I was thinking about part one of this blog and realised that my dates were way out! It wasn’t 2015 that I had my knees replaced, but 2010! I guess time just flies by when you’re old!

To get back to my left knee, though.

By December, 2010, my right knee was healed and doing well. The hospital contacted me to come in for a pre-op check. They tested my heart, my blood pressure etc and declared me fit. Then, the nurse noticed a red spot on the back of my left leg, half way between my knee and my foot. She said that it looked a bit like it was infected and, if that were the case, I would have to wait until it was cleared up! Somehow, it was decided that all was well, though, and I was told to arrive at the QEQM as before, at 7:30 on the following Friday morning.

I imagine Julian drove me there that time, but I’m not absolutely certain. I wasn’t in the Spencer wing this time but in the orthopaedic ward – not a room with en suite, this time but a room of 6 or 8 beds and a short walk to the loo. I preferred that, actually, because there was a lot more going on, people to talk to, big windows to look out…..it was nice!

I had the operation some time in the early afternoon and was fully awake by around six in the evening, I looked outside and saw that it was just beginning to snow! (This is not a normal occurrence in December in south-east England!)

I found sleeping very difficult throughout the night and spent a lot of time looking out the window from my bed. The snow kept on snowing all night and into the next day. And, the next day, new patients kept arriving……most of them because they had gone out into the snow and had fallen over and broken an arm or leg.

As before I was made to get up and walk with my new knee, using a walking frame as before. In fact, everything was about the same except there weren’t a lot of nurses on duty – they couldn’t get to the hospital because of the snow! (Snow happens so infrequently, compared to other countries, that we never seem to be ready for it!)

I’m pretty sure Julian came to visit that evening and some of the others had visitors as well.

If you’ve read Part One you’ll know the kind of things I had to do in order to be sent home and that’s exactly what happened again. I went home, happily – this time with my dressing gown sash at the ready!

Almost as soon as I got home, though, my left leg started to itch! Of course, healing wounds do itch but this wasn’t because of the wound – this was because of the bandage, or rather the adhesive tape used to stick the bandage to my leg. I have an intolerance to plasters, even the ones for delicate skin! My leg seemed to itch 24 hours a day! I tried not to scratch but the itching was partly below the end of the bandage so I thought I could at least scratch there.

Sadly, I shouldn’t have scratched there! I got an infection in my leg and though the operation wound healed, the infection took two lots of antibiotics to clear up. As a result of the infection, my leg swelled up a bit and the scar on my left leg is almost a full centimetre wide where the scar on my right leg is almost invisible. Let that be a lesson to all you reading this! No scratching!

Despite the infection, my knee healed well and in the following January I signed up for The Race for Life, raising money for Cancer Research. I had six months to prepare for the 5 km race.

I am not, and never have been, a runner. I was always the last to be chosen to be in a team sport – short, sturdy legs and wide hips don’t make for speed! And, truthfully, I didn’t mind throughout my childhood and teen years. In my 50’s, though, Julian and I belonged to a walking group and week-ends were spent on rambles around lovely areas of mid-Kent.

I knew that I wasn’t going to run the Race for Life, but there isn’t a rule that one must run. I spent February through June, training to walk further and further. (5 km may not be a long way for you but it is, and was, a long way for me – particularly with my two new knees!) Friends and relatives signed up to donate; even one of my sister’s old boyfriends, who actually gave the entire amount that I had hoped to raise – so I raised a lot more than I thought I would!

The day itself was hot. The race took place in an area of Cliftonville called Palm Bay, on a large, grassy area overlooking the sea. The course was twice up and back from the starting point and many people ran the whole way and were back quite quickly. I, and a few others, walked and it seemed to take a VERY long time – but, I did it!

I wish I could say that I’ve gone on to walk long distances every day! I haven’t. I did go to an exercise class for us oldies and I also went to exercises in the old Ramsgate swimming pool. That took me until the time I got pneumonia (I think I’ve probably written about before.) After getting better, my going out for exercise seems to have tailed off – and then there was covid-19 and lockdowns. I did walk with Lola, sometimes quite far (for me), when we were allowed to but, I’m pretty old now and I have become lazy – and get breathless, easily.

We go out for short walks now. Luckily, Lola is small and middle-aged for a dog, so only needs little walks but at home we play with her toys, most days. She is very fond of one ‘game’ in particular. She has a rubber banana which has lost its squeaker. I walk away from her, carrying the banana at hip height and she sneaks up and ‘steals’ the banana from me. She loves to steal the banana but then she just drops it. I tried substituting a real banana but she realised it wasn’t hers and gave up.

One more thing – they told me that my replaced knees might start hurting after ten to fifteen years……we’re coming up to the fifteen year mark (next June and December) but, so far, so good!