Thursday, August 31, 2023

A Whole New Knee

Yoga Teacher Certification
There was a time when I was obsessed with writing blog posts. It was one of my favorite things. I've dropped off the blogging tour for a while now. But it was unintentional. It wasn't that I didn't want to blog...it was that I was busy. Crazy busy. The kind of "busy" that makes you want to take naps and go to bed early. But today, I'm determined to get at least one post out there! Most likely it's a message in a bottle in the "interwebs". 

It won't be much fun to read a litany of what I've done. But, one of the things that regular blogging does for me is establish a history to look back on. My prior blog, "Kimberly Is Thinking", has a much longer history to show life changes over time. I looked back at that blog for a few minutes today. I was looking to remind myself of my history of knee pain. I was a little surprised by how well I'd documented it. I'm proud to be able to tell you that I had a total knee replacement (right knee) two weeks ago. 

I had knee surgery in 2021, but it was really not sufficient for what I needed. It was an arthroscopy, which was an effort to "buy more time" before an actual knee replacement. 

I'm really happy with the results of this surgery and the rehabilitation I'm getting. I'm a huge believer in rehab. Without strong rehab, any knee surgery can have diminished results. With my past knee surgery, I never saw the results I hoped for. I remember having to wait to get my first appointment with PT. I had surgery at a "mega-hospital / practice". It is one of the most well-known hospitals in the country and is well known for being one of the "best". But, in my case, I was surprised that the various departments operated like silos with little coordination between the groups. Rehab. was a completely different department from surgery. The surgeon gave the "order" for rehab., but actually making the appointment was up to me. That meant facing ridiculous time between an appointment request and receiving an actual appointment. I lost at least two weeks for rehabilitation from the date of surgery. 

This surgery is with a specialty group that operates like a well-oiled machine. (Excuse the cliche.) My first rehab visit was just two days after surgery. Of course, I have rehab exercises to continue on my own at home as well. I'm very motivated to regain a full range of motion so I'm diligent. 

The pic I have above is of my earning a Training Certificate to teach Sculpt Yoga. This is a nice addition to my Yoga Certification and one that I'm extremely proud of. 

I'll sign off for now...but I hope to return with more updates soon.