My Mom is in very good health at 93 years old. Heart and lung both great. Doesn't need even reading glasses. She does have one main problem. Her knee is totally shot. The nurse practitioner told me she has never seen a knee anything like hers. It buckles in and causes her a great deal of pain. The Doctor recommended a knee replacement. My Mom still wants to be able to walk around, visit relatives etc. She will be wheelchair bound if she doesn't do something about her knee. Braces, athletic flexible braces etc. and surgery scares the both of us. I am her caretaker and have 3 useless brothers up north. One of them does come to Florida a couple weeks a year and has been helpful when she was north. I wish I knew what to do.. I have heard both horror stories and sucess stories. I love my Mom so very much but to recommend surgury at 93...
who has a clear desire to go for it, I would say approach it cautiously, make sure you find a few opinions from reputable surgeons, and get a good presurgical evaluation (mental and physical) and be very aware of her baselines ! Good luck!!!!
Where I work there is a chiropractic and sports injury doctor across the hall. When he heard that my Dad could be thinking about surgery, he told me if Dad changes his mind and wants surgery to bring Dad in so he can talk to Dad. No way would he want my Dad to go through knee surgery at his age. Plus the rehab recovery is about a year for an older person. He has patients who are half Dad's age who come in for rehab and wished they never had the surgery.
Plus the risk of memory issues accelerating which isn't uncommon in the elderly when they have surgery. I know I lost a few brain cells when I had a kidney stone removed and that surgery was short.
IF they can do the knee replacement with an epidural and "light" sedation, that will significantly reduce the chances of a poor outcome. You really need to be talking to her drs about this. My mom had a hip replaced (she really did need this done) but went from walking with a cane for support to now being permanently needing a walker and using a wheelchair out of the house. I don't know if she'd do it again. She wanted a 2nd hip done but was refused and told she'd be wheelchair bound and the doc discharged her as a patient.
Sometimes the "desired outcome" is not what you want.
Maybe some kind of external brace would help your mother--I am anxious about surgeries and recoveries in the very elderly.
When I look at a question ike this my first though is would that person be prepared to devote one of her few remaining years to recovery?
Life in a wheelchair is not the end of the world and supervision is needed which is probably a good idea at her age anyway.It maytake awhile to find the right combination of drugs to keep her comfortable an I would suggest s specialized pain clinic for that.
Surgery is very frightening at any age and the oder one gets the worst becomes the fear of simply not waking up
Braces and supports are certainly nothing to be afraid off. They are a nuisance to put on and someone usually needs to help but they are specifically fit to the patient and if Mom doesn't like it simply take it off, but do give it a fair chance.
Of course surgery carries many risks but hip and knee replacements are often done under spinal anesthesia with heavy sedation.Mom won't know the difference but it is easier to recover from. Knees take slightly longer to recover form but the blood loss is very much less which means your body feels better sooner.
Find a good surgeon in a reputable medical center and go from there. Remember you and Mom make the final decision and get another opinion if you are not satisfied
There is quite a bit of information on the internet about stem cell therapies. I had one PRP injection thirteen years ago for a very painful elbow that would not heal and was deteriorating, and it worked. No more tissue damage, no more pain.
Now her knee is bone on bone and docs say replacement is all that's left. She remembers well the long recovery from the hip surgery and is in no hurry to have the knee done. Her doc has been giving her periodic injections that help for awhile.
Unless she demands to have the knee replacement I'll not push it. I just can't imagine her fighting through another painful rehab successfully. If she was in better health and more active it might make sense.