Scripture for a knee replacement recovery

July 3, 2013 | My Jottings

Wednesday greetings, friends! I hope your week is blessed and that your coming weekend gives you some things to give thanks for.

I am now 23 days post op, my body is calling the shots like a drill sergeant, and I’m obeying. I actually have no choice. Most of the time my body says, “You have no plans today other than to lie in bed and get that knee up in the air on a pile of pillows with ice packs. Make breakfast and get meds ready if you must, get up to go to the bathroom, but that’s all you’ll be doing today.”

I have been discouraged a few times because even though everything has healed up well, there’s the overwhelming sensation of the tightest vice around my knee, making it difficult to bend. But bending it, doing those Hell Sleds, is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. My friend Gail, who is brilliant and kind and has her doctorate in Physical Therapy, showed me a new way to do Hell Sleds (Heel Slides) using a plastic grocery bag with handles, and that has made a huge difference.

I have had a day or three with energy to do laundry, make a short trip to the grocery store, cook a decent meal, but most days I do the minimum and make icing and elevating a priority. I’ve read online how common this vice-like feeling is for most knee replacement patients, and that has been truly helpful. To know that it might take a year to feel okay is daunting, but it’s also comforting since I know what I’m going through is pretty normal.

The other morning I was feeling a bit low and I was seeking God’s help and comfort, and He led me to a scripture that jumped out at me and made me cry and take hope all at once. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me these verses for my knee replacement recovery time, and I’ve memorized them and meditate on them often. This is from the ESV:

I also like these two verses in other Bible translations…the NIV says this:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.

And the Message says it this way:

I waited and waited and waited for God.
    At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
    pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
    to make sure I wouldn’t slip.

What’s really special is that my dear friend and knee surgery companion Su wrote those very same verses down the day before I did. So we’re thanking the Lord that we are walking (limping?) this parallel journey together.

Thank you for your prayers, dear friends and family. I’m praying for you as well….