post op recap

Although my son recently wished me a "speedy recovery", I had to remind him thanks for the good wishes & all, but this total knee replacement surgery has an 8 week recovery time.
That's not an estimate-- it really takes that long for the leg to heal & become fully functional again.

I am still working out the right balance of the meds-- I hate to take too many of the big guns pain killers, but I need to be able to tolerate the physical therapy sessions.

If I take the "full dose" my eyes are @ half mast & I feel impaired- slow motion & the desire is to sleep.

If I take lessor doses, I need to take more frequent smaller doses & in therapy, I am feeling too much of the pain & *burn*--- some of the extreme bending moves bring my eyes to tears- just a trigger response to the intense pain of bending & pushing this freshly stitched up knee.

It is rough & slow & grueling at times-- so today I will up my Rx muscle relaxant dose for therapy & see if that helps. The therapists walk the tighterope of having the patient push it, without taking it into the realms of unbearably too much.
I will declare-- that's it, that is as far as I can stretch today..... because only I know the degree of pain any particular move generates.

 This could easily become a pity party-- but a friend mentioned how she knows someone who needs the surgery & has no medical coverage.

She will have to wait several years before she qualify for Medicare coverage.

It helped me put it in perspective-- it's a bitch, but it would be even more of a bitch to need the surgery & not be able to have it.

I will try to remember that when the therapist has me doing those moves that require deep breaths & ice to numb the pain. Make that muscle relaxant a double, please..