each every day I see improvements. Whether it is simple lifting my leg into a new position in the recliner with less pain or more ease of getting in and out of the car. That God for these noticeable improvements.

I have been walking outside twice a day to the end of the street of about .4 of a mile for each walk. This morning I went slightly further for a 1/2 mile. Also, after this walk I accidentally walked up the steps normal. Not that I was supposed to, I just forgot to do one step at a time leading with my good legs. The good thing was I was able to do it with little to no pain.

It has been 3 days since I have posted anything and a lot has happened.  I had my follow-up appointment with the surgeon and he was happy with my current progress.  They removed the glue strip and the incision loos pretty darn good.  I was definitely happy to be able to "wash" it some.

I had one of my longest walks of almost a half mile on the same day I had my follow-up with surgeon.  It felt good and I wanted to just keep walking, but I refrained from continuing on as to not over do it.

The in home physical therapist appointment yesterday went great.  I wanted to ask her about using the cane for short walks around the house.  As soon as she walked through the door the first thing she asked was if I had a cane.  We grabbed the cane and she wanted to see how well I could walk with it.  I walked across the living room and she said "Lets go outside for a walk."  Off we went for about a 3-400 yard walk.  I must say, that felt great.  She has me working on picking my foot up and placing it on the steps so I can strengthen my muscles so I can start walking up steps normal verses one step at a time.

Today will be my first day without Percocet so hopefully that all goes well so I can slowly get off the Tramadol after that.  I am feeling good with minimal pain.  I went for a walk this morning to and from my office with no issues whatsoever.  

I am just amazed at how well the progress has gone thus far.  Medical technology has come a long way and it is hard to believe that in 12 days I am walking with just a cane.

I can see the progression each every day.  Sunday I had a pretty good day getting out and walking around.  I was able to leave the house and actually go serve at Manna.  It is always great to get together with our serve team at Manna.  They are much like our family.

After Service was over and I came home I was able to get outside for a walk in some nice weather.

If it wasn't for the walker I would have felt like I was walking pretty naturally.  Considering it has only been 9-days post surgery I am pretty happy with this walk.  Later that evening after having a few visitors we left the house to go grocery shopping.  I was excited about that because I was able to get a scooter in the store and embarrass my lovely wife.  Even to the point I was making child like race car noises.  Vroooom Vrooom.

Mission accomplished.  She was embarrassed.

Today, Monday the knee has been a little bit more swollen than it has been, but yesterday was a busy day.  Off for another walk at lunch time at about the same distance as yesterday.  Just after lunch the Physical Therapist showed up.  I like this lady over the one that was here last week.  This lady explained everything and walked me though what I should be doing daily at help reduce the swelling and things that I can do to help reduce the pain to help me get off the pain meds.  I wish I knew some of this information last week.  I would have tried it already.  So the new mission is to get off the narcotics by the end of the week.

We went through several exercise and she was happy with where I am at this point in my recovery.  Further along than most patience at 10-days post surgery.  She will return again on Wednesday and Friday this week.  Looking forward to getting rid of this walker and starting to "run" with a can.

What a great day in comparison to yesterday.  I was able to get a descent night sleep and feel much better this morning.  My lovely wife got a photo of my laying on the recliner with my feet up with my grandsons Spiderman blanket on me.  She rocks.

Exercises went well with less pain than yesterday, however I wasn't able to bend my knee as much as I did earlier in the week.  However it was done and waiting to do my next set of exercises in another hour or so.  Just prior to lunch I was able to get outside and go for a walk.  I was walking much better and almost felt someone normal if I could have gotten rid of the walker.  Moving much faster and more fluent. I went half way up the step to the bonus room this morning.  I think I should be able to go all the way up now.  I will try again later but I will need a second walker upstairs unless someone else is home with me to carry mine up.

ItIt is hard to believe it has been a week already since I had my total knee replacement.  It is odd that this morning is probably one of the worst mornings I have had so far.  My leg/knee is not in pain; I am able to move around with little issues.  However, my leg feels as though there is a lack of circulation in my leg.  I know it is not the case as I felt this way before; my assumption is the knee is a little more swollen than it has been.

My second guess is it is due to the Physical Therapy that I had yesterday.  My muscles are sore and I struggle through my exercise routine this morning.  I did virtually everything with a little assistance with the seated leg extensions.  You would think something as simple as straightening your leg wouldn't be so difficult.  I have found that the difficulty isn't that I can't do it.  It is the thought of the difficulty and the pain that will cause while extending the leg.  Once I initiate the leg extension then I have little problems.  It is amazing the power of the mind; I can see how easily people don't go through the physical therapy or don't do there exercises.  Once I put my mind aside and just do the exercises it is a little easier.  Yes the pain sucks and it is not easy but it is much better than the alternative.  The pain is not necessarily in the knee but the muscles and ligaments.

If you wish here is a short video on what the actually happens during a total knee replacement.  It is worth the watch.  Although this video may not be actually what I went through, but it does give you a pretty good idea of what happens.  It will vary by type of knee and the doctor but those variations are minimal.  My knee replacement was not cemented in place.  He used some sort of cement-less alternative.

Hopefully today progresses much better than it started and I am able to do much better in my exercises this afternoon.  I am looking forward to the weekend.  I do have some great friends coming to the house tomorrow and will install and hand rail on the step leading into the house so I can down them to go for a walk when I don't have anyone here to help me get down the steps.  It is not fun going for a walk around in circles inside the house.  Looking forward to getting outside and walking.

Although I have been doing well, I have noticed that every evening is rough.  The knee gets swollen and stiff to move.  I end up with a burning sensation, especially at interior side of the knee cap.  

I was finally able to get a good bath in tonight and get washed up.  I felt much better afterwards but the knee was killing me by the time I was able to get back to the recliner and prop the leg up.

My first set of exercises went well this morning and my knee flexion was slightly further than yesterdays that I posted.  I am feeling pretty good other than the constant pain from exercises/stretching.  The Physical Therapist is scheduled to be here today.  I am not looking forward to the extreme pain I will get working through the exercises with PT.

i went to bed last night with a pretty good ache in my knee as it lasted all night long. I woke up around 3 am with back and knee pain. I couldn’t get comfortable. So I moved from the bed to the recliner. Iced the knee and just couldn’t get comfortable. At about 4 am the storms started rolling through and that was when it hit me. The pain was from the weather. By 7 am the pain started to fade away. I moved to the couch and by 8 am the pain was gone. I layed there for an hour and then got up and did my exercises. Tough to get through but I did them all.

After exercising I decided to get something to eat. I was actually able to make breakfast and didn’t have any major pain or issues. I made eggs and toast. That was definitely a confidence boost after waking up in pain.
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I had a pretty good day today with little pain with the exception of during exercising.  Although it is not much for exercises, the pain sucks.  However, it is a much better pain than what I was having prior to surgery.  Now the challenge will be to not over do the exercise and stick to what the Physical Therapists tells me to do.

I already have the go ahead to walk as much as I want as long as the pain is bearable.  The in home therapy company showed up today, although we didn't really do anything, it was more of an assessment on where I currently am.  I am doing well for extension but flexion on the other hand is at 55 degrees.  I know it will improve over time.

You can see on the photo the incision and the therapist was assessing the way I was walking and asked me to try and get full extension and as much flexion as possible with each step.  She also gave me a new set of exercises to do until she returns later this week.  I did them tonight and man did they suck.  I am in a little bit more pain that I was prior, however it is a good kind of pain.

hard to believe 6-months ago I was doing Ironman North Carolina 70.3. Today I am struggling to do 10 leg lifts. Fun times.