Beginning to Socially Distance Ourselves

In a way, all the Covid-19 (i.e. coronavirus) news has nothing to do with my knee, but I have to say that I'm tremendously grateful that I'm near the end of the TKR journey rather than at the beginning.  There are anecdotal accounts on my Facebook knee groups of people who are suddenly having their surgery rescheduled so as to keep hospital beds open.  There are people who just had the surgery a week or two ago and now face weeks of going to physical therapy, worried about exposure to the virus.  Fortunately, I have only two more PT sessions for sure and then my follow-up checkup with my surgeon, and at that point, I'll be more or less done.  All one can do is wish good luck to those still in the thick of it!

For the next who-knows-how-many days or weeks, Stan and I plan to stay mostly at home due to the virus which is most dangerous to older people and people with compromised immune systems.  That doesn't mean we won't go anywhere, but we will be extremely selective.  Stan went hiking today, for instance, but obviously hiking doesn't put you in close contact with anyone else.  I stood outside talking to neighbors for a long time this afternoon, but I tried (unobtrusively) to stay six feet away, and besides, it was quite breezy.  Next Monday I'll go to PT and then to pick up groceries I ordered, but I won't have to get out of my car.  I canceled my hair cut appointment, however, because it's just not necessary.  The only reason I wanted to get my hair cut was to get ready to go to a convention in a couple of weeks, but the convention was canceled today just as soon as our governor declared a state of emergency.  So, no convention, no need for a haircut!

Over the next few weeks, I must continually challenge myself to keep my knee flexible.  I know myself well enough to know that I'm not going to exercise religiously every day, but I can peddle my little "bike" while watching TV, remember to bend and stretch my knee as I go up and down the stairs, pay attention to my gait, and walk as much as I can.  The end is near for this journey--but not until I get those 2 more degrees of ROM!