2 weeks out

I arrived home after 3 days in the hospital. I brought home 30 staples, 9 stitches, a wheeled walker, a bedside commode and 80 oxycodone. The stitches were to allow the intersection of my new vertical slice and my horizontal scar from 27 years previous. I also brought home my 27 year old screw from my first Hauser Procedure.

My first few nights I slept on a very cushy couch which had proved great for napping. Too low as the anesthesia wore off. Way too difficult to climb off from. I switched to a firmer, scratcher, higher couch which worked fine.

During the first week my thinking was fairly fogged from anesthesia and regular high doses of painkillers. With flashes of awakening nerves gave notice around the new knee that they were back on the job. My second night home, after all had gone to bed, my whole leg tensed into a capital "L" shape for 3/4ers of a second while I yelped and relaxed.

I brought a sheet of exercises home, stick figures moving branch legs to taunt me. I called the new knee "my 5000 lb leg." It took me 10 days before it lost enough weight for me to lift it without assistance. Talk about frustration.

Two weeks out I can walk with a cane for short distances. I can climb stairs, though sleeping in my own bed is not as comfortable as the couch. I can shower with a chair. My thinking is growing clearer as I ease back on the meds.

Discouragement is a threat. My expectations are growing more realistic. All along I have asked God to guide me down His path to healing. He has helped my body a long way in two weeks, but its easy to lose sight of how major a surgery I had. I had carried a bunch of pain for months prior to the operation. I wanted to wake up with the pain just a couple of weeks from being gone. Today that looks more like a year. I'll keep you posted.