When is too much too much

I just got the news that I may be having surgery for an infection surrounding my knee replacement. I had a revision last Jan '09. The infection is probably from the many PICC lines I have had. Infections often hid behid metal where there is not good blood flow. To cure the infection they have to take the metal out and #1 put in a cement like substance with antibiotics for many weeks and then take that out and do another surgery to replace the metal knee replacement--not fun! or #2 if they decide the infection is not "virulent" they will do the surgery in one step and just take out the old knee replacement equipment and put in the new...still very painful and time consuming. I am on 12 hour a night TPN for inablitiy to absorb calories and other issues with my intestines and 2 hours in the day for hydration.I also have a seizure disorder and when on pain meds and the malabsortion issues kick in my seizure meds don't work well --So this is not going to be a cake walk for me. It is also about my 12th knee surgery! So there you go, the good news is they have finally found out why all the pain and swelling in my knee--the bad news "surgery". Thank God I have a very supportive family but when is too much to much for them and for me?