Surgery preparation

I didn’t have this all figured out before my first knee replacement.But I sure do now. Enough to help you through yours.This isn’t everything and in no way is this a full checklist.But these? These are the things that actually made a difference in my knee replacement recovery.1. Don’t Go into Surgery Without a Pain Management Plan

You know that panicky, can’t-think-straight feeling that creeps in before surgery?Or when you’re in recovery and your brain just won’t quit spinning?That’s not weakness. That’s your body trying to protect you.Before my first knee replacement, I don’t think I slept more than a couple hours at a time. My brain was in overdrive running through the same questions on repeat: Do I have everything ready? Am I missing something? Did I plan the meals? Will the house still run without me?I was the Jill-of-all-trades in our home—planning, cooking, cleaning, remembering every little detail—so handing over control for a while was brutal.

We’ve spent all week talking about how knee replacement recovery is a lot like taking a vacation.On Monday, I laid the groundwork for that whole idea — how seeing recovery through a different lens can make the process feel less foreign and a little more familiar. It literally changes your perspective and for me it was the little boost to take the heaviness out of the surgery that week leading up to my replacement. Check out the Introduction to this blog series here.Tuesday, we talked about traveling solo, and how this is ultimately a one-person job. This was an important concept to me because there comes a point in your recovery where it's your strength that's gonna push you through on your range of motion and extension.