What will the initial period after surgery be like?
Painful and uncomfortable. Depending on your doctor, you may be using a polarcap knee icer, a continuous motion, and probably some pain-killing drugs in the early period of your recovery. My doctor prescribed vicodin, which I took the first night to help sleep. I don’t like the way drugs feel, and the pain was not especially bad for me, so I didn’t take any after the first night. The Polarcap is a small ice chest with a cooling unit, a pump and tubes that lead to a pad that fits around your knee. You fill it up with crushed ice and some water, and plug it in as you lay in bed or on the couch. It circulates ice water around the joint, reducing swelling. My wife took a couple of days off work to help out, then I was on my own while she was at work and the kids were at school. When the ice ran low, I would have to get up on my crutches, slide the cooler like a bowling ball into the kitchen, fill it with ice, then shove it back and hobble my way back to the couch. More difficult to deal wi
