Surgery: 28 Days Post Op

As I write this, it's been a month since my partial knee replacement.  Tomorrow I go for my one month check up, but prior to hearing what the doctor has to say, I will tell you what I have to say about the first month with my new knee.

Some days are better than others.  I started out like gangbusters.  I was back at the Y in 10 days, off most of my meds in about the same amount of time, and from the looks of my knee, things were healing up nicely.  It was about the third week post op that I noticed I was not progressing as quickly as I thought I would.  In my effort to get off the pain meds in order to drive, play bridge, and read books, I was in quite a lot of pain.  I resisted the pain meds, which was a bad decision.  I have now returned to taking 1/2 a Norco twice a day.  Not much, but it's enough to take the edge off.  I feel much better.  Today I actually took 1 1/2 pills, and I plan to continue to do that as necessary.  Everyone told me, "Stay ahead of the pain,"  but did I listen?  No, not like I should have.  Actually, my physical activity has improved a lot, my range of flexibility is excellent, and my endurance is good.  But I'm so tired!  I go to the Y and workout in the morning, then come home and take a nap.  I have stabs of sharp pain from time to time, which is normal.  I don't sleep well at night, despite the fact that I am tired.

Tomorrow Dr. Bugbee will set me straight.  My guess is that he will tell me to take the pain meds before the pain and not have a constant gnawing pain all the time.  He will also most likely tell me to continue my exercise, and try to get more rest.  My hope is that in the next month I will have less pain, which will mean less pain meds, and less exhaustion.

We sometimes forget what we've been through when we have any type of surgery.  Surgery is a huge stress on the body, anesthesia in one's system can take weeks to flush out, and we're just not as young as we used to be.  Again I say that everyone is different, and that the healing process varies from patient to patient.  I'm glad to have the first month behind me, and look forward to month two being the month that I see big progress.  One more report, at the end of month two.