Three Weeks Post-Op

No blog posts for three weeks because three weeks ago today, about right now, we were leaving for the hospital surgical center. After two years of procrastinating, it was finally time to just do it - get that new left knee.
Unlike before my shoulder replacement surgery seven and a half years ago, I didn't feel the need to update my will, add all the bequests of personal property, etc. etc. I felt more like, "Well, this will be a new adventure - no way to know what it is going to be like until I go through it." But I did feel positive about the surgery itself, and the outcome.

A little pre-op chat and pose with my surgeon. Love those paper gowns they use now.

First thing I remembered coming out from under after surgery was that I had been 'dreaming' of being on Tahiti. Tahiti?
Second thing was I must have commented about the music in the OR because someone asked me what I would like to hear. I said, "Willie Nelson". She said, "Do we have any Willie Nelson?" Some kind of country western music started playing, but it sure wasn't Willie. I was told all they had was Willie's Roadhouse. What I wanted was Always On My Mind or On The Road Again.
Oh, well, it wasn't much longer before I was in recovery and Dr. Ralston was telling Bud and me how well everything had gone and what to expect the rest of the day. At that point I was feeling pretty good, no pain, cheerful, funny. Bud asked if there was some way to always keep me in that frame of mind and I said I now understood how people could get hooked on drugs.

First week post-op I was cooking meals, doing laundry, taking my showers in Bud's bathroom because it is the kind you just step into, and going to physical therapy twice a week.

Second week, I had my post-op appointment with the doctor on Tuesday. He was less than happy with how stiff my knee was and wanted me to get to 90° on the CPM machine by Friday. I came home and got to 90° that afternoon. By Friday, I could get to 100°.

Which gets me to today, three weeks post-op. I'm up to 105° on the CPM, still using the walker, but also a cane as well as walking through the house without cane or walker. Still taking the pain meds, but only four times a day. Taking my shower in my own bathroom where I have to lift my leg over the tub to get into the tub/shower.
I feel ready to try driving myself to PT and the grocery - maybe some day this week. All-in-all, I feel pretty good, and I was right - it has been an adventure.