On Monday my husband will run the Boston Marathon. Every American marathoner’s dream. And I will be there to cheer him on.
We always said as we slogged through our middle of the pack marathons that if we lived long enough we could qualify for Boston. Well a few years back the Boston Athletic Association broadened the time requirements - especially for older runners. And this fall – after running two marathons under that time limit, my husband made it.
He will be running Boston for both of us because my marathoning days were cut short over a decade ago by knee problems. But I managed to finish 28 marathons before the end and I will always be – in my mind and in my job description – a marathon runner. A very slow marathon runner. Who probably would never have qualified for Boston if I lived to be 80 – the most elastic time limit. So it’s OK. I will be there to cheer him on and support him in all ways and my running alter ego will be there a few miles behind him (as always in the marathons we ran together) as he covers the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the Copley Square finish. As I said – he will be running Boston for both of us.
But I have my own victory to celebrate as I bounce through Boston this weekend. When I set my total knee replacement surgery date for January 21st, my goal was to be able to walk comfortably around Boston and stand for as long as necessary at the finish line to cheer him in. And I have reached that goal and more.
So this Monday will be a celebration for us both. Frank’s – for making the cut. Me – for recovering from the cut. And there’s something else that makes it special. I was born in Boston and as a little kid – watched the finish of the Boston Marathon as it came past my parents’ music studio windows on Commonwealth Avenue – the old route. I marveled at the men in shorts running (it was all men then). I wondered why anyone in his right mind would ever want to run a marathon.
Well – I’m not sure marathon runners are ever in their right minds. I’m not sure we would want to be. But on Monday April 20th, my husband will be running Boston. And I’ll be there watching. And another of life’s full circles will close protectively around us.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
My New Knee
My surgeon stood at the foot of my bed the day I was sent home from the hospital with a new knee. “You’ll lose 10 or 12 pounds; everyone does,” he said, “but don’t worry about it; you’ll gain it back when you get more active.” Since I had regained my appetite about 5 minutes after coming out of anesthesia in the recovery room I didn’t put a whole lot of faith in his promise. And sure enough I never lost an ounce. I blew my one chance in life to eat as much chocolate cake and ice cream as I wanted – gaining back those “lost” pounds.
And that’s sort of the way it went. It’s been almost 3 months now since I had right total knee replacement surgery. I was sure my recovery was going to be spent in a miserable, sleepless haze of heavy duty pain pills. After all that’s what almost everything I read suggested. I even bought a mindless autobiography to read, thinking my fogged-ed up brain wouldn’t be able to handle my usual diet of business and global news. But the pain pills went the way of the walker, crutches and cane before the end of the first week. I had incredible luck -- basically no pain and only moderate swelling. So I was able to start my rehabilitation -- simple exercises and knee bending to restore range of motion (ROM) immediately.
I started to write about my experience about 9 days after surgery – started and never finished. I was in a kind of comforting cocoon where work couldn’t get to me. Time consuming exercises had to be done 2 or 3 times a day followed by periods of icing and lots of catch-up sleep. My body needed to recover from this serious operation – even if my brain thought I was feeling “fine”. I wanted to craft any blog piece about my experience the way I usually do -- because I’m hoping that someday the writing on this page may provide a “published” body of opinion pieces.
But this has turned out to be somewhat different. This is about my life. And getting it back again in a way I really never expected. I want to shout from the rooftops in a very uncrafted way. For weeks now I have been able to walk miles. I can hike with my husband – up and down trails and some pretty steep hills. No I’m not ready to hike up Mt. Washington again -- but that will come. Along with everything else including – in a year or so – running again. I’ve been back at my gym – mixing it in with physical therapy – since the staples came out at 2 weeks. And 3 weeks ago my physical therapist threw me out – after transitioning me to my usual gym routine – slightly modified as I slowly gain back muscle strength in my operated upon leg.
