I got reminded why I am going to do BTKR yesterday....

[ship4]

Yesterday was Memorial Day and my husband and I attended a bridge dedication ceremony for a young man who paid the ultimate sacrifice 2 years ago in Baghdad. He was an outstanding young man: Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Grandson, who we had watch grow up with our own sons. He played little league on the team my husband coached. He was the President of his class in High School and went on to West Point and graduated with honors..... Sad how we lose the brightest stars in this manner.
The dedication started at 1:00 PM and we arrived about 15 minutes early. It was a beautiful sunny day in the high 70's with the sun out, blue sky above, a light breeze to keep the bugs away........ However, I forgot to bring a chair to sit on during the ceremony. There were many people there and the whole ceremony lasted about an hour and a half. Standing all that time sure took a toll on both my knees. By this point I was looking for a place to sit as my knees had started talking to me! I finally found a chair to sit on, drank some water and rested. My husband wanted to visit with all the people there as we had not seen some of them for a couple of years. I would have loved to have visited with more of them but the pain was unbearable. I had to walk away from some other friends and go sit on a bench as I just could not stand anymore! Sigh.... I am so looking forward to being on the other side of this surgery and getting my life back. I am not a big complainer and most of our friends were and are shocked to find I am having BTKR on June 18th.....
I got a huge reminder yesterday of why I want it done ASAP and to be able to participate in life as I used to do.
Thanks for reading this!
Best,
Crystal

 

[JenniferG]

Thanks for the reminder of how bad the pain was and how void life was because of that. Read something yesterday that suggested standing burns more calories than sitting and now I can do that! What a joy KR is.

 

[Jamie]

Crystal.....it's not much longer and then your pain will be of the "healing" type that has an end! So sorry to hear how you suffered, but hopefully all that will be a distant memory very soon!

 

[Rowdy66]

Crystal, Your Description Of The Day Was So Beautiful, Of Who This Young Man Had Been And To So Many People And The Terrible Sacrifice Of Him And So Many Others Like Him. You Wove Into The Fabric Of The Day How Your Knees Were Effecting Your Life And The Change The Surgery Will Make On Your Participation In Life. I Know So Very Well How You Feel And What You Are Going Through. I Just Had Both Of My Knees Done Two Weeks Ago Today And I Can Clearly See Why I Had The Surgery Done. I Still Have A Lot Of Work To Do In Physical Therapy But I Know It Will Be Worth It. I Will Be Thinking Of You And Hope To See You Posting Here Often. You Will Find This Forum A Great Place To Meed Others Who Will Understand What You Are Going Through And Who Have Gone Through The Same Thing. They Have Been A Wealth Of Support And Information To Me As I Am Sure They Will Be To You. Josephine, Our Beloved Leader And A Nurse Who Has Participated In Assisting Surgeons With Tkr's Is Such A Help And Source Of Knowledge. I Will Be Looking Forward To Your Future Posts. Rowdy