Onecompress

Never giving up

Denise and I have talked about selling our house. Not because we want to. We've lived here 34 years. Raised our kids here. I built the deck out back with my own hands. But our bedroom is upstairs. And my knees have gotten so bad that every night feels like climbing a mountain. I started sleeping on the couch a few months ago. Told Denise it was because I was watching TV late. But she knew. We both knew. I'm 67. I've had two arthroscopic surgeries. The doctors keep pushing me toward a full replacement but I've seen friends go through that. The recovery. The pain. The months of not being yourself. I wasn't ready to give up yet. My brother sent me a link to these bamboo knee sleeves. He's been wearing them for his own knees and wouldn't shut up about them. I figured what the hell. If they didn't work I'd just give him a hard time about it. First night I put them on, I noticed the pressure in my knees calm down within about 15 minutes. Not gone, but a lot better. The next morning was a big shock. I could bend my knees without that grinding feeling and I could get to the car without the horrible catching pain. After about two weeks of wearing them every night, I knew it was time to go back upstairs. Denise was already in bed reading. She looked up when I came through the door and started crying. I know she really missed me. I've slept in our bed every night since. The stairs aren't easy, but I don’t dread them and I can tell my legs are getting stronger again. I'm not selling this house. And I'm going to keep climbing those stairs every night no matter what.