I can’t kneel but I can underwater curtsy

I’m trying to adjust to a new knee… I really am.  But I am not liking all of the adjustments I have to make.

It’s been a little over 5 months since I had knee surgery/replacement and I am graciously thankful that the pain I dealt with for a long time is gone.   Granted, I still need to exercise daily to keep this new joint limber and working correctly, but I really needed to do that anyway.  The problem is dealing with new limitations.

Today I bought a sit-on garden cart.   It has four plastic wheels and a seat large and sturdy enough to sit upon (I hope).   When you work out in the yard and you are pulling weeds and cleaning out flower beds, you need to be down on your hands and knees.  Unfortunately that option is no longer available to me.  My surgeon/doctor advises strongly against it.   It puts too much weight and pressure on the artificial parts within, and  it doesn’t really feel good. (Yes I tried it…. I had to have proof!)

There are so many things that require me to get down on my hands and knees.   Gardening, weeding, cleaning up spills on the floor, trying to find out what I stored under the bed… the list goes on and on.   I am going to have to roll around my yard on my little garden cart and try to pull weeds, plant seeds, and pick green beans.  And then I am going to spray off my little garden cart, let it dry, and bring it in the house so I can clean up spills on the floor, wipe down my woodwork (occasionally), and maybe even peek under the bed.

The only thing that worries me, because I haven’t really tried it out yet, is the fact that my new little garden cart is only about twelve inches tall.   Seating myself  Plopping down, and I will be plopping down, on the seat may cause too much weight and pressure on the parts within (specifically the four little plastic wheels).   Equally disturbing is the thought of trying to stand up after being seated on my little cart for a while.  It’s not going to be pretty.  Graceful has never been a word used to describe me.  Or petite. Think about it.

On a positive note, I do feel quite graceful in my aquacize class three times a week.  I have even attended the water Pilates exercise a few times to strengthen my balance and my core muscles.   Despite how I might look trying to mount and dismount on my new garden cart, I look quite elegant as I delicately stand on one leg, swing the other leg out in a wide semicircle, and  do an underwater curtsy.  I seriously feel ballerina-ish.

Thank goodness there are no mirrors at the pool.

This is what I bought….

This is what I NEED…