We’ve officially hit week five of my total knee replacement recovery — and before I tell you where things stand right now, I want to take you back through the last three weeks. Not the polished, “look how strong I am” version. The messy one. Because if you’re going through this too, or thinking about it, I think you deserve honesty more than a highlight reel.
The Pain Is Loosening Its Grip (a Little)
Here’s the good news: the pain has started to back off. Just slightly. It’s no longer that constant, screaming presence it was during weeks one and two. I’ll take any win I can get right now, and this one counts.
But “a little better” is not the same as “good.” I’m still in pain. During weeks 3 and 4, the whole back of my leg was black and blue. It looked dramatic. Every time I caught a glimpse of it, I was reminded that my body was doing some serious repair work under the surface.
Sleep? What Sleep?
Let me tell you about my nights, I can’t sleep. Every single time I roll to one side or the other, it’s uncomfortable, and it hurts. I’m up and down all evening anyway, but the pain intensifies as the night goes on, and I stiffen up like a board. Between 4 and 5 AM, I have no choice but to get up. Lying there simply isn’t an option anymore.
Interrupted sleep, night after night, adds up fast. I’m exhausted.
The IT Band Saga and My CBD Experiment
From week 2 on, my IT band was absolutely killing me. That tight, angry band down the outside of my leg had a lot to say. The good news is it’s finally calming down.
What’s helping? My foam roller. I’ve been rolling it out to release some of that tension, and it’s made a real difference. I’ve also been stretching my hamstrings, trying to keep everything around my knee from locking up. I’ve also been applying Race Relief by TeamZealios.com. That’s been helping.
I gave CBD cream a solid try, hoping for some relief. Honestly? It didn’t do much for me. It felt more like a nice massage cream than anything with real pain-fighting power. Not knocking it for anyone else, but for me, the roller has done far more heavy lifting. It’s still painful, but much less than before. It’s more tender than anything else.
PT, Progress, and the “Am I Doing Too Much?” Question
Physical therapy is the center of my world right now. I’m biking for 30 minutes a day, which feels like a genuine milestone. And then there are the heel slides. If you know, you know. Those things are the worst. Necessary, but the worst.
Here’s where I got myself into trouble. I’ve been quietly obsessing over one question: what is too much?
At the beginning of week 3, I walked two miles and came home completely wiped out. So I asked my PT at Spear straight up: is riding for half an hour, walking a half mile, and doing 40 minutes of strength work every day too much? His answer was yes. Definitely too much.
His advice was smart, and I’m sharing it in case it helps you:
- Strength training 3 times a week (two of those being my sessions at Spear).
- Quad sets every single day and heel slides — non-negotiable (unless you are on a stationary bike, in which case you can eliminate the heel slides).
- On off days, focus on either the bike, the walk, or a brick if you feel up to it.
When I asked the surgeon’s office the same question, they said I wasn’t overdoing it. But here’s the thing my body keeps telling me: when I do too much, I feel it. I hurt more than usual. So I’m learning to trust that signal, even when the “official” answers don’t line up perfectly. Nobody knows your pain as you do.
What Do You Take for Pain?
When I left the hospital three weeks ago, I was given baby aspirin to take twice a day for 30 days and Meloxicam for the swelling. I was also given Tylenol 500 mg and Gabapentin (which I asked for because after the MISHA it helped at night; with the TKR, not so much). And, for pain, they gave me oxycodone.
I’m proud of this one. I’ve cut way back on the oxycodone. I’m down to once a day now, and I even had a few days where I took none at all. I’m really not concerned about getting addicted. I’m not sure how or why you would get addicted. It’s not like you feel high from it; at least I don’t. I do feel that it cuts the pain ever so slightly, and sometimes that’s all you need to get through the day.
How the MISHA Prepared Me for This
If you’ve followed my journey, you know this isn’t my first rodeo. I had the MISHA procedure before this, and my knee went numb afterward and never fully came back. This recovery feels like a continuation of that story.
In a strange way, I almost feel like the MISHA prepared me for this. Looking back, I think that experience may have actually been harder. I couldn’t ride a stationary bike for nearly six weeks with that one. This time, by week three, I was logging a half hour on the bike daily. That’s real, measurable progress, and comparing the two reminds me how far I’ve come.
The Part I Almost Didn’t Write
During weeks 3 and 4, I was feeling depressed. I know the finish line is closer than it’s ever been. But I miss my life. I want to get back to training and working out every morning. I know I’ll get there, but during those first four weeks, I felt like it would never happen again.
I knew depression was in my cards. So, before my surgery, I started 100 days of gratitude on Instagram, and it’s definitely helped.
Week 5 Update: Two Weeks Later, and I’m Still Learning
So here we are. It’s officially five weeks post total knee replacement surgery.
The pain hasn’t packed its bags and left. Not even close. There’s still significant pain in my knee, and the spot where the MISHA was is so tender it makes me wince. If you brush against it the wrong way, I feel it in my whole body. The IT band is still doing its thing too, chiming in whenever it feels ignored. So no, this isn’t the “all healed up” chapter I secretly hoped I’d be writing by now.
But there are shifts. Real ones.
Sleep is a little easier. Not good, but easier, and after those brutal early weeks I’ll happily take “a little easier.” Every time I move, I still hurt. The difference is the pain is quieter than it was. It’s more of a nagging companion now than the alarm bell it used to be. Progress, even the small kind, feels enormous when you’re living inside it.
Back in the Water (Finally)
Here’s the part that lit me up: I went open water swimming on Friday for the first time in a month.
It felt amazing. I can’t even fully explain what it did for my head. The water has always been my happy place, and getting back into it felt like reconnecting with a piece of myself I’d been missing. My body was gentle, my strokes were careful, but I was in it. And afterward, the hot tub felt just as glorious. That combination of open water and warm soak was exactly the reset I needed.
If you’re an athlete grinding through your own recovery, don’t underestimate what getting back to your sport, even in the smallest, slowest way, can do for your motivation. It reminds you who you are.
Walking More, One Step at a Time
I’ve been walking more too. It’s much easier in NYC, where flat sidewalks and the city’s steady rhythm keep me moving without thinking too hard. Long Island is a different story, but I’ve been getting out there as well.
Last week I walked five miles during the day. Five miles! I was so proud of myself in the moment.
And then I paid for it. Big time. The soreness that followed reminded me, again, that my body sets the terms right now, not my ambition. Ice has been my absolute best friend through all of it. That bag of frozen relief has earned a permanent spot in my recovery routine.
So I’m recalibrating. Again. Push a little, listen a lot, ice everything, repeat.
Where I’m Landing Right Now
If you’re recovering from a knee replacement, or any surgery that’s asking you to be patient with a body that used to just cooperate, I see you. This is hard. It’s okay to have the down days right alongside the wins.
I’m choosing to hold onto the small victories: the pain that’s easing, the indoor bike trainer I couldn’t ride last time, the oxycodone I’m slowly leaving behind, the open water I finally got back into, the five miles I actually walked. They’re proof the work is working, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
I keep telling myself that healing isn’t a straight line. Some days I actually believe it.
I’ll be back with another honest update soon. If you’ve been through this, please email me and let me know how you are doing. And if you’re just starting your own recovery, keep going. We’ll get there together.
