After years of arthritis pain, Jean's legs were so bowed that she was nearly two inches shorter. "For years I took pain relievers and I rested, and I had to slow down little by little, and eventually the pain got [to be] too much," she said. She had planned to put off knee replacement until she turned 60, but at 56 years old, she scheduled double knee replacement surgery.

Now Jean is an advocate of early surgery. "I no longer use a cane. I go to the Y twice a week to work out to keep from being stiff and I'm losing a few pounds here and there. I'm just very thankful because I'm now 58 years old and I have more energy and am doing better than I did two years ago. So I'm actually getting younger, not older. And now that my knees are straight, I'm also about two inches taller!"

Jean said she wishes she had not waited and tells anyone she meets who suffers from debilitating arthritis pain the same thing. "I tell them, you're not doing yourself any good because you're wearing out your body and going through pain unnecessarily."