Looking back a year after my total knee replacement, what have I learned? I realise I’m fortunate. I didn’t have a terminal illness or a long term chronic condition but end stage arthritis in one knee that could be fixed. Before the operation, my world had narrowed and now it has widened out again and
Knee
Month 8 after the TKR
Having shingles had put me back completely in my rehabilitation from my total knee replacement seven months ago. It was now February and it felt as if I had gone backwards in my fitness since the New Year. It felt dispiriting but I managed to make the most of the unexpected weather by walking over
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Knee
Month 7 after the TKR
January started so well. The New Year meant that my total knee replacement felt further away as it was now ‘last year’. On the first weekend of the year, I went for a Sunday afternoon walk on the North Downs, walked up St Martha’sHill and tested out my knee on a sandy path which had
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Food
Autumnal food
As the weather changed, I couldn’t just fling a salad on the table and be done with it, although I did try my best. This pear, Gorgonzola and walnut salad is one of my absolute favourites. Pear, walnut and Gorgonzola salad A variation with more autumnal fruit is this one of figs, grapes and dolcelatte.
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Recipes
Fruit salads
It’s hardly a recipe but a fruit salad is the easiest pudding as there isn’t any cooking. It is a fact universally acknowledged in our household, that if I say, there’s the fruit bowl for pudding, no one is that interested. But if the fruit is cut up and arranged prettily on a platter, then
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Knee
Rehab Week 5
This week’s progress led me further afield. It was time to go out for a walk on my own as all the walking I had done so far outside had been with a friend or with my husband. He was a comforting, strong and safe presence. It felt strange that I had to summon up courage
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Food
Simple food
I had to change the way I cooked after my total knee replacement and it would be the same after any operation. You have to cope with pain and fatigue but at the same time, feed yourself and maybe cook for others too. It really doesn’t have to be complicated. One evening, we had this ciabatta
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Food
Entertaining
After my total knee replacement, it was really important for me to have friends around. I enjoyed my lunch dates and then later on, when I was feeling less tired, having people round for dinner. I didn’t want to feel isolated; I wanted to chat, to hear news, to gossip and what better way to do
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Food
Summer salads
The weather was too hot for cooking so there was much salad to be had. I was the lady who lunched and invited friends round to keep me sane and to keep me company as I recuperated. This is all easy food that I could make quickly but looked fresh, pretty and inviting. The theory