From the beginning, at least one of the Grampies has been noticeably overoptimistic about the operation and recovery. That would be me. I assumed that quickly after the knee was replaced, there would be an end to the pain. And I assumed that once the pedals went around on the trainer once, Dodie would soon spin on out for 5, 10, 50 km and beyond.

In truth, of course, once the bone on bone pain of the arthritis was removed, it was replaced by swelling and tight tendons, for basically the same effect.

And once the first revolution on the trainer happened, more swelling and pain came.  Then with the doctrine of pushing through the pain, more revolutions on the trainer came about. But that was followed by even more swelling and pain.

Finally, so that would be last weekend, Dodie declared that she just could not take it any more. She was sorry that she had had this done, and she sure was not going to do the other knee. 

To emphasize her thinking, Dodie asked me to go to the workshop and get the orange sand filled dead blow hammer. "Why?", I asked. "To put me out of this!", was the retort. Always the equipment geek, I wondered why not use a steel hammer, which was already on hand in a drawer. "No, I'm not saying kill me, just knock me out!". Ever the optimist, I thought that was a good sign!

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What actually happened was that we went again to see our lovely family doctor. (He is from France, which also makes us homesick for the Tour de France.) He put Dodie back on some of the strong pain killer (Tramadol), just for a little bit.  

That was last Tuesday - the beginning of the fifth week after the operation. Remarkably, by Wednesday, Dodie was spinning that bike again. At the same time, we made the decision to risk going in to the hot tub, since the incision looked completely healed.  The hot tub supports the knee, relaxes it, and makes flexing easier. So Dodie showed up at the physio in pretty good shape.

The optimist in both of us now says that last weekend's low was the last hurrah for unreasonable pain and swelling. Now, at last, there is light at the end of the tunnel. One piece of evidence for that is that today Dodie made a giant pan of lasagna. That is actually significant, because to do it you have to do things like hauling the large pan out of a low drawer, and you have to reach high, for the lasagna noodles on a high shelf. Then you have to stand in the kitchen through the minimum thirty minutes preparation time. And you can not even quit and go sit down, getting Steve to finish the assembly. Steve is far too clutsy for that!

What could possibly come next in this strange tale? Oh, I know - cranberry sauce. Canadian Thanksgiving is next Monday!