After a rocky start and an additional night in the hospital, things have been progressing pretty well with the total replacement of my left knee.
Here’s a few milestones on my road to recovery:
I’m sleeping in my own bed and the stairs, with crutches, seem pretty manageable. I’m still only doing them once a day though.
I’m also going on tiny walks down the street each day.
For better or worse, lol, I can now manage basic household tasks such as unloading the dishwasher, sorting laundry, and making lunch.
Physio tells me I’m going well at both ends of the range of motion, getting the knee to lay flat and bend. Physio is so hard!
I got back on the bike on the trainer just to work on range of motion. That felt both inspirational and humbling. I know it will take time.
Friends warned me about out of character things they’ve said and done, wild emails sent, while on pain medication for knee replacement.. So far so good for me. Except I might have gone on a middle of the night pillow shopping spree after googling “best pillows for sleeping after knee replacement.” They keep arriving.
And speaking of pain medication, I’m just taking the heavy duty stuff now for night time and after physio.
We also went to the wedding of dear friends on the weekend. So much joy! I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel just being there for the ceremony, but thanks to pain medication, ice, and Sarah’s help it went perfectly. It was lovely to see friends and to be there to celebrate with Jenn and Annada and their friends and families. I promised them we’ll dance next year for their anniversary.
What’s not going as well as I’d hoped? I’m still struggling with attention span and reading. I was hoping to enjoy having time to read but it turns out physio and recovery is pretty much a full-time job. So far I’m sticking mostly to tv and audiobooks.
Enjoying She-Hulk, for example, but the Booker prize winning novels will have to wait.
What’s up this week? Staples removal and follow up appointment with the surgeon. Stay tuned.
