Thanks for participating, Anno and AvalonBlondi,

As for you Dotsie, you are living the challenge! I'll keep you and your father in my prayers.

As for me caring for my parents, neither live in the same state we do, so I don't have any idea how I will handle this challenge when it comes to me... And I know it will.

Right now, my 80-year old mother, who lives in Arizona, is serving as caretaker for her husband and her 101-year old FIL. AND she wants to have knee replacement surgery.

She thinks it will be pretty much an outpatient procedure, and then she'll stay in a nursing home-type of facility for a day or two and be back home, good as new.

I have a friend who has had 3 knee replacements for the same knee, and he's been struggling for 6.5 years. Thankfully he just tried out some sort of experimental surgical implant (they didn't implant it completely during the testing) that seems to be something like a TENS unit on steroids, and it worked great to replace his pain with tingling...

Now he just has to schedule the surgery to have it implanted and he should finally be able to walk without a cane and walker...

I am the designated health care provider for my mother, so I realize there is a good chance that when she has her knee replacement surgery I will be spending some time in Arizona... Which is a long way from Northern Illinois...

At the moment I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one...