Night and Day

One of the things I recall when visiting with one medical professional prior to my surgery was his comment about the disruption of my sleep pattern for “a couple of months”.   Once again, my brain did not allow me to comprehend what this meant exactly:  Par for the course for this procedure!  I have told myself over and over that I am just going to blow through this with the force of my will and my ability to deal with pain.  When it comes to sleep, I am wrong again.

Since my surgery on March 9^th, I have not had a good night’s sleep.  In fact, I can safely say that I have not slept for more than four hours in a row during that time.  I was proscribed some muscle relaxers to help me sleep and I think one of those nights was when I got 4 hours.  However, they are potentially habit forming.  After my ordeal with Oxycodone I am reluctant to use them on a nightly basis.  I do not look forward to going to bed (well I do, hoping that I will actually sleep!) because I wake about every hour in significant pain right in the knees.  I can only guess that it is still the bones healing beneath the implants.  On my pain scale, it is probably 3-4; nowhere close to the earlier pain, but it is significant enough to keep me from sleeping.

On the flip side, my days are pretty dang good!  I have been walking in the park the last three days: 20, 30, and 35 minutes.  It is so nice to get outside.  Walking is mostly pain free and my PT is also going well.  The joints continue to respond to stretching; straightening easily and bending more and more.  I generally do anything I need to around the house and have freed Carol from having to take care of me.  My weight is coming back, which is pretty critical as my jeans keep sliding off my butt, making me look like a Sitka High sophomore boy from the right angle.  Not my favorite look.

Looking forward, we are taking a long scheduled trip to Puerto Vallarta for two weeks beginning on Thursday.  I am hopeful that the warmth (mid 80s during the day, 70 in the evening) will help things loosen up even more.  I have a series of exercises designed for a pool, of which there are many at our resort.  I am not sure that I will do as much as I normally would on a trip like this, but with luck I can restore some color to my skin, continue the good days, and hope for a night’s sleep.