Sylvia's Journal

Close to the four-week milestone of postoperative recovery, I have completed the turn of the first corner. I can do things now that I was unable to do even a short week ago, like getting out of a chair without pushing myself up with my hands or pedaling all the way around on a stationary bike, things I couldn’t do 2 days ago. I am done with the pain pills during the day, only still at bedtime and in the morning when I get ready for my first round of exercises for the day, bringing me closer to the goal of getting off the opioids entirely next week.

Today my physical therapist measured the angle of my bent knee at 115 degrees. This is 10 degrees more than last Monday, and 25 degrees more than when I was released from home care PT on May 19. This has not been an easy accomplishment: three daily rounds of uncomfortable exercises and a lot of huffing and puffing and icing. The goal is 120 degrees. This is the angle at which I should be able to do most of what a knee is supposed to be able to do in terms of daily living activities. Maybe I will get to that next week. We are starting to add a few more strengthening exercises which Axel and I can do together because many of his are the same.

Today we did another walk along the Gloucester Esplanade. It was a beautiful warm day with a cool sea breeze.  I walked for 15 minutes without a cane. That too is progress. For the first time I noticed how smoothly my new knee is operating, not distracted by walker or cane or a knee that didn’t yet want to bend much. It is smoothly sliding back and forth, painless compared to the pre-op grinding of bone on bone. That is still happening with the other knee which made the contrast even more noticeable. In the not too far future, the left knee will need the same treatment. This is one of the reasons I keep this weekly log so that I know what to expect when the pain memories have disappeared. The prize at the far end of this knee replacement business is two sets of artificial knee joints happily gliding along without friction allowing for long walks again. Hopefully sometime in 2024 I can look back and wonder why I waited so long.