At 9 days out from my knee surgery, I wrote that my brain had almost forgotten how badly my old knee worked – almost totally accepting the piece of metal and heavy duty plastic that replaced it. It is – I wrote then -- truly amazing. And it just gets more amazing as time goes on.
I was also lucky in another way; trolling the internet for pre-surgery information, I happened on a British website called BoneSmart http://www.bonesmart.org/public_forum/index.php. It’s co-moderated by a retired orthopedic nurse who just had her own knee replaced and has an amazing store of knowledge. The other co-moderator is about 13 months out from her TKR. People in all stages of recovery share their experiences and provide a body of shared information that helps just about everyone get through what is always a highly individualized recovery. I know the forum helped me understand the process and what was “normal” – a wide range of events and feelings. And now I hope I can help others with some of my own experiences and reactions.
I am convinced I had such a easy time of it because the pain mediation practiced by my surgeon and the hospital was so good. If you aren’t in pain it’s a lot easier to do the exercises and knee bending and muscle stretching that are crucial early on – and key to a good outcome and fast recovery. So I plan to write more about this aspect of total knee replacement. Some surgeons still don’t seem to care about pain mediation – and at this point – there can be no excuse for such callousness.
More – later.
And that’s sort of the way it went. It’s been almost 3 months now since I had right total knee replacement surgery. I was sure my recovery was going to be spent in a miserable, sleepless haze of heavy duty pain pills. After all that’s what almost everything I read suggested. I even bought a mindless autobiography to read, thinking my fogged-ed up brain wouldn’t be able to handle my usual diet of business and global news. But the pain pills went the way of the walker, crutches and cane before the end of the first week. I had incredible luck -- basically no pain and only moderate swelling. So I was able to start my rehabilitation -- simple exercises and knee bending to restore range of motion (ROM) immediately.
I started to write about my experience about 9 days after surgery – started and never finished. I was in a kind of comforting cocoon where work couldn’t get to me. Time consuming exercises had to be done 2 or 3 times a day followed by periods of icing and lots of catch-up sleep. My body needed to recover from this serious operation – even if my brain thought I was feeling “fine”. I wanted to craft any blog piece about my experience the way I usually do -- because I’m hoping that someday the writing on this page may provide a “published” body of opinion pieces.
But this has turned out to be somewhat different. This is about my life. And getting it back again in a way I really never expected. I want to shout from the rooftops in a very uncrafted way. For weeks now I have been able to walk miles. I can hike with my husband – up and down trails and some pretty steep hills. No I’m not ready to hike up Mt. Washington again -- but that will come. Along with everything else including – in a year or so – running again. I’ve been back at my gym – mixing it in with physical therapy – since the staples came out at 2 weeks. And 3 weeks ago my physical therapist threw me out – after transitioning me to my usual gym routine – slightly modified as I slowly gain back muscle strength in my operated upon leg.
At 9 days out from my knee surgery, I wrote that my brain had almost forgotten how badly my old knee worked – almost totally accepting the piece of metal and heavy duty plastic that replaced it. It is – I wrote then -- truly amazing. And it just gets more amazing as time goes on.
I was also lucky in another way; trolling the internet for pre-surgery information, I happened on a British website called BoneSmart http://www.bonesmart.org/public_forum/index.php. It’s co-moderated by a retired orthopedic nurse who just had her own knee replaced and has an amazing store of knowledge. The other co-moderator is about 13 months out from her TKR. People in all stages of recovery share their experiences and provide a body of shared information that helps just about everyone get through what is always a highly individualized recovery. I know the forum helped me understand the process and what was “normal” – a wide range of events and feelings. And now I hope I can help others with some of my own experiences and reactions.
I am convinced I had such a easy time of it because the pain mediation practiced by my surgeon and the hospital was so good. If you aren’t in pain it’s a lot easier to do the exercises and knee bending and muscle stretching that are crucial early on – and key to a good outcome and fast recovery. So I plan to write more about this aspect of total knee replacement. Some surgeons still don’t seem to care about pain mediation – and at this point – there can be no excuse for such callousness.
More – later.
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