I thought I was doing exceptionally well, but it turned out, not as much as I thought. Standing up in the morning is kind of like falling forward on an huge pile of razor blades, and it takes a while to get steady on the bad knee.

I actually assumed I wasn’t going to need the oxycodone any more. Hah!

So once I settle into the new place, my therapy will be more intense (three hours a day) but damn it, I’ll get it done.

I had very bad pain that woke me up. It didn’t matter because everything and everyone was waking me up, anyway.

The good news is, all the prep work I did to get ready is paying off. The PT is very happy with my progress,

I should be up and walking around today because even thogh they gave me a nerve block, this is when it stops working and oxycodone enters the picture.

I got some good news from the surgeon. There was a big honking bone spur under my knee that had to be be ground down, and this accounted for most of my problems. So I got that going for me, which is nice! (I’ve been complaining about the back of my knee for 10 years or so, and now I know why.) And I was right, which is one of my favorite things….

It’s the disruption to my routine that really bothers me. (My life is a delicate balancing act.)

Tell me some cheery news!

As  you read this, I should be getting my knee replacement. The most traumatic part of the preparation is probably the bottle of Gatorade I was ordered to drink this morning. (I hate Gatorade.)

And the scariest part of being in the hospital is the triple threat of covid, RSV, and flu. This flu sounds like a really bad one. Here’s hoping I come out unscathed. Wish me luck!

Middle age is a lot of work, amirite? What’s the hardest part for you?

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be in the hospital getting my knee rebuilt and after a few days, I’m off to a rehab center. I’ll do what I can, but mostly you can expect open threads and music videos. Boohunney will write if the spirit moves her.

Put your favorite song videos in the comments! I’d really like to hear some of your favorites and people who have been through this tell me I shouldn’t count on being able to post for several days…

The neurologist sent me a back brace, and that’s an improvement. I can actually sit in a chair without my back feeling like it’s collapsing on itself!

It’s the little things, right?

By the time I got done giving the neurologist all the details of my various injuries, he shook his head. “You have a very complex picture,” he said.

Yes, I said. I do.

As I thought, the memory problems are what they call “consistent with” post-concussion syndrome. He explained, “Your brain is constantly interpreting signals, and when you have all these injuries, it overleads the system. That’s why you have all the  short-term memory issues. But it’s fairly typical at this stage. As you continue treatment, the signals should die down.”

So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Well, I found my keys. They were (of course) under my iPad – which I only occasionally use.

I told one of my friends that clearly, Apple was testing an invisibility app. She laughed, because her son was looking all over for his Nintendo Switch — and it was under his sister’s iPad. Which only proves my theory.