The Knee Replacement Saga - Six Months Later

hiking on Grizzly Ridge, Purcell Mountains, British Columbia

Ah, my husband took this picture of me in 2004. I remember this hiking stroll in the Canadian Rockies very well! It takes your breath away to be immersed in such beauty! It is amazing that I got my left knee to behave 28 years so that I could experience glorious joys such as this hiking trip. In fact, it was amazing that I even lived after getting hit by a Mack truck in my youthful 20s! Multiple fractures healed, but the knee was never the same after that. Eventually, it all caught up to me. I knew it would. It was just a matter of time.

As many of you know, time finally ran out for me. I had a total left knee replacement on June 23. The recovery and therapy months were hell. No doubt about it. I had lots of pain. Sometimes, it was excruciating. I cried a lot. I did not want to be me. Poor hubby was beside himself, watching me struggle, endure, and cry. It was a journey that I did not want to take. And I am still mad as all get out that I had to have the replacement. There’s no going back, once you have (essentially) an amputation. There are going to be worries about possible infections and another replacement later on.

Let’s now fast forward to six months later. I am walking and getting around pretty well. The bone-on-bone pain before the surgery is long gone. I still have some moderate swelling and residual pain above and to one side of the knee. The nerve damage is still there, and I get stabbing sensations where the nerves are trying to regenerate. I am told that all of this is to be expected. I wonder if I will ever feel “normal” again. And, will I ever get to the point of forgetting that I have a huge hunk of medical equipment buried in me? I rather doubt it.

But I can accept it all at this point because I CAN WALK! And I can do some stair climbing. My stamina has returned to almost normal levels now. My ability to walk on uneven ground is improved. I can pretty much do what I need to do at this point in my life. Given what is going on with Washington politics these days, I also am relieved that I had the surgery before any governmental interference.

I am thankful for the care and expertise of my surgeon. His service charge was WAY too low, by the way. I am thankful to medical technology, so that I could have a state-of-the-art titanium knee made just for women. I am thankful to my former employer and its contribution to my medical insurance premiums (which I earned as part of my compensation). I am thankful for my insurance company (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), which didn’t give me one bit of trouble in paying the medical claims. I am thankful for the hospital staff, except for the poor excuse of the day nurse on the orthopedic ward. (Santa should deliver a whole truckload of coal to her house, thereby trapping her inside so that she can’t take her bad attitude out on other patients.) I am thankful for the therapy staff that got me moving again.

I am thankful for my sweet hubby and his tireless devotion in taking care of me. I hope to reciprocate someday if he ever has to go through a similar recovery. And, I am thankful for the emotional support from many of my blogging friends during the past six months. I’m blowing kisses to all of you!

We did a small road test last month up to Kentucky, and I did pretty well on that excursion. We’re looking at 2010 travel brochures that are now getting stuffed in our mailbox. Will I ever do wilderness hiking again? Probably not. I’m glad that I did it while I could, LOL! However, sweet hubby and I have many more traveling adventures ahead of us, and this bionic knee will help keep me walking and experiencing new joys.

P.S. And YES, I am thankful that the surgery is over!  Onward with life!