Ouch!

A month ago I had my total knee replacement surgery, and like everyone who's had it done warned me -- "IT HURTS!" But since it was hurting so much just to walk, I figured it was time. Even being warned about the pain, though, doesn't really prepare you for how much it hurts. When you wake up from the surgery you wish you could change your mind! And, then they don't waste any time starting your physical therapy. Below are a few pictures from this process.

First of all, you have to make sure they do
the right knee! So you write "yes" on the
correct one, and then the doctor comes in
and initials it.

When you wake up, it seems like your

whole leg is swollen and wrapped up. You
are attached to this cool ice machine, that
you even get to take home with you
(at what expense!?).

They put me on a CPM (constant passive

motion) machine that literally moves
your leg up and down, up and down. The
goal is to get your knee to bend to 120
degrees -- soon! So even when you aren't
doing the exercises the therapist gives
you, you are still bending the knee.

Of course walking again is the goal, so
they get you right up the next day and
down the hall you go. You don't think you
can do it, but they don't even give you
the option to say "no." The therapists help
steer all the contraptions you're hooked
up to, and make sure you don't fall over.

After all the wraps were taken off,
this is what I discovered underneath.

And, then, two weeks after the surgery, the
little bandages were removed. There are
no stitches on the outside layer of skin; it
was all done inside. It now looks even
better than this, but it is still sore.