Moving Forward...life before, during and after a meniscus transplant

5 weeks.  It feels like 5 years... and at the same time... hasn’t it only been 5 days? Things are going really well.  Luckily that’s been the case from the get go.   It helps to have a great trusting relationship with my surgeon. It helps also that he’s dedicated and skilled at what he does. I’ve healed well thanks to being healthy and strong long before the surgery. And rehab has been successful because of my great PT guy Marty, and the fact that I’m dedicated to doing it right and getting the best outcome possible.  I am weary though.   This has been physically and mentally challenging.  There are days I feel strong as hell, and days I want to stay in bed and cry. Going back to work has been great but incredibly exhausting.  I cringe anymore when people ask me “what happened” with regard to my knee. I either get comments that get under my skin and make me want to run away (as if!) or I get amazing amounts of empathy that make me want to cry. Theres a...

When I started writing this (Thursday) it was POD28, or 4 weeks since surgery. A couple of big (to me) things have happened.  1) I can sleep without my brace overnight! 2) The CPM machine is no more!   On Sleeping Without A Brace While it certainly feels more freeing, I wake up many times with “ouch” feelings. Not being held still in one place obviously means I will move my leg around now while asleep, and some positions don’t feel good!  It’s still very swollen and stiff in general, so it doesn’t bend much anyway. Like everything else with this process, the little bits of progress will take time to adjust to. I had visions of immediately sleeping on my side and getting the most rested sleep ever as soon as I didn’t need the brace overnight. Ahhhh...fantasy thinking at its best! On Saying Goodbye to the CPM While I don’t love the CPM, it is somewhat comforting knowing that the machine gradually increases the angle of flexion and I just sit back and micro-manage my house f...