Three weeks out

Yes, I am three weeks past my total knee replacement.

I will not tell you that they have been thrilling or easy weeks.  They have not.

This is a painful, and tough surgery.   There is no other way to say it.

But it's doable, and you have to keep your eye on the prize:  a knee that works without pain, 

allowing you to stay upright in your later years.

PT is often torture, but I look at it as a necessary evil to get me where I want to go..

I am not using a walker or a cane.  I am driving myself to PT, which is about 10 minutes away.  I wouldn't want to be driving much further just yet.

I am off all narcotics,  just taking Tylenol, and relying on ICE.  ICE.  ICE.  

And God, I hate ICE.

On the days I don't have PT, I am continually exercising my knee, like every hour.

In addition to the knee pain, I have a screaming IT band up the side of my operative leg, from the knee to the hip.  Apparently, that happens.

To say that I am tired of doing not much of anything would be an understatement.

I read, I do crosswords, I get up and walk around and around the house, I exercise my knee.  I started doing some more greeting cards, a few at a time.

And I nap.  Did I say that I napped???????   Oh, to be sure, I am now a serious napper.

Apparently, most everyone who has this surgery, has trouble at night finding a comfortable 

place for their "new leg".  Thus, sleep becomes problematic.  I sleep in fits, an hour or two here, and there, and the rest of the night is horrific.

So in the daytime, when I manage to get comfortable, usually with ice on my knee, I fall asleep.   Once in the morning, and again, in the afternoon.  And I can't NOT do it,  I'm at the mercy of my need for sleep.

So I just go with it.

I am assuming that my body needs it, so I just acquiesce.

 I've had a couple of epiphanies while I'm recuperating.  Both of them have been brewing in the back of my head for a while, so it's not like they are new.

One is the subject of craft shows.  I had one scheduled for August 1st, and I tried to convince myself that I would be able to do it with a lot of help.

But truly, that's ridiculous. 

Then sitting here with my new normal, at least for now, I realized that I don't want to do shows, now, or ever.  

So I put my canopy up for sale, and some lady snapped it up the very next day.

That kind of puts the cap on that.  

And something else happened that really made it simple.

I had posted on FB that I was looking for suggestions for any shop that might take my collage

cards, wholesale, or on consignment, since I have about 300 just sitting around here.  Next thing you know, a local gallery owner has snapped them up, and taken most all my handwoven clothes, and lots of towels and other stuff.   The best part, is it's about 4 miles from my house.

So that made the decision to give up doing craft shows much, much easier.

The other subject is raising chickens.  

I have been raising chickens for 8 years.

And if you have them, or you have ever had them, you know how much work they are.

My grands don't live close enough to see much of the chickens.  True, they like them when they come, but lucky if that's once a month, and mostly it's longer.

And lately, all I do is spend my time finding homes for the eggs.........

So after weighing all the pros and cons, and really asking myself WHY?   I decided to be done with chickens.

Half of them are gone already, to my friend's husband, who LOVES them, and has given them an awesome home.

The other half will be gone by tomorrow, and they are going to my friend, Laura, who will love them every bit as much.

So I don't have to worry that they won't have a good life.  They will.

And I will have lightened my load, cleaned my plate off a bit, which has been overflowing for some time.

Change is tough, but sometimes, it's the way forward, like it or not.

Every week that goes by is a week further away from that surgery, and closer to getting my life back.

One week at a time.

One day at a time.

Doing what I can, and trying to accept the rest.