One week ago, I woke up and was pumped to go to Massachusetts General Hospital to have knee surgery. Today was the first day since then that I was able to wake up, put makeup on, and walk downstairs instead of sliding down on my backside. It has been an interesting week to say the least.

Also, this is outside.

Surgery – It went well! I had a grade 1 cartilage tear in my knee, the best out of the 4 grades, which makes sense since I’ve been walking on a cartilage tear for months. 4 incisions, no stitches because of their size. They’re all about the size of my thumbnail.

Walking – Technically I can walk, but it’s more like a shuffle. I can’t completely straighten my leg and I can’t completely bend it, so I honestly look like I’m walking with a fake limp because it’s so ridiculous.

Wearing – It was all sweats for the first few days because I had gauze and an ace bandage on for the first few days. Once I was able to take that off, I’ve been wearing leggings. The swelling has gone down enough so that I technically could wear jeans, but my knee is very sensitive, so those would be uncomfortable. I have my first post-op appointment tomorrow, and that will be my first time wearing real pants since last Wednesday.

Doing – Not much. It has been a lot of Netflixing because it has been hard for me to focus on anything with the knee pain (it has been really bad). I haven’t even really been able to read for the same reason. Also, you may or may not have heard, but Boston has received over 97 inches of snow this year, and most of it has come in the past month. So I may not be on literal bed rest like I was for the 4 ankle surgeries in high school, but I might as well be.

Kate Mitchell

Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.