I went to see my ortho today to see if he would order my pre-op tests for me since my insurance won't pay for anything associated with weight control. I guess I should start out by saying I had a partial knee replacement about 6 years ago, and a full replacement almost 2 years ago. I knew my partial knee was hurting, but I associated that with my weight, even though Dr. Ortho told me I was losing joint space a few months ago, anyhoo....I saw the lapband surgery as a way to aleviate the progression of the arthritis, thus aleviating my pain. Good news is Dr. Ortho has no problem ordering my pre-op tests for the lapband surgery. Bad news is the surgery is too late to prevent another knee surgery. So I am looking at a total replacement within a year. I need it now as I am bone on bone and it hurts to walk, but I want to lose the weight and hopefully my recovery will be easier. So I am a little discouraged. I so did not want to face another knee surgery. Dr. Ortho says whichever I want to do first is fine with him. I guess the only thing to do is focus on the positive, my pre-ops will be paid for. WOO HOO!!!! Ok...just had to whine/vent.

Good Luck on both the Lapband and Knee Surgerie. I had my surgery for Lapband almost 3 yrs ago and with the weight i lost am walking better, I will need both Knee and HIp replacements down the road from bones deteriorating due to both RA and Osteo Arthritis, knee cap is floating and locks as well and hips lock up if i walk to much, so i understand. I do push the walking as much as i can in hopes to push back the surgeries as far as possible. Don't be discouraged, You will do fine and losing the weight does help on the knees, before my surgery i couldn't stand more then 5 minutes without knees and hips forcing me to sit, now i can walk to the store and back, sometimes i have to take a break and sometimes it doesn't bother me at all. Again Good Luck!

Thanks btyboop58. I don't think I was truly being realistic with myself. This isn't my first time to the rodeo, I know this pain. But I was fooling myself into thinking losing the weight would make it all better. I'm kinda silly about my knees. My family calls it "denial".....lol lol

My heart goes out to you as I have a friend that suffers from RA. So happy to hear you can walk to the store and back! YOU GO GIRL!