Total Knee Replacement: A Physical Therapist's Complete Guide: Deciding, Preparing, and Recovering Week by Week

Facing a knee replacement? Then you've probably already discovered the problem: everyone has advice, and half of it contradicts the other half.Your neighbor swears she was back on her feet in three weeks. A forum post says it ruined someone's life. Your surgeon was reassuring but had eleven minutes. Meanwhile you're the one lying awake, wondering what recovery will actually look like.Here is what makes this book different. Most knee replacement guides are written by surgeons, who hand the recovery off to "your physical therapist" and end the chapter. This one is written by the physical therapist. The surgery rebuilds the joint. The rehab rebuilds you, and that is the part you actually live through.Nicolas Marchant has spent nearly two decades guiding patients through knee replacement, including years inside a hospital Joint Replacement Unit. This book is the conversation he wishes he could have with every one of them, unhurried and honest: what actually matters, and what is just noise.Inside, you'll find:Still deciding? An honest look at what surgery can and can't fix, and what the alternatives realistically offerHow to choose your surgeon, and the questions worth asking before you sign anythingPrehab: how the weeks before surgery shape the months afterSurgery day explained step by step, so nothing on the day surprises youA week-by-week recovery map: the first two weeks, weeks two to six, six to twelve, and beyondThe exercises that rebuild strength and movement, with the sets, reps, and progressions spelled out"Is this normal?" answered for the pain, the swelling, the sleepless nights, and the days that feel like going backwardThe warning signs that mean call your surgeon nowGetting back to walking, gardening, golf, skiing, even the dance floorThe hyped treatments that don't hold up, named plainlyA full FAQ and a plain-language glossary, plus the published research behind every claimThis is not a pep talk. Recovery is real work, some days go backward, and patients do better when someone tells them the truth. Along the way you'll meet Margaret, Dan, and Rosa, composite patients drawn from hundreds of real ones, who hit the same walls you will and got through them.Whether you're still weighing the decision or already home with a new knee, start wherever you are. The map is the same, and the sooner you have it, the more of your recovery you can still shape. Read more