For all you old timers

[BengalHawk62]

Can I just get some stuff of my chest with you guys?  Any of you guys have bad knees or already surgically repaired knees?  I hurt my left knee playing football in high school years ago, to the point that I had to have a scoop done to clean out all the loose cartilage.  Now I have little to no cartilage left in that knee.  So since then, I've always compensated my left leg by using my right leg more and more.  Well, with in the past year and a half or two years, my right knee has been giving me more and more fits.  The cartilage is gone now too.  Its to the point that driving in a car for a long distance, anything over 15 minutes, really makes it stiff and ache.  If I sit at work too long or at home in my chair, both my legs stiffen up so bad, I almost feel like I need a walker or something to give me some support. Walking and going grocery shopping with the wife is painful.  Every night after work, I have to put a bag of ice on both knees to keep the swelling down.  I'm not even 40 yet (I'm 39) and I was told there wasn't a doctor in the state who would touch my legs because of my age.  I don't know if that's true or not, but my personal doctor is the one who mentioned it.  I go back in to see him for my annual insurance physical this Friday and I think I'm going to have a heart to heart with him about it.  How do you know when its time for surgery?  I've never had any kind of surgery done other than that scoop I mentioned earlier?  Any help is appreciated.