Can you live a somewhat normal life or not with knee OA

My sister is an aerobics teacher and until recently a very hands-on garden designer (now retired in that regard). She had two new knees before she was 60. She managed to continue with both jobs right through her arthritis journey, other than the post surgery rehab and physio. She subsisted on painkillers and determination. She’s still teaching at 68. It’s fair to say she is almost in the superhuman scale - she had great muscle tone from both her jobs, and kept her weight down, which will have supported her knees, although to be fair doing 5 classes a week for 25 years probably also contributed to the damage in the first place. But she is an illustration that a diagnosis of OA doesn’t mean life has to come to a halt.

At the other end of the scale, is me, her sister. OA in my hip made my world contract dramatically and rapidly. I’m nowhere near as fit (pilates-lite and yoga-lite only) and I need to shed a stone or two. But I kept working as best I could - my job is also very physical, but I found different ways to do things, and for the things I could no longer do, I found other things to replace them that weren’t so pain-inducing. The mental adjustments can be hard, but try to focus on what you can still do rather than what you’ve had to give up.

speak with your GP about pain management, and if you can, try knee-specific exercises to build up the muscles that support your knee joints until surgery becomes an option. Life may change a bit, but it’s not over.