Next Appointment....

I really dislike going to the doctor but today was a different matter. The doctor was going to let me know about the progress of my knee surgery. After waiting for about an hour for him to arrive he popped through the door as I was taking a picture of a recipe with my cell phone camera. He thought that was a novel idea. We talked about what I should be feeling 4 1/2 months out from surgery. There should still be heat in the knee, swelling at the end of the day, soreness in the area, little shocks in the tissue around the incision due to nerves reconnecting. I might need Tylenol occasionally. I will feel weather changes. Some stiffness if I sit too long, so need to get up and move about ever so often. One of the things we talked about was getting down on the floor to do exercises and play with the grandson. He said NOT to get on my knees since it has a plastic piece attached to the back side so it will glide over the joint, he said I didn't want to damage it. He suggested that I get a small or low stool and move to that from a chair or ottoman to get to the floor. So I guess I won't be installing carpet anytime soon. However I will build up my arms moving from piece to piece. He said to walk, water-walk, ride a bicycle, or swim to keep the action going in my knee. He measured the range of motion in both knees and said I have 126 degrees in my left knee and 124 degrees in my right. That will improve as the swelling goes down. He said most patients only obtain 90 to 108 degrees of motion so he was very, very happy that I had done so well. However he did say that I needed to continue my exercises because if I stop it could reduce my range of motion. That would make me a very unhappy camper for sure. When did he want to see me again???? TWO YEARS!!!! Woohoo!! Is it worth it? Yes...but you really have to want to do it. You have to mentally prepare yourself to do what the physical therapist tells you to do, you have to push yourself through the pain to achieve the results that you want, thank goodness there are great drugs out there for this. This is a tough, tough surgery and a long recovery. It takes a full year for a total knee replacement recovery. You have to commit yourself to doing the exercises and to keep on doing them long after the physical therapist leaves. This surgery is not for the weak of heart. But is it worth it? Again I say yes. I plan to keep on truckin' past 100. Happy trails...