Those are the words of Martin Bland who defied a life of pain because of chronic knee problems by going under the surgeon's knife in a harrowing operation.
The 90-minute procedure saw loose cartilage around Martin's knees being cleared and 10 millimetres from both his tibia and femurs being sawn away in order for titanium pins to be hammered into his knee joints.
Martin had an epidural for the procedure and he said the only thing keeping his mind off things throughout was a "good MP3 player" with the strains of Meat Loaf and Queen.
Before the operation, Martin had always been sporty and was a keen fan of squash, rugby and swimming.
But for the past 15 years, his love of all things energetic had been hindered by constant pain in his knees.
It had got so bad that at times he had to walk with the aid of sticks, had to give up squash and he almost feared that he could lose his job as project worker with oil firm Foster Wheelers, contracted to chemical plant SABIC, because he was worried that colleagues had noticed his difficulty with walking.
He even dare not go for lunch in the company canteen as it was too painful to walk the 300 yards for food.
And stepping off the pavement became an issue.
"It was excruciating pain, it was getting to the point where it was affecting my back and the stance of my gait when I was walking, whether it was on a slope or walking with the dogs," said Martin.
"I had to start walking with a stick to take the pain away."
The 60-year-old, who lives in The Spinney in the West Park area of Hartlepool, had four arthroscopy investigations into what was causing his discomfort at the then Hartlepool General Hospital and North Tees Hospital.
A camera was placed inside his knees to see what could be the problem.
Martin said: "The doctor cleared away loose bits of cartilage but I was told I would eventually have to have both knees replaced."
That was around 15 years ago.
It wasn't until last year that he went for a consultation at the private Nuffield Health Tees Hospital in Norton.
Martin, whose wife Brenda, 60, is manager of the British swimming team and also works at Springs, said: "The consultant basically told me, 'your knees are worn out, there's not a thing I can do with them, you need new knees fitting'.
"It was such a shock to hear, I have had these knees since the day I was born, I was rather fond of them."
"It was quite a sobering thought.
"The surgeon did say to me 'don't treat it lightly', it was a majorly serious operation."
But Martin said the right to have "pain-free" walking outweighed his fears about the procedure and he went ahead with the operations, which were carried out separately on his knees on June 16 and July 29 last year.
A week on from the procedure, carried out by surgeon Tony Nargol, Martin was walking with two sticks and a week after that it was one stick.
Doctors advised Martin to try physiotherapy while he took painkillers for three months.
And just six weeks after the op, he was back at Springs gym.
He started gentle exercise on the rowing machine and cross trainer and slowly built up to more strenuous exercise.
Now he attends five times a week and just 12 weeks after his operation he took a dream trip to Australia for his 60th birthday, where he enjoyed hiking, climbing, diving at the Great Barrier Reef and mountain biking.
Martin, who has two daughters, physiotherapist Alison Coyle, 32, and orthopaedic surgeon Sara Todd, 28, said: "The holiday was the target. I didn't want to go in pain.
"I had blinkered determination to have the operation.
"My movement was very restricted. The pain was unbearable. But I wasn't going to let it beat me. It's the best decision I ever made."
Martin, who became a first-time granddad to Harriet Todd seven weeks ago, is now planning a trip to Florida Key West to indulge in some tuna fishing.
His only problem now is setting off metal detectors at airports during his many travels.