aww Karla, sorry to hear you have joined our ranks. I just had arthroscopy on my right knee earlier this year due to a couple of tears that were causing my knee to buckle on me. While in there, they cleaned out a lot of arthritic damage. My pain levels are down considerably since the surgery and now I manage fairly well with just the heat and exercise.
I take Mobic when it gets bad, but have been able to be off it since the surgery.
The doc says knee replacements are in my future but I intend to put that off as long as possible.
Cortisone shots have been helpful for me short term. I had the new ones made from rooster comb stuff and I do think they were about 65% effective before the surgery.