I cancelled my total knee replacement surgery. Why? Well it could be that I drove over an hour both ways to make my pre-op appointment and spent two hours watch the “pre-op” nurse stare at his computer screen “dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s”. And I wondered… what did they need me here for? Oh, they wanted me to do a knee-to-ankle x-ray (which I COULD HAVE done “up north”; they ARE part of the same health care system used at my local hospital/x-ray department!).

Or maybe it was that when I DID voice my concern (one of my big concerns), I was told my concern was “on me”! “On me”? I am SURE the nurse didn’t understand what I was even asking! Again, he was so intently focused on his computer screen! This is just another of a series of things that causes me concern having my knee surgery done at that hospital!

But the biggest reason I cancelled the surgery… I’m not having acute pain in my knee any longer! When I over-do my activity, any knee pain is relieved with ice and elevation. And I know I can still get a steroid injection if my knee swells; those injections still work to alleviate symptoms and pain!

Cancelling the knee replacement surgery now has opened up a world of options to me: I can do the puppy kindergarten class with my puppy now. I can continue to train my donkey to drive a cart. I can continue to work in my store without worrying about “down time”. I can “have a life”! Oh sure, my knee is bad enough to qualify to have the surgery now but I don’t absolutely NEED to have the surgery now!

Vee, my new puppy, is darling! There are so many things I need to do to “train” her. I’m excited to focus on the things I know I can do to make her a better companion; a better dog. THAT is what I want to do now!

And Jack… My farrier’s wife redid his website and offered lessons. I read that and arranged a lesson two months ago. Thinking about the knee surgery, I shouldn’t waste his time with a lesson if I won’t be able to continue working with my donkey. But getting out there and training Jack… BEST DAY EVER! So… that is what I’m going to do! I’m going to “get out there” and train Jack!

The lesson was fabulous! The things we went over cemented in what I needed to do to let Jack know what I wanted him to do. And I did it! I was able to walk behind Jack practicing the right amount of tension on the reins to let him know the direction I wanted him to go. He did so well, in fact, that with some practice on my part, we will be ready for the next step soon. Next step… training Jack to “pull weight”. All of these steps will be put together eventually in having Jack “pull” a cart with my being in that cart (OH BOY!) Where will we eventually go with this? I’m not sure but Jack LOVES having a job to do. He LOVES “thinking”. And I LOVE being the one to train Jack what he needs to do each step of the way.

Meanwhile, I’m letting my spine continue to heal from the fusion surgery. It will take a full year for the bones to fuse but my six month x-ray looks promising that is what it is finally doing; it IS healing! GOOD NEWS!

It has been so hard “stopping life” because of my spine problems related to arthritis. I know that farther up my spine… things aren’t  looking so great. And I know I have severe arthritis in other joints that causes problems with daily life but I also know I’m not going to stop “living” because of this diagnosis! I can’t change my diagnosis but I can change how I live with it. And I choose to get up every day to live each day to its fullest! Because truly, what other choice do I have?

xoxo ~ Jennifer