On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 Ed Graves <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Hello all,
>I'm doing a bit of informal research, has anyone on this list had a
>knee repacement?  If so:
>did it adversly effect your diving?
>how long were you out of the water?
>at what age did you have it done?
>was it a good thing for you?
>thanks,
>Ed

Hi Ed,
I am having dinner tonight with ol' Bill (who Mika & Huw have met during
their visits downunder).  I'll pick his brains on what sort of knee
replacement it was, etc for ya.  He actually wrecked the knee through
tennis, which he still plays.  He leaves me for dead on the tennis court
and is much, much fitter than I.  I remember watching a video of a
previous op where they snipped out all the damaged cartilage so it ended
up being just bone on bone before the latest operation.

I do recall he commented to me one day that he wished he had got it fixed
earlier on than he did ... the op would have been in his late 60s as he
turned 73 this Feb.  One thing he was warned by the Dr was that he must
not climb up dive ladders with the tank and weight belt on because that
could wreck the knee due to excessive weight.  I also remember him hiring
a rowing machine a month before the op to work out building up the rest of
his leg muscles because he knew once he had the op it would be a while
before he could pound the tennis court and he was very aware of how fast
you lose condition at his age.  As he is the type of person that is
unbearable if he is out of routine in his daily activities his wife was
ringing me up to come and pick him up to take him for a drive to the beach
or down to the library to get some books to read as he was not allowed to
bend the leg for a certain time and he could not get in to his volvo but
my car had a taller door frame and more leg space so he could fit in mine
easily.  If only it had been an automatic I would have lent him my car
while I used his.  He also ended up purchasing a mountain bike and slowly
started to use that while walking his dog every morning.

Viv