I was talking to a client today, and she asked how long it took me to get to 120 degrees after my knee replacement. She’s sitting at 115 right now, feeling like she hit a wall, and I could hear that mix of frustration and fear in her voice.It reminded me exactly what this part of recovery feels like.
So, I told her the same thing I want you to hear:
You’re not stuck.
You’re in a phase. I call it the learning phase.
And phases don’t last.
You wouldn’t watch a toddler fall and think, “Well… maybe walking isn’t their thing.”
You already know they’re going to walk — you just don’t panic while they’re learning.
Your knee works the same way. It’s learning something brand new, and learning takes time.
She softened a little when I said that. Not because I had some secret stretch or special trick to get from 115 to 120. She softened because someone finally gave her perspective instead of pressure.
And talking to her pulled me right back into my own story.
Let me be honest — my “stuck point” was way worse than hers. (Does one worse than another even exist? They are apples and oranges to me, incomparable.)
I wasn’t stuck at 115.
I was stuck at five degrees of extension.
For three months.
And every day my brain threw the same fear at me:
What if this is it? What if you never straighten your knee again?'
Every day I got to choose not to pick that thought up.
I didn’t have to pretend I loved it… I just didn’t emotionalize it.
I stayed consistent with the tiny actions I knew would inch me closer to zero because consistency compounds — even when it looks like nothing’s happening.
This is the part most knee replacement patients never get taught:
Your mind drifts toward limits unless you guide it back.
It’s human.
It’s normal.
And that’s why your perspective matters as much as your exercises.
I use something simple to stay steady: a mental timeline.
Think of a timeline in your head. Visualize it.
Zero in the middle.
Minus ten on one side.
Plus ten on the other.
Fear thoughts always drop somewhere in the negative numbers.
Instead of trying to leap to +10, I just aim for zero.
Neutral.
Steady.
The place where your nervous system relaxes enough for your body to actually do the work.
And that’s what I told her.
That 115° isn’t a failure.
It isn’t a sign your knee is done.
It’s just your body stretching into what’s next — and stretching takes longer than anyone expects.
This mindset shift — catching the thought, pulling it back to zero, choosing faith over fear — is exactly what I teach inside the Knee Replacement Hub. It’s the part your doctor and PT don’t teach because they’re focused on the physical side. But recovery is both.
When she realized that?
Her whole energy changed.
She understood she wasn’t stuck… she was progressing in slow motion.
And if you’re in that slow-motion season?
You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
**You’re not stuck.** (Now, read that again!)
You’re learning.
I’m just gonna keep handing you the perspective to see it.
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