EOM Check-In: Health Update (April 5)

Hello everyone.  I know I'm 5 days behind in my normally scheduled health update posting, but it's with good reason.

If you've been following my blog and/or social media accounts, you know that on April 1 (yeah, April Fool's Day), I had Total Knee Replacement surgery on my right knee...  Not having revealed the actual planned date made it more fun when I posted that I was in the hospital, all checked in and awaiting surgery.  Publicly, I received a great deal of love, while in private, I was flooded with DMs of doubt and "I call bull s***".  The real April Fool's joke this year was that I was really getting it done!

So, the surgery is complete, I now have two prosthetic knees and I'm waking up to my first day at a local ECF (Extended Care Facility).  My other two options were in-home Physical Therapy and reporting to a treatment center for each appointment.  Since I'm still recovering from my accident in December I am also being treated for injuries to my neck, back and shoulder.  Yeah, I'm a mess.  As a result, It's just better for me to be somewhere where I can get 24-hour assistance in an environment designed to accommodate my needs.

I was hoping to lose another 20+ pounds before the surgery, but my condition made it difficult to work out.  I ended up reporting in with only 5 more pounds off.  Thankfully, it was enough for my surgeoun to agree to proceed as planned.  The surgery went well and they had me up and walking the same day, like the first time.  The second day though.  OMG...  When the nerve blocker wore off this pain was much, much worse than I remember the first time!  It felt like each breath that I took only made things worse.  Even blinking had me wanting to scream, "Cut it off!  Cut my leg off!!!"

I'll spare you the photos and gruesome details and just say that I'm alive and beginning my PT today at an ECF which is only 10 minutes from my home, maybe 4 miles from the house.  Last night was a nightmare because they hadn't received my prescriptions and instructions so I couldn't get pain meds for several hours.  I won't go into that story either because it's about my health and my pursuit of a healthier me.  We're getting it all worked out.

It should take 2-3 weeks before I'm released and I'd guess another month before I can attempt a small trot on my path to learning to run again.  If all goes well enough, I'll be able to attempt a 5K run within a year and no later than two.  That's the goal, to be able to run one more 5K.  But then again, if I get into good enough shape to do that, why not go for the 10K from there?

So there you have it.  Back, shoulder and neck pains, coupled with muscles and skin, housing a foreign body part.  But if that's what it takes, so be it.

Like my boys have named me and as I often hashtag, "iAmRoboPop".  I guess I'm truly that now.  More than ever.

Thank you all for your support!  Love y'all and I'll see you next month with a new update!