Had mine done in January of 2014. Some thoughts -
Be prepared for the first week or two to be pure hell --- lots of pain, toilet a real challenge (even with a riser), shower a challenge (even with assistance), not much fun and, to be honest, worse than I expected.
You'll actually start physical therapy almost immediately at the hospital, then for three weeks in home and then for several more weeks at an out patient location. Give it 100% and work your butt off. I had a great person in home and an even better team at my outpatient location. I've always been competitive and in good shape, so I actually looked forward to my sessions ("bring it on"). Because of my athletic profile and positive attitude my key therapist gave me a lot of "tough love" --- it hurt, a lot sometimes, but I needed it. After my medicare allotment of paid visits ran out, I joined the same Fitness Center and continued to work very hard on the recommended exercises and specialized knee equipment there. It's a slow process even under the best of situations, but improvement IS steady and DOES come. IMO, the two biggest mistakes people make are not embracing and maximizing their physical therapy and not continuing their exercises and physical therapy after the initial two months. I'm now a little over a year out, and I'm still working hard on my knee and legs. The actual operation is just plain "violent" and also affects the calf and the hamstring. It's important to also work them very hard, not just the knee. Bottom line is that I'm in the top percentiles on everything but bending, and that is due to a horrendous ski injury 40 years ago that won't allow me to ever have quite the same flex and angle of bending in my "new" knee, but, that said, I am very, very pleased.
Don't get discouraged those first several weeks, work hard, and embrace your physical therapy and exercise schedules -- and you'll be rewarded with a much better life after your knee replacement. By the way, I'm 72.
For the life of me, I still do not know how people can do both knees at the same time --- I can't imagine that.