Joint Replacement Surgery: Right for You?

Hi. I'm 41 with a type of inflammatory arthritis, similar to RA (chronic reactive arthritis). I had my hip replaced (cementless, metal-on-metal prothesis) 4 weeks ago, due to joint damage and associated pain. I am a new woman! So glad the surgery is available :)

I have now had total knee replacement on both my right and left knees in 2006. After years of pain and trying several types of injections and other possible solutions, I had Dr. Chris Browne do both my surgeries and even though there was some pain and discomfort it was more than worth it for the improvement. Dr. Browne replaced my right knee in March of 2006 and my left in December of 2006. He performed the surgeries at St. Francis in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I must say that I could not have been more pleased with him or the hospital. In both cases I was able to return to work after three weeks and I was able to return to nearly full activity after about 8 weeks.

Actually a question, not a comment: I recently went to an orthopedic specialist in Austin, TX due to pains in my left knee. After X-rays, the doctor said that my left knee no longer had ANY on the meniscal cartilage left (basically bone to bone).

He said that a knee replacement was inevitable but he also suggested that I put it off as long as I could due to my "young" age (45 yrs.). His reasoning for this suggstion was that if the replacement was done and I was relatively active with normal range of motion (and pain free) that the knee would probably wear out much quicker than if I were older and less active. I am currently on an arthritis/inflamatory medicine prescribed by him. He suggested I try this to see if the pain would subside and allow me to put off surgery. The pain is still there somewhat but it is tolerable (or I've just gotten used to it).

My question is: since my knee has no meniscal cartilage left, wouldn't I risk damaging it further by delaying surgery?