Knee odyssey
Odyssey according to the dictionary means, “a long and eventful or adventurous journey or experience”. This is my knee odyssey, that consumed much of last year leading to 2 knee replacements that took me out of the garden from for over 4 months.
What does this have to do with gardening? The bad news is my garden is a mess. The good news is I can blame many things on my knee well into 2020, right? Many of you my age have some knee problems. If you do and have fun with this, great. If you’re young and don’t care about knees, stay tuned for the next blog. Once again, I am always happy to hear feedback at linda@itsaboutflowers.com
My knee experience began almost 20 years ago with arthroscopic surgery. The surgeon noted bone-on-bone wear which sounded bad but felt ok with the help of modern medicine’s steroids. I didn’t return for more pain relief for 1 ½ years. During this time, I had more gardening clients to help, and we built a home on 5 acres, and I now garden about 1 ½ acres of that. More wear and tear on those knees, and I’m well into my sixties not my forties.
Then with diminishing returns, I kept returning for steroid relief. Earlier this year I realized the steroid shots were not giving me relief from the pain and I should visit my orthopedic surgeon for a status update and recommendation. After reviewing my latest x-rays, the surgeon asks, “why have you waited so long?” The decision was relatively easy at that point. People had been asking me why I was limping for so many years, that it became my normal state. And when I realized I wasn’t taking any extra steps, I had to agree that my knees were impacting my lifestyle. The x-rays didn’t even give a hint of which knee should be replaced first. Both knees were so bad, there was no preference which one went first.
In addition to the knee deterioration that slowed me over time, I now believe the knee issues have had some negative impact on my back and hips.
The date was set and the end of May the left knee would be first. Now, the odyssey gets more interesting. Ten days before surgery, I scraped my left leg on a wine barrel planter, and despite good washing and hydrogen peroxide, it got infected. A client, also a doctor, suggested I send a picture to the surgeon. He responded quickly with a postponement. So then early July for the first knee. Then 3 days before surgery I need an emergency root canal, and dental work is not allowed within 6 weeks of surgery due to risk of infection. Finally, September 12 I have my first surgery on my left leg. Seven weeks later, my right knee gets the same replacement.
The lesson from my surgery – take good care of your knees!! And if you get to the point where knee replacement is a definite, get on with it. One of my excuses was that I didn’t have time for surgery. What would my clients do? I must say that the recovery process from knee replacement surgery is not fun and actually quite painful. Everyone who has had knee replacement tells me, “you go for it, you won’t’ regret it”. But, they didn’t mention the pain. Maybe like childbirth and other pain, our brain tries to forget, thankfully.
As the dictionary states, my odyssey has been adventurous! Positive in that it gets easier each day going forward. During the surgery process, my legs were straightened, and now the back and hip pain seem to have diminished. I am now looking forward to playing with my grandchildren; going on hikes once again, walking to the mailbox and back again with my dog, going shopping, and simply doing everything I used to do without even thinking about where I can sit down for a short break! Everyday I look out at my garden from the kitchen and look forward to pulling weeds, pruning, and planting my latest finds from the nursery.
Gardener advice
Again, my message to fellow gardeners: Take good care of your knees.
You may wonder how I gardened at all with such severe knee problems. What I didn’t say is that I am blessed with good flexibility. I can lean over and plant my palms flat on the ground. When I work in the garden, I seldom work on my knees. I just bend over, now with knees bent slightly to take the extra strain from my back.
I can only imagine how many gardeners there are that suffer with the pain because they work for an hourly wage with little or no medical benefits. I am lucky. I get to work my passion in gardens of people who treat me like friend or family, who respect my gardening knowledge and my passion, and generally give me free rein to make their gardens even more beautiful! My gardening income allows me to help my children financially when they need it, to attend weeklong gardening symposiums at Great Dixter House & Gardens in Northiam, East Sussex, England once a year (check it out www.greatdixter.co.uk), to visit other gardens, meet fun fellow gardeners along the way, and attend gardening shows and lectures all over the U.S. My husband works hard in the electricity industry and provides a beautiful life in the country, …with medical insurance!
The picture below is of the left leg a few days after surgery.
