Yeah, it's overwhelming at first after you leave the wonderful intravenous drugs of the hospital! But you need to remember to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME. Try not to think much farther ahead than that. Know that every day will be different. It's not a constant upward trend of recovery. You will be all over the map. Some good days, some bad, some horrible. This was the most frustrating aspect for me, but after I finally accepted that fact, I was able to feel calmer about it all. But all in all, very slowly, it will trend upward. Late in the game, someone told me that it would be 1-2 years for total recovery. I didn't believe it at the time. In the beginning, I made stellar progress in PT. So much so that the Doc. released me early to continue at home on my own. But what followed were many months of moving forward, followed by setbacks, then forward again, then BIG setbacks, etc. Those big setbacks really scared me and I was certain something went very wrong with the knee. It didn't. I just felt that way. I was feeling around in the dark about my progress. I had no yardstick to measure it with. Then I fell at home in the 3rd week. WOW, that was painful. I'd slipped on something on the tile floor and fell backwards. Very lucky I fell backwards and not forward on the knee. Had the Doc. check it out and it was fine. He was more surprised that I hadn't broken something else in that fall. But I was fine. It scared the patootie outta me though! I realized how easily an accident could happen in the home, being unstable. I was very, very careful after that.
So you see - there are many unseens on the road to recovery. The main things I want you to understand and wish someone had told me: (1) Healing is not a constant upward trend. Be patient and loving with yourself; and (2) This will take up to 1-2 years for a complete recovery. Oh, you will be fully functional most of that first year, but you will know you're not yet 100% and still need to RICE occasionally. Nearly 1.5 years out and I still keep the big knee gel pack in the freezer in case I really overdo. But I can do anything I want to now. I've even tried kneeling on soft surfaces and that is working pretty well. Feels weird but I can do it. I'd worried about whether I'd be able to do that. So one more milestone, and a major one at that!
So hang in there, Sister! And try to relax into this trip, and give yourself mucho, mucho time. One fine day, you will notice that you feel like your old self again, and you'll be happy you made this choice.
I'm rootin' for ya!
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