New Year--New Knees

New Knees

If you are one of my blog followers, you may wonder why I've not posted anything for 3 months. My answer is simple--new knees. Two days after Christmas, I checked into the hospital to have double knee replacement. Both of my knees were at the bone-on-bone stage.

If you are not interested in the knee experience, feel free to skip down to my Art Life portion.

Did I know what I was in for? Not really, but I knew the recovery from knee surgery took at least 6 weeks until becoming very active, and more to be fully recovered. So I made the choice to have both done and only wipe out a couple of months rather than four to six months. I've also heard of people chickening out on the second knee. Yikes!!

Anyway, I did learn quite a bit the first 3 days in the hospital. You know how medical folks ask you about your pain level 1 to 10? Well, I really never knew what pain was until they forced me up on my legs after surgery! Definitely that was a 10 plus!! Also I was relieved to spend a third night in the hospital. Why you ask? I was so thankful for a bedpan in the middle of the night because getting up on my legs was soooo difficult and painful. TMI? The day you are happy to have a bedpan is one of life's lower points, LOL.

I am not sorry that I chose to do both knees at once. After a week, I was able to begin more exercise and slowly gain muscle strength. What is essential in this process is someone to be an ultimate caregiver, which my husband was. He really stepped up his nursing skills to help me through the hardest parts, then feed and entertain me. Now that I am two and a half months post surgery, I am fully independent and beginning to return to my "real" life. In late February I even drove myself to Portland and taught a three day workshop, which had been the huge goal pushing my recovery.

Art Life

So as I sat in a recliner icing my knees by the hour and day, I began to worry that my art life was slipping away. Yes, I had a workshop to teach (fingers crossed my recovery would allow), but I was not in my studio creating new pieces.

Three great things happened over this time--My piece "Her Future?" piece accepted into the Expressions West Exhibition in Coos Bay by juror Geoff McCormack,

"Teach Me: Niger" was juried into the Watercolor Society of Oregon's Spring show by juror Jean Pederson,

And one of my favorite paintings, "Heron's Winter Dreams" was purchased by a couple who had been attracted to it for a year or more and finally gave it its forever home.

So you really can take a couple of months break and an art life can continue!

Up next: my workshop at Oregon Society of Artists.