I had full knee replacement surgery done six weeks ago.

Today is not the greatest day. I’m in some pain, but mainly I feel really stiff. I don’t think this has anything to do with being six weeks out from the surgery, but instead, is due to having been at Orycon all weekend, where I walked (a lot) and I ate (a lot) and I sat in the truck (a lot).

Fortunately, I was kind of prepared for the first couple of days of this week being a bust. I’m not pushing today, not trying to get much of anything accomplished. I’ll do some things. I’m also going to sit with a purring kitty in my lap and listen to music and daydream.

My hope is that next week, week seven, will be a turning point for me like it was for my brother. He said he was mostly out of pain starting in week seven. I would like to get there. I understand that my week six is unusual due to the con.

My physical endurance has increased tremendously. A week ago, I couldn’t have done the con. Last weekend was hard, but I was still able to get out and interact with people and then go collapse.

Focus still kind of comes and goes. I won’t really be able to judge this for another couple of days, not until after I recover from the con. But I feel as though that ability has come creeping back again.

I’m not really writing yet. Again, not pushing the next few days. Will start trying to write a lot more come Thursday. Not before then. (Normally would have said Wed but I have PT at 9 AM that day and I’m not going to try to write after that.)

The pain meds acted as appetite suppressants for the first fews weeks after the surgery, and I lost weight. Made up for all of that over the weekend, over eating in the restaurant. We’ll see where my weight goes in a week or so. I’m not worried either way.

I’m mostly off the heavy-duty pain meds, just doing aspirin and Tylenol. I have been taking a single Oxycodone at night, before I sleep. This weekend was an exception, as I took a pill just before getting in the truck and driving for three hours.

Every time before I take an oxycodone I always check in with myself. Do I really need this? Can I get by without it, or is the pain too annoying at this point? (This is why I tend to take it at night, because the pain is too annoying for me to be able to sleep through it.)

This morning was a good example of that. I woke up really stiff. It was difficult to bend my knee. I wasn’t overly swollen, just sore. Taking an oxycodone turned out to be the absolute right thing to do, as I can suddenly start moving my knee again and I have a lot more range of motion.

That’s the funny thing about this surgery. At this stage, moving my knee in the right ways makes it less sore.

And I guess that’s it from me this morning. I’m trying to accept that I’ve made remarkable progress since my surgery, to focus on that instead of seeing the mountain of work that’s still ahead of me.

What is your focus this week? What keeps tugging at your attention, trying to take away from your focus?

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