Einstein proclaimed that time is relative. It certainly has been that way for me since I had a total knee replacement. The day of the surgery flew by as though someone had stolen many of the hours that usually make up the passage from one date to the next. The first days following dragged along as though someone had forgotten to the wind clock and so I was stuck in a seemingly forever moment. What we don’t always talk about when discussing Einstein’s theory of relativity is that even emotions like joy and pain are also relative.
We’ve all had the experience of having such an enjoyable day that it felt as though time had speeded up just when we wished it would slow down. So too whenever we are feeling sorrowful or the pain of a bodily injury time seems to be infinitely sluggish. An hour seems like a day. A day seems like forever.
When I first announced that I was going to have surgery for a total knee replacement I received a variety of comments. One woman was only five weeks from the same kind of procedure and her words were disturbing. She insisted that the days and weeks and hours after the surgery were riddled with almost unbearable pain. That is something that few doctors mention when providing information about what lies after the procedure is done.
As it happens I tend to be a stoic capable of enduring great pain in a somewhat positive way. Nonetheless I understand that each of us has varying abilities to deal with aches that plague our bodies. I have a set of twin grandchildren who literally are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to pain. One seems like wonder woman when subjected to intense discomfort. Her twin, on the other hand, is so acutely aware of the body’s efforts to heal itself that he suffers mightily like the woman who attempted to prepare me for the unpleasantries that would lie ahead.
I have to admit that the whole aftermath has been far more uncomfortable than I ever imagined. Most of the time I managed to grit my teeth and work my way through the soreness but there were times when I winced and tears appeared in my eyes. It is a much more serious and difficult surgery than I had dared to believe. I think my friend was attempting to prepare me and she certainly did.
It stands to reason that if something artificial is placed in your body there will be reactions. The body sees the foreign object as an invader and has to go into a mode designed to heal. That healing process requires lots of hard work to keep the knee from becoming stiff and immovable. For weeks the daily routine has to include physical therapy sessions and home exercises. Even just sitting for an hour without moving results in a stiffness that makes the knee feel as though it has been encased in concrete. It’s up to the person who has had the surgery to keep moving and sometimes that does not feel so good.
I am nicely along at this point in time. I can bend my knee one hundred twenty degrees with effort. It is till not a pain free movement but it is one of which I am very proud because it took many hours to get that ability. I can also keep my leg so straight that it hits a flat surface at zero degrees. That too has required stretching and building back the muscles in my leg. Time for me has been built around icing the knee to reduce swelling, elevating the knee for the same reason and working out even when I wanted to do something else. I can totally understand the frustration of my friend for whom the pain was unremitting. I know the experience of being unable to sleep on some nights when nothing seemed to stop the constant throbbing. I had to concentrate on the fact that all of that activity at night was a sign that my body was attempting to be normal once again.
Time has been relative for me. I mostly stay at home to be certain that I don’t catch a virus or otherwise get sick and only add to the recovery time that continues. I feel a bit better with each passing week and I have resumed regular activities like teaching my homeschooled students and cooking and doing light cleaning. I’m banned from yard work. which is my form of relaxation, until I reach three months from the date of my surgery. I can’t go to the dentist until six months after the surgery. I obey the demands of my surgeon and his team because so far everything they have told me has been very true.
My life is moving at a slow pace right now. Each day seems very long as I am anxious to wake up one morning and feel as though I am all healed. This moment in time has made me so much more aware of those who suffer for any reason. I find myself thinking of them and doing my best to help them to get from one day to the next. I know that wonderful people have done that for me. Everything about life is relative and so we would all do well to understand rather than to judge. Each of us have different levels of tolerance for the painful times that come our way. It’s up to us to help each other along.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 