It might look silly but ......

It might look a bit silly but it is giving me relief. I am wearing my neoprene back support wrapped around my knee. It falls down when I walk as it isn't meant for this use but the warmth I am getting from it is really helping. I am now going to order a proper neoprene knee support. I was going to wait until I saw my knee specialist but I can't hobble around in pain for another 4 weeks.

I saw the knee support that I am going to order online on a Bupa site which also had a few interesting facts about arthroscopy that I had never been told after my operation. These are some of the instructions to patients according to Bupa:-

First this
You can exercise to strengthen your upper body before the operation. This will help you to get around after the surgery when using walking aids such as crutches. - I never got told or given anything to aid my walking around. Crutches etc were never even mentioned.

Then this
You may need someone to help during the first few weeks after surgery. It's a good idea to arrange to have a friend or family member stay with you for a couple of weeks after the operation. - I got told have someone there the night of my operation then resume my normal life. They know that I live alone.

And this
It's a good idea to prepare your home for when you return from hospital. This may involve rearranging furniture to make it easier to move around and placing commonly used items at arm level so you don't have to reach for them. It's also a good idea to stock up on non-perishable food such as frozen or tinned items, so that you don't need to go shopping immediately after your surgery. - I just walked up the village for shopping as no-one told me differently.

Finally
To begin with you will need to take it very easy. You will need to do exercises at home for about two weeks and then you should be able to start gentle exercise such as walking.You should be able to return to your usual levels of activity after three to eight weeks. - No wonder I have been in pain I have been walking around doing shopping and walking the dog the weekend that I had him!

It would have been helpful if the NHS had given me a list of things like this instead of just telling me to go home and resume my normal life after a couple of days! Then at least I would have known what to expect. I have probably done myself harm doing all the activities that I have been doing over the last 6 weeks.

I don't have a photo to show you of the black 4 ply cardigan as I had forgotten just how long it takes to make 2 borders and a neckband all in UK double crochet. I still have the buttons to stitch on after I have done the picot edging. I hope that the day is brighter tomorrow as trying to photograph black in the gloom isn't easy.