In the midst of a flurry of new-president-first-day executive orders/actions that ranged from horrifying to ludicrous, I reached the two-week post-surgical milestone for my knee replacement. I saw the surgeon, who removed the bandages and said the mess underneath looked “beautiful,” and cleared me to remove the compression stockings and, even better, to SHOWER. I went home and took a nice long shower and washed my hair twice and got into clean soft clothes and felt wonderful. Except for all the news, which was unrelenting and terrible.
I sure would appreciate it if journalists could make it clear when it’s “Something he wrote on a piece of paper that will immediately change laws/lives” vs. “Something he wrote on a piece of paper that will take years for the courts to resolve and in the meantime will have no affect on our lives other than the heavy burden of despair that someone would WANT to do this.” I suppose sometimes they don’t know, either. There are a lot of things he “couldn’t do” that he has done, because it turned out the people who were supposed to stop him chose not to stop him, or that there were no stopping mechanisms in place because no one but him has needed to be stopped from doing these things.
Home physical therapy has ended, and I saw the local physical therapist for the first time. She told me I was going to hate her for ten minutes out of every session, and then she told me to relax and breathe, and then she MANUALLY BENT MY KNEE, so much farther than I have so far been able to bend it—WAY past the point where it feels to me as if I come to a hard stop and literally cannot bend it any further. Afterward, while I was panting and wondering how loudly I had yelped, she said “Was I right? Do you hate me?” and I said “Not yet.” Her efforts have made me work harder at my physical therapy exercises at home: the more I can bend myself, the less she will have to bend me.
the more I can bend myself, the less she will have to bend me. – words to live by and yet do I live by them? Do I do my little exercises to counteract the effect of sitting at a desk and looking at a computer all day, instead of going to the physio when things get bad? No I do not.
Glad to hear you’re recovering well. Hooray for showering!
So glad you are on the road to recovery. The PT feels like an allegory of sorts but it’s early in the morning so I can’t quite put my finger on it.
OMG how great did that shower feel! I can only imagine.
Yay for good recovery and motivation to do the exercises!
I too would love that from journalists. OTOH, I am barely looking at the news this week. I just can’t do it yet.
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I have wondered this precise thing, particularly about the anti-trans executive order he signed on the first day. It’s so demoralizing that attacking my kid was one of the very first things he wanted to do. We think the most practical consideration is that they have probably missed the window when it was possible to get a passport with an X instead of M or F.
Good luck in PT. I know from my mom’s knee replacement that it’s hard work. I’m glad you got a shower. That must have felt good.
Re: journalism about the current sh*t-show, I would also love more context, even better in-depth explanation! (Some outlets do that, but they are few). I’m hearing from my federal employee friends and colleagues that things are grim. In the interest of not ranting, I’ll leave it there. Yay for a shower and continued progress! Its interesting to follow along on your post-surgery journey. My MIL needs two knee replacements, but lives far away from us and also lives alone. I’ve wondered what the recovery is like and how long she would need to live with a caretaker during recovery.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!
I bet that shower was amazing! I’m glad your recovery is going well. Your blog posts always brighten my day. Thank you.
Re: Journalism and all the horrible things
Emily Amick (a lawyer who used to work in the senate) does an excellent job of breaking down all the bad. She’s really helped me to stop freaking out over every new announcement that sounds more horrible than the last. I found her on instagram (@emilyinyourphone) and have subscribed to her Substack (https://emilyinyourphone.substack.com). She’s doing a 2.50$/month special and I feel like it’s well worth the money but she also has free posts. She’s also written a book, Democracy in Retrograde, (https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Retrograde-Changes-Small-Country/dp/1668053489 which is currently half price at amazon). I’ve just started reading it and it has helped me feel less helpless.
I just started a federal job last month (just in time, apparently, as there is now a hiring freeze) and work yesterday was a mix of people acting like they understood the policy but then rereading the actual orders and then just sending everything back to the JAG to let her figure it out and report back to us on what actions really need to be taken. The only actual thing that has happened so far is that my boss put out there is a 90 day hiring freeze and said she’ll get back to all of us on the other stuff.
Then I came home and emailed all of the Republican women Senators urging them not to confirm Pete Hegseth. My husband kind of rolled his eyes at the futility of it but it felt like I was DOING SOMETHING when otherwise there is NOTHING TO BE DONE.
I am glad you finally got that glorious first post-surgery shower. What a bright spot in these days!
Great news on the shower and the PT! Keep it up 👍
The PT sounds awful but I love your takeaway about making sure you can bend yourself further. And hooray for showers!