Your post caught my eye as I am also recovering from knee surgery, fractured patella. Cant stoop, lose my balance easily, am slower than I was, but determined to garden. I am an RN, and this is what I would do were I in your position. First......gauntlet gloves that are as long as you can buy them. Then, protective clothing like something you can get from Cabella's, Eddie Bauer or other high end hunting store. They have overalls, jackets, shirts made for people who hunt in very rugged country, get the clothing that is impenetrable to thorns. Next, I would keep close at hand a first aid kit with items you would need to immediately clean a cut - I swab on 7% iodine when I get a cut - [use this in my horse barn on navels of newborn foals] or a strong Betadine solution [again...I use the strong scrub I keep for horse wounds I get from my vet - its stronger than what you can buy]. Or ask your pharmacist what he would recommend. Keep swabs, gauze pads, bandaids of several sizes in this kit. It will be handy, you can clean any wound immediately. Next, I would let your DH do some of the initial pruning, and let you do the finer touch up work. That way, the bigger branches would be gone by the time you started. And do all this early in the day to avoid heat. You have a beautiful garden, but you must take care. I get scratches all the time, never pay them any attention, but you must put yourself first, so you can get back to gardening sooner! And you are only 3 weeks post op? You really have to take care not to lose your balance! I shouldnt talk though, I was sneaking out on crutches the first week to plant some early roses that came so my boyfriend, who was at work, wouldnt catch me at it. Try to look at the long term consequences......[the first few weeks were the hardest for me] and know that you will improve weekly - but you really must take care. What kept me in line was the fear I would hop around too much and end up back in surgery again. Made a believer out of me! Found out today though that I will have to have the pins out at some time or other, more surgery, more down time, but not as bad. Let others do the grunt work, you fine tune, and be careful! Good luck! Judith

ALLEUIA,this is the first i've been able to get on here in several days,since i posted that question about the security alert.After i posted that,i could never get back here til now.I was having severe withdrawl symptoms!!LOL Anyway,i need to have knee surgery,and have needed it for the past few years.Dr has suggested that i wait awhile as it really doesn't last for the rest of your life.So i have done that,but am seriously considering having it done this spring.I too have arthritis in my knees,and i'll be 70 in March. My ds had it maybe 5 years ago,but his knees were worse than mine due to motorcycle/dirtbike racing.He got the knees from a cadaver and is doing very well.His recovery was super fast,He had it done on a thursday and went back to work on Monday,at first in a wheel chair for a couple days,then on crutches.He never went to rehab,instead he had some contraption set up in his bedroom at home as he told his dr,i have a businees to run,and don't have time to be running to someplace for therapy,so they got him set up and he did very well.Now you would never know he had knee problems. My sons dr and my dr both told me i should start exercising my legs now to get them strong before the surgery as that will make the recovery shorter and less painful.So ds is going to bring me his stationary bike and set it up in my sewing room.Yipee!! Not,LOL Kathi

Getting a little away from your original question.........But I need knee replacements too, but have chosen not to get them. I'm 66. I haven't been able to get up from a floor position for years! I tripped by myself in the backyard last year, and had to crawl over to a big stick, which helped me get upright. It's strange....but I actually can't tell you why I can't get up. Nothing feels weak.......I just can't get up! lol! Anyhow.....for years I did a lot of trellis gardening, which was great. But the weeds in my fairly big garden got to be just too much leaning over, and painful. So this spring I've gone to 8 Behlen country stock tanks up on cement blocks. I've had a couple of these for a couple years and they work great.........and no leaning over! If I do need to lean over a bit to weed them, I can sit on a garden stool. I still have several trellises for pole beans and cucumbers. I've also invested in some cordless equipment.......like a cordless mower. It has a removable string weed trimmer in it that you can take out of it's wheeled base to use separately. So now, most everything will be up higher and I can just "mow" the garden floor. I love gardening. I can't imagine ever not being able to garden. But......I've learned to do whatever I can to be able to continue it. Yes, I will miss gardening in the ground, but since that's not possible anymore........it's the raised stock tanks for me. YAY! So good luck with your knee replacement and do whatever you can to continue gardening in a way that won't hurt your knee or be painful to you. There's still so many options!

Hi, i am dr. rk mathur an orthopaedic surgeon at mangalm joint care in jaipuy, india i have done numerous operations regarding joint replacement, hip replacement, knee replacement, elbow replacement, Arthroscopy and ankle replacement. Basically recovery time varies person to person and what is the age of the person gone through the surgery. generally you will able to stand after 12-24 hours with the help of crutches or walking frame , after the surgery you will be in the hospital for 4 to 5 days depending upon what process you make what type of surgery you go for. initially you will feel extremely tired at first as you've had a major operation and muscles and tissues surrounding your new knee will take time to heal. The exercises your physiotherapist gives you are an important part of your recovery. It's essential you continue with them once you're at home. You should be able to stop using your crutches or walking frame and resume normal leisure activities 6 weeks after surgery. However, it may take up to 3 months for pain and swelling to settle down. It can take up to a year for any leg swelling to disappear. but don't worry for some people. generally patient after 6 weeks starts doing normal activities like walking, one may go for work even one can drive car but after even recovery don't risk yourself by doing activities like biking, mountaineering, running where you have risk of falling. you may start house cleaning after 6-7 weeks but don't stand for a long period of time don't bent and don't stretch your operated knee, do not give up on exercise it will heal everything and keep continuing taking medicine prescribed painkiller or anti inflammatory it will reduce pain and swelling, do not use pillow under your knee your knee might bent for ever, do not kneel on the knee untill your surgeon allows you to do. In the end everything will be fine and normal your prosthesis knee will work as an original one. hope for the best and go for the surgery :)