Happy One Week Anniversary

Bill and his new knees have been together for a week now.  So far it looks like a great relationship.

A double (bi-lateral) knee replacement is the most complicated orthopedic surgery done through Kaiser.  It is major surgery that usually takes about four hours.  Five and a half hours after Bill went in the surgeon came out to give me the good news.  Everything went well even though the knees were "the worst I've ever seen" and he felt very positive about how improved Bill's quality of life will be.

From the time he moved from the recovery area to his hospital room to working with his physical therapist at home, Bill's progress has been amazing.  Every person on his medical team has been blown away by how quickly he is moving through the necessary steps.  This is not to say he is without pain and some frustration, just that he is very far "ahead of the curve" in his physical therapy and ability to get around independently.  Except for the mandatory discharge trip out of the hospital he has not seen a wheelchair. The day after surgery he was walking down the hall. Using the walker he is able to get around the house and Wednesday he took a couple of trips down the street.  He's definitely my hero!!

We are still looking at a 90-day rehab period and being right on track to reach our goals. 

In the meantime I've started a couple spreadsheets on campgrounds and domiciles and continue to feed my full-timer blog addiction on a daily basis. 

We made the decision to get rid of the truck before it sees 100,000 miles which means driving it VERY little before and after the 1000 mile trip to deliver the Seadoos to Clearlake.  We both love the F-150 and the King Ranch package makes it a very comfortable vehicle with all the bells and whistles.  But the MPG sucks for Bill's daily commute to Burbank and it is not going to be our toad.  Once the Seadoos are gone we'll have no towing needs and can figure out how to transport the trykes in the Tucson if needed.  We've narrowed down our toad choices to a Jeep or a Ford Escape.  Off-road capability is important to us as is decent MPG.  I'm leaning toward the Jeep Liberty for several reasons but have to be sure Bill can drive and ride comfortably (his height is an issue in the Tucson and we don't want to repeat that mistake).  While we really want a new motorhome, we will definitely get a used toad.  Getting it now means we can have it paid off before we hit the road.  I'd love the additional savings of getting rid of the Tucson now as well, but I'm not ready to give up that independence just yet!

So the knee surgery is off the list and recovery looks to be checked off ahead of schedule.  The holidays are just around the corner so we'll get some more family and friends time in before the end of the year.  In just six weeks we'll be able to say "next year" we're hitting the road - that sounds great!