LIFE’S Observations…

In some people, many years of physical activity can gradually wear out your moving parts and when cartilage is gone, it's not coming back. Fortunately, there are remedies and through the miracles of medicine and Medicare, a good fix can be had without the need to sell the farm for a few more years of relative comfort, and the chance to dance again until the band quits playing. Because I like to dance, I've started a conversation with a knee surgeon who is a personable young gun that I believe enjoys a straight up conversation with anyone, at any age, who is too young to be old. I suspect that there are more men than women in the operating room, but it wouldn't make a whit of difference which hand is holding the knife. They are good at what they do.

The doctors drawn to the work of reducing or eliminating joint pain are a special breed. The exercise of joint replacement has a certain coarse sameness to it, but the actual operations must be as unique as snowflakes. Every body is different.

I equate this work to the relationship we had with the family milk cow. Day after day, you give her a bucket of feed and she'll give you a pail of milk. Most often, this trade was arranged in a stanchion, in the barn, but sometimes, a casual meeting in the pasture was good enough. If you could get your milking done fast, she'd slick down the last crumbs of feed about the time you could swing the milk pail out of her reach and the deal would be consummated.

Am I suggesting that replacing a knee joint is as easy as milking a cow? No. Not at all. Anything but. What I am saying is that either of these actions requires an intimate knowledge of the subject matter. In each case knowing exactly how to react when the almost imperceptible signs require a course correction, the blessings of muscle memory and clear thinking can assure a successful outcome.

I don't have any idea what the equivalent is in the operating room, but I do know that the slightest flinch of a milk cow's hide, when she is annoyed by a fly, tells you that you'd better protect the pail right now! If you don't, she'll have her foot in it and you're twelve hours away from more fresh milk. I'll guarantee you, Momma ain't gonna be happy.

Anyhow, that's enough about me and my knees. Are you thinking about having yours redone? There are about 800,000 knee replacements done in the United States annually. 90% of them will take place without incident. If you are 70 years or older, in reasonably good health and willing to follow through with your rehab exercises, you probably won't live long enough to wear it out. If you do, chances are good that there will be an even better solution a dozen or more years down the road.

So, if you're still dancing now, then keep it up as long as you can comfortably continue. If a million mile overhaul is in the offing then get 'er done and keep dancing. Either way, I'm with Lee Ann Womack.

I Hope You Dance.