By Dean Kelly

As I write this, I am exactly one week out from total knee replacement surgery. Some may ask, “What is the hardest thing about TNR recovery?”

Of course, there is the pain. You don’t have something that drastic done to your body without having to deal with pain. But though intense, that is not the hardest thing.

There is also the dependency you feel. If not for my wife, I don’t know what I would do during this recovery. Still not the hardest thing.

Further is physical therapy. The therapists don’t mess around with the work you have to do. I have fortunately been sent to a wonderful physical therapist in Luverne. She works me hard, but with a compassionate heart. It is hard, but not the hardest thing.

I could go on listing things, but instead I want to give my opinion of the hardest thing in TNR recovery: “Wait,” “Be patient,” “It will come.”

Waiting to see the improvements come to fruition is the hardest thing for me. We like instant results. We don’t like to wait. Actually, I think that waiting is the hardest thing in our lives.

In Psalms 27, David talks about this, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!“

So, I will do whatever is within my power to do to help my body heal. But ultimately, I will wait on the Lord, May God give me the strength and patience to successfully overcome, not only surgery, but all of life’s battles.

But, yes, waiting is the hardest thing.