The Masochist

Last Friday I had surgery for a "partial" knee replacement in my right knee. Technically this is called a Unicompartmental Knee Replacement, which in layman's terms means installing a small "cartilage replacement" prosthesis in the section of the knee where the original cartilage has worn down to bone on bone. Since I have already had a successful total knee replacement on the left side five years ago, I knew what to expect - but some things have changed.

The surgery was at 7:30 am and took about two hours. After a short time in recovery I was moved to the room I would occupy for the next two days. At noon that same day, a Physical Therapist shows up and says , "Would you like to take a walk?" I thought she was kidding, but she was not. So five hours after surgery I was walking down the hall (using a walker) on my new knee! The general consensus among surgeons nowadays is the sooner you can start therapy the quicker recovery will start - someone should have asked the patients for their opinion. After a walk this first day, I started on full sets of exercises the second day, including climbing stairs using crutches.

One of the dictionary definitions of a Masochist is "One who has a taste for suffering". I think Physical Therapists fit that description perfectly ("other peoples" suffering that is). On the second day she tried to see how far I could bend my knee and moved it until it stopped.
"Does that hurt?"
"Not too bad", I said.
"Then let's see if we can bend it further" - ouch!

Those friends of mine that are Physical Therapists know I am poking fun at them - it has been proven that this therapy after the surgery is the most important factor in the recovery process.

I am now home and going through sessions three times a day on my own (with the therapist calling in every other day to check progress). These are not fun sessions, but an hour before, I take two Oxycodone "happy" pills and then, even the therapist looks good - I guess this is what they call "better living through chemistry".