Time to Make the Lemonade...

I received some rather "unexpected news" yesterday that, to be rather blunt, hit me like Mack truck!

I've had, roughly, 6-7 visits to my doctor's office. I've learned to ask a lot of penetrating questions - mainly because I get those from my friends and family when I leave ("Did you ask him...."). And we all know how much I enjoy answering "question-after-question," don't we???

I digressed...

So each time I've done my best to ask the stupidest questions I could come up with...

I met with him last week, and I'll bet I asked "what it will be like after my surgery" about 5 different ways. Well yesterday, I heard a different answer from his PA (Physician's Assistant).

Jackie started the pre-operational work - asking me questions, reviewing the X-Ray, checking my vitals, probing my gut, checking my breathing (sitting up and lying down), etc. During the process, she told me some rather shocking things that were polar opposites of what the doctor had said:

1. I can expect to be in a brace with my leg locked-straight for about 2 weeks. Most patients stay overnight in the hospital after the surgery. He had told me "no brace" and "you'll be going home." She was a little baffled by that, so I'll be bringing an overnight bag just in case. And having the brace on means I might not be able to drive since it'll be locked.

2. This is not going to be an easy recovery. Apparently, I have another 8 "painful" months ahead of me. The reason is that my knee will start to adjust to life without the wires, and that most likely arthritis will set in. When they took 30% of that kneecap off, as well as the blast heard round the world, I lost the "cartilage cushion" that we all enjoy. Given that my quadriceps muscle is down significantly, I'm going to be pretty weak for a while.

3. In about 10 years, I should expect total knee replacement. The reason they didn't do that now is because of my age. And, the knee replacements, as I've been told, last about 20 years...

So I was pretty bummed... yesterday, last night, and today. Well, today it turned from "shock" to "anger." I was pretty pissed, to be quite honest with you. I'm ready to get on with my life... to start exercising... to move without pain.

You see, going into the pre-op appointment yesterday, I was thinking, "Here we go... one more step and I'm THAT much closer to getting my life back." Instead, I was told that I shouldn't expect to be at the gym in December and running a Half Marathon in April. It's not that it was a goal... just in the back of my mind.

Well, I've had enough time to think about it... so it's time to make the lemonade. If that's the worst case scenareo, can I handle it? Can I take the pain? Can I take the weakness... the inability to go up or down stairs... the limping... the leg collapsing on me because of weakness/tiredness?

Have you ever seen that movie, "Remember the Titans?" It's one of my favorites. One of the characters, the star football player, gets paralyzed. While he's in the hospital, he accepts his "lot in life" and discovers there are Olympics for those that are paralyzed. True story. He ends up winning gold medals later in life for the U.S. Of course, he gets killed in a car wreck, too, but that's not the point here...

So that's my plan: Make a plan. If I'm going to have to walk a lot to strengthen everything, then I will walk like a man on a mission. There is a big hill near my house... you better believe I will be walking up and down that hill. I've kept my gym membership... and I have plenty of active friends who I don't think would mind walking with me every now and then.

I'm moving on... drinking my lemonade... and looking forward to what's next over the horizon. I'm done with sitting on the sidelines. Time to get back into the game...