2 months and counting

It's been over two months since my knee surgery and what a journey it has been. Between laying on the couch for 6 weeks using a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine for 6 hours a day, non-weight bearing on crutches for 6 weeks, dealing with narcotics withdrawal, and watching my quad muscles disappear before my very eyes, I have been trying to stay upbeat. For the most part I have been mentally ok, but there were days were I would just sob and all Roger could do was hold me. He'd tell me encouraging things, such as I'm a strong person and that I'm going to get through this. He felt that he wasn't helping at all, but truly it was the best thing anyone could ever do for me.

There were other times when I realized that the best medicine does not come in a bottle. During my most painful hours of the night, my cat Lily would climb up unto my chest and start purring. She's look at me as if she were saying, "Well, are you just going to lay there or are you going to pet me?!"

I'm no longer on crutches. I walked with a cane for a while, but I'm not using that anymore either. My biggest challenge right now is my leg extension- getting the lower part of my leg to swing to full extension when I'm walking. I also don't have my full flexion back either, which has been a very painful journey in and of itself.

But what is keeping me sane right now is reminding myself of how far I have come, rather than how far I have to go. I'm walking, I can take a shower standing up, I'm not on pain medicine, and I'm back at work. Hopefully in two months from now, I'll have double the improvement that I have now. :)