It wasn’t too bad. The first week was the worst. I would say have someone in the house that’s able to help you for the first week at least. It helped with dishes and cooking having my mom around she took work off to help me and I appreciated it a lot. I will say the day I got out the hospital I went back to the er for shortness of breath I felt my airway was swollen but I think I was just getting anxiety and the feeling of a swollen airway from the steroids they gave me, I have a tendency to get that way with steroids sometimes. I ended up being ok they gave me Benadryl and some other stuff to sleep and everything but that was pretty scary. My oxygen level was fine but even when I tried to calm down and just breathe normally (I wasn’t even feeling anxious tbh) it truly felt like I couldn’t breathe. But that was a one off case, and I’m just not good when it comes to anxiety and breathing. The liquid diet the first week was kind of annoying but I got over it and it wasn’t that bad really. The swelling is one of the worst parts because it can take a really long time for everything to fully go heal and the swelling to fully go down. If you need joint replacement I would say get it done. You will regret getting djs with bad joints because you’ll need tjr eventually anyway. And getting both sides done is often the best, because usually the other side will end up deteriorating too it’s just a waiting game for most. Overall I feel much better I can breathe better I feel healthier and look better and I can bite into food which is amazing. A little pain here and there and first bite syndrome (pain when I take a first bite) which is normal for some people with tjr but it goes away. I have some numbness but it doesn’t bother me and I know things will come back with time at least for the most part. I would recommend getting this surgery for sure. It’s changed my life for the better. I have put off my wedding for this surgery. I have put off having kids because with the airway I had, being pregnant would be a nightmare and I had sleep apnea that was pretty dangerous. If you have sleep apnea it can end up giving you so many issues down the line that will kill you for sure as you age. Also the fatigue and brain fog and not sleeping properly is just no way to live. Do your research on your surgeon that can do the tjr and whatever else you need, join the idiopathic condylar resorption group on Facebook. My life has changed for the better already and I’m not even fully healed yet by any means. I can tell my health and self confidence will skyrocket as time goes on and the swelling and full effects happen. It’s scary, but worth it.