One person’s story

Today was the day I said my fancy words during physical therapy. I said it under by breath, only said one word, but it needed to be said because that shit hurt.

My self-censure was in deference to the nice older gentleman on the table beside me. He is recovering from a repeat hip replacement. If anyone earned the right to swear he did. I don’t think he would though, he seemed more proper than that. I don’t have that filter.

I never thought the simple task of walking backward, heel-toe, could be so exhausting, or that attempting to make a single rotation on a stationary bike would make me shake in near agony.

Sorry if these updates are too much information. I went into this surgery knowing virtually nothing, I knew no one who had a knee replacement and had no idea what to expect.

This is all one person’s experience. It may be typical, above or below the curve, I still don’t know. Someone else reading this will at least have an inkling what to expect.

It’s hard work. It’s frustrating, it’s scary. Recovery is painfully slow (pun intended) and just plain painful.

I’m further along than when I came home from the hospital, but not as far as I’d like to be. I hope it gets better as I have more PT sessions. I hope to one day look back on this like how I do child birth – remembering the good things, and forgetting the more painful moments.

16/30