friend she was supposed to be up and walking like the day after surgery. They told her the therapy was the most important thing she could do. I remember she told me that they said if she didn't do physical therapy her knee would lock up and they'd have to bend it backwards to break it free. OUCH!! She is pain free now though.

This is not an elective surgery!! These older people are in SEVERE pain! Some have difficulty even standing up or sitting down, their overall quality of life as drindled down to near nothing! Those who the motivation to have such a surgery, are frankly ignorant