42 days

I have made it 41 days without walking!

This is an amazing process. In the past week, many people have asked me: have you cheated? DO I LOOK LIKE A CHEATER? No, I have not cheated! I will admit it has crossed my mind but I have not cheated for the following reasons:

1. I was scared to death to put weight on it. I have to physically lift my leg with my hands in and out of bed, how would I step on it?

2. How would I cheat once? If it hurt, yes I might pause the thought but if it didn't hurt, I would hop in the presence of Roby and hope he didn't catch me walking. Plus, my children would never keep the secret if they saw me and when it comes to Doc's orders, Roby is a rule follower. The risk of getting caught by Roby is not worth cheating.

3. Why cheat now, I'm so close to being done! If I did cheat and then my knee had issues in 6 months to a year, I would have to carry the guilt or always wonder if it was because I walked early.

The most amazing part happened today. I met with the surgeon and he gave me the clearance to begin putting weight on it but I can't. I try but I can't do it! I start to put a little weight on my leg and I have this sensation/pain from the bottom of my feet all the way up to my hip and I immediately quit. This will take a while. When he told me it could take me 2/3 weeks to learn to walk again, I thought he was kidding but now I know this will take me a little while. I guess I should have been doing the 100 leg lifts a day :) On a positive note:

1. I have pt at 7:30 tomorrow morning and I know that I will begin to do things that I wouldn't challenge myself to do.

2. I am allowed to sleep at night without my brace! I might actually sleep through the night for the first time in a long time!

3. I'm relieved! There is no way to explain the feeling I have to have made it through the past 42 days. Our 'normal' routine was messed up and some days were very frustrating but we made it to this point because we worked together. A friend once said to me, any family can play together but a family that works together creates an unbreakable bond! My life is forever changed!