$140,083.96

I still have my 4 month check up visit coming up and my last physical therapy visit, but this is the grand total so far for 2 new knees.  WOW!  I'm sure there is all kind of social commentary that could be made about the cost of health care, blah, blah, blah.  I am very thankful for my husband's job and his medical insurance.  I have a lot of reasons to take care of my new knees, but now I have 140,000+ more.

In the best case scenario, my new knees should last about 20 years if I take care of them.  The analogy was made that my new knees are like a new car and a teenage driver.  If the car is driven reasonably and carefully, the car will last much longer than if  the car is driven "hard".  With my new knees, I cannot run.  Not a loss.  With my new knees, I cannot play basketball.  I'm too short anyway.  With my new knees, I cannot play singles tennis.  I can play doubles tennis, but I didn't do that anyway. Of course, contact sports are out, but I'm too old for those anyway.  So activity wise, my knees should last.


Now, the biggest problem as I see it--my weight.  I lost close to 18# before my surgery.  Immediately after my surgery I lost tons because I had no appetite.  But about 6 weeks after surgery, my appetite returned with a vengeance, and I catered to it since I had lost so much weight.  Now it's time to rein it in, and get back on the program.  I am back at Weight Watchers, and now everyone knows it, and I will be more accountable.  You see, in the past, joining WW was always something I did quietly.  That way, if I failed, no one knew it. I cannot believe I am going public with this, but maybe that's just what I need to do.  I really believe that with lifestyle changes over time, I can do this.  I also know that if my vigilance to good choices is meshed with real life, I will be more likely to stick to my weight loss goals.  Give me a couple of years because I have lots to lose and lots of life to live in the meantime.