Days 04 to 71, Post Knee Surgery

I know, I haven’t been keeping a daily journal of my house arrest. And that’s due to several really good reasons. First of all, the week of Day 03 was completely blurry. I’d developed a serious allergic reaction to the anesthesia as well as to the Hydrocodone prescribed for my pain. I ran a very high fever and my entire body was flushed red with rash. Icing on the cake? I was having problems breathing. We dashed (or rather, hobbled) to the doctor’s and I was given some additional meds for the violent nausea as well as the fever, all of which just made me loopy so I basically slept through that entire week. When I finally came to, the rash was gone. The fever had subsided. I could breathe normally again. And all that was left was the actual knee pain (yeah, it’s tenacious).

Pain aside, mobility was greatly limited.

Each time I tried to walk normally, my knee refused to co-operate. Each time I tried bending it, I felt as though my knee would rip apart. I would later find out this was due to the number of fibres my surgeon had snipped, that the part where he’d snipped them was still very swollen (they still are actually, he projects another 6 weeks before the area is no longer painfully sensitive to the touch), and inflamed, and that it would take a few more weeks before I could walk like an Egyptian.

Fast forward to today aka Day 71. It’s been two months of (occasionally excruciating) physiotherapy. Eight full weeks of frustration at being unable to do any cardio save for very light biking on what I like to call the Cadillac (and that wasn’t until just two weeks ago). A stretch of 56 days of me being all glum and depressed and, quite candidly, not very loved by the family. Apparently I’ve been pricklier than a prickly pear. But no more. Let the light in yet again.

I met with my surgeon this morning, for a second follow-up visit, and am elated to report that everything is freaking on track. Things are healing as they should and, fingers crossed, I’ll be back to my cardio routine come February as scheduled.