Nearly two weeks ago, I had partial knee replacement surgery on my right knee. In July of 2021, I had the same surgery on my left knee so I pretty much knew what to expect for recovery. While I won’t go into detail about my surgery and the icky parts of the first days of recovering from a surgery like this, I thought I’d share some ways I am making the best of the recovery process.
First, I’d like to say how grateful my family is to have Mayo Clinic just minutes from our home. The care we receive from this world-renowned medical facility is incredible. My surgery was outpatient so I was home by lunchtime and, thanks to modern medicine pain-free. The first day is the easiest day. I slept and it was wonderful. Days two and three were the roughest, but they were manageable – just as I remembered from my first surgery.
Even though it has been over a week since surgery I still need to keep my leg iced and elevated (above my heart) several hours a day to keep swelling down. I know the rest is needed and as much as I’d like to be up and around more, it is still difficult and uncomfortable. However, I am getting a little antsy to move around more. Sometimes the pain is even more noticeable when I’m laying with my knee propped up, so moving around and even sitting in a recliner is a nice distraction.
post surgery activities
One thing I have learned is that post-surgery recovery is a unique opportunity to focus on the things that I never seem to find time for in my daily life. Here’s how I have been making the most of my recovery time….
magazines | Prior to surgery I saved the new issues of my magazine subscriptions to read while recovering. Browsing through the magazines was all I could manage at first, and as I began feeling better I started reading the articles and marking my favorite pages.
reading | I enjoy reading, but too often I don’t take the time to just sit and read. There is always so much to do and reading often gets put on the back burner. I started, Essentialism and Say Yes a while ago, and now I am working on finishing both books!
The new Half Baked Harvest cookbook just hit the shelves and my copy arrived last week which was perfect timing. I’ve been enjoying reading the cookbook, and marking my top choices to cook when I’m back in the kitchen again.
Over the past year, I have purchased several decorating books either at thrift stores or occasionally online. This is a perfect time for me to soak in all the beautiful photos and take my time enjoying these books that I normally wouldn’t feel like I had the time to relish.
online classes | I’m also watching some art classes I have signed up for. I took a few Jeanne Oliver courses and some online watercolor, calligraphy, and hand-lettering courses. I’m mostly just watching them for now, then when I’m up to sitting at the easel and desk I’ll be ready to create. Speaking of Jeanne Oliver courses, I just signed up for this free Color Wheel Course my friend, Marian Parsons is teaching on Jeanne Oliver’s site. I may do this class soon, I find color wheels to be so relaxing. Today I watched an Emily Lex course, Watercolor for Kids, that we purchased for our granddaughter’s birthday this month. I want to be prepared since I’ll be taking the course with her when we visit for her birthday.
planning | Of course, gardening is on my mind — and being outdoors; so I’ve been planning what I would like to plant and I’ve purchased some seeds online from Floret. I’d also like to do a little refresh of our pool and patio area so I’m dreaming and scheming.
photo organization | My computer photo files were in need of sorting and purging so I have spent some time doing that. I also hope to accomplish cleaning up my phone photos and moving them to my computer.
crocheting | Crocheting dishcloths here and there is an easy activity to do while resting. I’ve been building up my inventory for the online shop while keeping my hands busy. I’ve also been trying a few new patterns to mix it up a bit.
art project | Recently I received a fun package from a dear friend – it’s a 5D diamond art project which will keep me busy for quite a while. Kirk has even expressed interest in doing it with me! Have you done one of these?
podcasts | My go-to favorite podcast is The Creative Exponent with my friends Shaunna West and Marian Parsons. I even enjoy re-listening to older episodes. Another podcast I’ve been enjoying for creative business is my friend, Wendy Batten’s podcast Creative Shoptalk. Since I have a few favorites, I’ll do a post on my favorite podcasts in the future.
MasterClass | Last fall we subscribed to MasterClass which offers streaming of 150+ courses covering many categories including Home and Lifestyle, Food, Design, Business, Writing, Arts & Entertainment. My favorites are the cooking courses but I’ve enjoyed many others. The courses are about 10-20 minutes each and are taught by masters in the field.
It’s not easy for me to sit so much, but I know the rest is good for my body … and it is good for the mind too.
