Three weeks after the full knee replacement operation I’m now walking freely without any aids, such as my Gettysburg oak walking staff. The knee is still stiff and range of motion is still limited. My range of motion on the left knee is 110° if the doctor or therapist is pushing, 90° or so if I’m sitting in a chair and moving it myself. My left leg is flexible enough that I can now put a sock and shoe on that foot. Going out in the car still requires that my wife drive. We both go into the store, and I’m still using an electric cart to move around the store while shopping for items. Next time I go out I should be able to dispense with the cart and walk behind a push cart. I have five more in-home physical therapy sessions before they’re done and I’m on my own. When the physical therapist isn’t here I have a selection of exercises I perform to increase flexibility and strength. So far both the surgeon and the PT person are happy with my progress.

This period has been an eye-opener to the issues that the physically impaired have to deal with. The biggest is a how the unimpaired seemingly go out of their way to ignore me and will do everything possible to rush around me and get in front, because to them I’m a moving obstacle to overcome. God forbid I should impede whatever vitally important task they’re intent on completing. A classic example of this was yesterday at my local Costco. I make it a habit to return my electric cart back to the front of the store for someone else to use. While I was driving the cart to its parking spot a regular healthy shopper was leaving the store. She did her dead level best to try and beat me, to run in front of me, but she couldn’t judge neither the distance nor speed I was moving at. Instead she stopped within inches of hitting me and just glared daggers while I pulled into the cart’s designated parking spot and stopped. The Costco greater at the entrance saw all of this little drama play out and went out of his way to thank me. I always try to return those carts to get them out of the Florida summer sun so that the cart’s battery won’t prematurely discharge due to the heat.

I’ve seen a lot of this discrimination towards the handicapped with my wife, who is herself partially handicapped. But I’ve now personally experienced it. The older, white and rich in this country feel a level of entitlement they have absolutely no right to indulge in.

Exactly two weeks ago, on 18 July, I had a full knee replacement performed on my left knee. Since then I’ve been healing and having a physical therapy specialist come to my house, three days/week, to help further my recovery. Each day has shown progress, with some days seeming to have me slide back a bit, but the overall trajectory has been one of healing and recovery of functionality. I still have a ways to go before it’s complete, but I’m to the point where I can walk about the house without an aid; if I need to leave the house, I can walk with a long oak walking staff I picked up over a decade ago at the Gettysburg national military park.

The photo at the top was taken by my wife as I was napping in my chair. This was five days after the surgery. That’s Luke in my lap. I had the blanket across my lap so that Luke would have something comfortable to lie across. All the little animals in this household have been concerned that “the big guy” is recovering from an “injury.” They’ve expressed that concern by shadowing me as I move around the house, and when I’m resting, the cats at least either want to lie atop of me or right up next to me. The two dogs want to be next to me in the same room. Everybody has wanted to be a nurse.

All the PT and animal nursing has helped me to reach the point where today I’m going out to shop for groceries at my local Costco and Publix. The last time I went shopping was the day before the surgery. I haven’t been out since. But supplies are running low and we need to refill a few things. Before you write in the comments I should use a delivery service to delivery groceries, please don’t. I tried that back in late 2020 when the pandemic was really taking off and my first (and last) foray into having groceries delivered by a third party pretty much was a mess. I placed an order with a local Publix using their app, and when it finally arrived, the items weren’t what I ordered, if the items were filled at all. I paid for everything, but I’ve never used any delivery service again, and never will. After that I just wore a mask and went out to purchase what I needed. Today my wife will drive us both and I will ride around in a cart to keep from walking too much.

As I said, progress has been steady, if a bit slow. I’m working on range of motion, trying to bend my knee at least 90°. Next Monday I go see the surgeon and he’ll take a few pictures of the knee as well as check the joint. The incision has sealed, with nothing left to show but a scab and adhesive flaking off where the surgeon literally glued me back together. I actually look forward to that visit.

Update

I went out and succeeded in picking up everything we needed. At both Costco and Publix I used their respective Amigo electric carts to travel about and pick up everything. When my wife and I got home we piled our purchases into a wheelchair to move them into the kitchen. That took four trips. I was able to put everything away. After that I took one of my meds and collapsed to rest. It was harder than I realized. Before the surgery I never gave shopping a second thought. Now I have to give it a lot of forethought and plan accordingly.