Checking in after my knee operation

Hello everyone. It’s been 12 days since my total knee replacement surgery (which I wrote more about here) I want to check in.

First I want to say thank you. I have received so many nice well-wishes and notes of support. I loved the card everyone signed at Bike Happy Hour last week, and all your messages make recovery so much easier. I’ve heard so many stories about other folks in our community who’ve had joint replacements and other injuries that I’m thinking of leading a Joint Replacement Ride during August.

Why wait until August? Because unfortunately I plan to have my other knee replaced on June 20th. I know, right?! I could have picked a better time to do all of this, but once the condition of my knees sunk in and I found a doctor to help fix them, I didn’t want to wait any longer. (I’ve had bad knees since my first (of two) ACL surgeries when I was 15!).

So far the recovery has been a roller-coaster. The best thing has been how my amazing wife Juli is taking care of me and I enjoy being at home more with her and my kiddos. The first week was really hard, but now I’m in a more predictable and manageable cycle of pain and PT. My docs and PT guy say I’m progressing well. I know it’s healing and I should be patient, but I still get frustrated at the pain and tightness and my physical limitations. Overall this is (another) very humbling experience for me as I enter my 50s. Let’s just say I underestimated the impact this would have on my body and what it would take to fully recover.

During my operation on April 11th, the doctor shaved down the surface of my upper and lower leg bones. He then attached a 3-D printed titanium implant and a polymer cushion between them. Right now, my existing bone is growing directly into the titanium. The process takes six weeks, so I don’t want anything to disturb the very crucial healing process taking place.

I’m so bummed to miss all the cool things going on! I can’t wait to get back into the full swing of working and creating stories and covering events and all the other things I took for granted for so many years. For now, I’m able to work a few hours a day and I’m trying to stay on top of things as best I can. I hope I have a window of time before my next operation on June 20th when I can get back out there.

Speaking of which, I will get back out there today for Bike Happy Hour. I’ll be at Migration Brewing on North Williams Ave from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. I’d love to see you and chat. Tell me what you’ve been up to! Pitch me stories! Let’s talk about the latest news! Share your injury journey with me!

Thanks again for all your support and understanding. Knowing that I have such an awesome community to return to is all the motivation I need to make a full and fantastic recovery.