Knee Replacement Surgery — Part 2

Many of you have asked about how my knee replacement has been going. I had the surgery two days ago. Very early that morning my son B.J. took me to the hospital for surgery. I think we were at the hospital only about 9 hours for pre-op, surgery, recovery, and rehab. Everything went well. I am so grateful for the grandchildren’s other grandmother who came to assist in getting the grandchildren ready for school that morning.

I got settled into my son’s guest room about 2:30pm. My grandchildren and son have been so very helpful. We had hired a CNA to be with me for the first 24 hours and I was very grateful for her. She commented that she had not seen anyone do better after surgery than I was doing. I had my walker, bedside commode, and chair with arm rests appropriate to assist me in getting up. The guest room at my son’s house is in the basement, and I was grateful that I was taught how to negotiate stairs before I left the hospital. I remembered that when my mother had knee surgery 35 years ago, she was instructed to take one step at a time, always leading with the same foot. Lead with the good leg going up, and lead with the bad leg going down. Every time I do the stairs, I remember she said, “the good go to heaven and the bad go to hell.” Whether the statement is true or not does not matter, but it did fit my mother’s view and reminds me of the safe way to handle stairs.

The days before the surgery I had prepared food for me. I am eating vegetarian/vegan now, and my son and the grands do not. The downstairs bar is equipped…