Winter                                                          Cold Moon

Final visit to my surgeon today. X-rays of the new knee will be taken. This whole process has been much harder than I imagined, though I admit my imagination didn’t have much information.

Was it worth it? The next few weeks will give a certain answer. Going back to the decision to have the surgery answers this question from another perspective. The only direction for my arthritic knee, 90% of its cartilage gone and bone spurs asserting themselves, was to get worse. Since it made hiking and working out difficult, the future for an active life did not look positive. In that regard even pain cessation and stabilization of the joint would be success. I’m hoping, and seeing, that the end result will be more, letting me back into workouts and hikes. So, unless something unforeseen asserts itself, the answer will be yes, it was worth it.

Would I recommend it? Not without making the recovery process clear. A month plus a little is a long time to be medicated and in pain. Healing, too, requires physical therapy which exacerbates, initially and for some time, the pain and the need for strong drugs. This is not an easy choice unless you really want fewer restrictions on your activity level. I did.

The aging process offers many character building opportunities. This has been one of them.