Sonja and a bag of frozen peas, giving my surgical knee comfort
Another month without a blog post, but this time I have a huge reason why: I had a total knee replacement in late July. That's the reason we moved to Tucson for the summer, and now most of what I needed to accomplish here has happened, and I'm just about ready to move on.
I spent three nights in the hospital and then two weeks in a rehab facility where I got PT, OT and speech therapy nearly every day. (I didn't know I needed speech therapy, but I'd been living with chronic pain for years, and that took a toll on my memory and information processing skills.) I've been back home in my motorhome for three weeks today.
I wish I could say it's been a steady recovery, but realistically there are steps forward and backward. Fortunately more steps forward than backward.
The trike I've coveted ever since I left Oregon in the Guppy in 2011! Now mine!
I've been exercising using my new folding adult tricycle that I bought on sale at Camping World. I can ride it a couple of times around the RV park, during the cooler parts of the morning or evening. I'm also doing a lot of exercise in the RV park's pool, where I can flex and extend my knee easily in the water.
The pool at South 40 RV Ranch in Tucson
I bought a Geo Tracker last fall to use as my tow car, but I have never felt very comfortable in it, so last week I bought a 2006 Chevrolet HHR which I will use as my toad instead. I have too much arthritis to be comfortable in a really basic car.
My new toad, "Blue"
I am getting to where some days I can do some artwork again. Here is the last painting I did before my surgery:
Rain Dance, 24 x 24 inches, acrylic on canvas
And here is a work-in-progress that I've been doing since I got home:
Awesome Wonder, 24 x 36 inches, currently an acrylic painting,
but it will become mixed-media
