I am curious about your wife's healing time. Living alone, if a person is very bull headed, could they take care of themselves?
I guess it depends on how well the surgery goes. My wife is a pretty tough old gal with a high pain tolerance. The nurses and physical therapist all said her recovery progress was better than most.
Her surgery was on the morning of 4/13 (one knee). She was able to get out of bed and stand up with help by early morning on 4/14, and take a dozen steps or so with a walker. She was discharged from the hospital in the early evening of 4/14. The next morning she could get out of bed and stand up with a walker to make her way to the bathroom and living room.
Although she could sit down on a kitchen chair and stand up to the walker on her own, she could not stand up from a recliner or sofa without help because of the soft/low seat position. It was a little over a week before she could stand up from her recliner without help. Also, there is a motion machine that flexes the knee, which is used for two hours, twice a day for ten days post-surgery. I don't see how she (or anyone) could set that up and get strapped into without help. Following her doctor's protocol (it may be standard everywhere?) she had a visiting nurse three days a week to assess the healing process/swelling and change the dressing on the incision. And a physical therapist three times a week that worked her through a 30 minute stretching/exercise routine. Her stamina level was pretty low for the first week, and she slept a lot. She may have been able to make a sandwich or get something from the fridge. But no way could she have prepared a meal.
She had some pretty potent pain medication prescribed that could be taken four times a day. But she got along with Ibuprofen during the day and took the serious stuff at bedtime. Most of the time when the nurse or therapist asked her to describe her pain level on a scale of 1-10, she said she was in the 4/5 range. That dropped to the 2/3 level after a week.
I really don't see how you could get along totally on your own. You could probably get by with someone with you for two or three hours in the morning and two or three in the evening for the first five days or so, and tough it out after that.