Things To Buy For Knee Replacement Surgery

February 25, 2026 / in How To, Personal / by Jason Terry

Hello friends! On December 30th, I had knee replacement surgery. You may be asking yourself, “Isn’t Jason too young to be having knee replacement surgery?!?!” (I’m currently 55 years old.) Well, normally that is true. But I’ve had 4 surgeries on my right knee since high school… my first being an injury while playing football my Junior year. And this last one being a knee replacement because it was definitely time. My doctor said that my right knee was 10 years older than my left knee in terms of age due to sports damage. Bone on bone.

I’ve talked to quite a few people who have had this surgery, or that are planning on having this kind of surgery in the coming months, so I thought it would be a good idea to share my firsthand experience and some tips on how to prepare for and recover from a knee replacement surgery. Here we go!

Preparing for Knee Surgery – Things to Buy

Here is a list of my favorite things that I bought and used. There are two at the end of the list that I marked as “optional” because I didn’t end up using them, but they came highly recommended. And for certain people, based on age and mobility, they would be invaluable.

Circulating Ice Machine
The hospital should issue you one of these. I used it morning, noon and night to keep the swelling down. You put frozen water bottles and water inside this cooler type thing and there is a hose that goes to a cold pad that you strap to your knee. You plug the thing in and it circulates the water from the cooler to your knee and keeps things nice and chilled. This is a non-negotiable. I listed it because it is so important, but I didn’t have to buy it… That said, if you don’t get one from the hospital, here is a list of a bunch on Amazon for you to consider.

A Sturdy Cane (I chose a blue one of course.)
You will use a walker for the first 2-3 weeks and the hospital will give you one to take home… but you will transition to a cane at some point!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B73QJJVH

Portable Urinals for Men (this was a LIFESAVER.)
I can’t tell you how much pain and discomfort these helped me avoid. If you wake up in the middle of the night and don’t want to go far, these are fantastic.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YMHR8SJ

Double Leg Elevation Pillow
Elevating your leg above your heart is a big deal. Your primary goal the first 2-3 weeks is to do your PT exercises and keep your leg swelling down. Elevation was the most effective at this for me.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNLTFHZC

Waterproof Incision Bandages
These are a backup for the one they send you home with. I chose the 4″ x 12″ version.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGRHNBG6

Extra Roomy Socks with Grippy Bottoms
These were so much easier to put on when compared to normal socks. And you can’t really bend your knee much, so getting to your foot to put on a sock is already a challenge. These were GREAT!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FSR9DRW

Pre-Cut Tennis Balls for your Walker
Of course I chose blue for this as well… Yes, my walker had blue balls. Not a very tasteful joke, but this was hilarious a few times when discussing with friends and family. Also, some of my high school friends and I took full advantage of me having a walker and we went to Golden Corral to celebrate a couple of us turning 55 years old. Sad thing? They’ve changed the senior citizen discount age to 60. WHAT?!?!?!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKMZRPJ9

A Laptop Desk to use while sitting in a Recliner
I gave myself one week before starting to work again… and this laptop desk came in really handy. If I had to do it over again, I would have waited 2 weeks before starting to work again. There is a good chance you are still on Oxy and in pain the second week.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTCNW16C

OPTIONAL: Steel Bedside Commode Chair
You can use this over a an existing toilet or keep it by your bed for easier access. I ended up not using this because I was able to get up and down from our existing toilets (even though it was a bit painful the first week or two!)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HP7AQE

OPTIONAL: Shower Chair
I ended up being able to get into and out of our shower with a single crutch, so ended up not using this, but this chair came highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZHWS3DJ

Recovering from Knee Surgery

Here are my best tips for successfully recovering from knee surgery! The most important? Be disciplined about medications and physical therapy.

Make sure your ride home from the hospital is a BIG SUV! Thanks to Jon Ogren for answering the call with his Toyota Sequoia.
For me, the biggest challenge wasn’t pain, but lack of sleep. For the first 2 weeks after surgery, I averaged between 1.5 and 3 hours of sleep per night. Lots of reasons for that, but it was brutal. I was a walking zombie. My encouragement is to do whatever you can to make sleeping arrangements (Softer bed? Supportive pillows? Easy access to the restroom?) that will support your initial nights of recovery.
When you need to move your knee surgery leg, use your good leg to assist. In other words, cradle your hurting leg with your good leg for all kinds of movement. In bed, in a recliner, etc.
You absolutely need a caregiver 24/7 the first few days after surgery. My wife Trista did so much to help me my first week after surgery. Thank you honey!
Physical Therapy… commit to the hard things. Don’t be lazy with this… do all the work they assign you to do at home!
Your brain is worrying about pain and getting hurt, but you can do more with your knee than you realize. Push through! Putting full weight on my surgery leg was a mental block I had to overcome a few days after surgery. Once I realized I could, it was easy. But my brain kept sending signals that I shouldn’t!

If you have a surgery looming, I hope these tips and tricks were helpful for you! If you have any questions about the process, reach out to me via the comments, email, phone, text, or hieroglyphic tablet sent via next day air.