The Things I Miss
I’ve been asking myself the same question as everyone else for the last several weeks.
When will things back to normal?
I miss going out to eat with my wife. I miss taking a stroll through the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with my family. I miss taking my kids to the Georgia Aquarium and watching them imagine what it would be like to be a fish. And although I’ve enjoyed getting out of bed one minute before church started and “attending” in my pajamas and being able to check my phone in the middle of the service, I do miss seeing and being with all of our friends.
Perhaps the thing I miss most of all is you. I miss meeting new patients in person. I miss doing hip and knee replacement surgeries, mostly because I know how much osteoarthritis can hurt. I miss seeing people get their lives back.
I have gotten back to working in the office as of May 4, but everything is different.
And I keep wondering, when will this virus go away? When will things simply go back to normal?
Sadly, the only answer I can come to is that things are not going back to exactly the way they were any time soon.
The New Normal
At first the idea of not going back to normal is discouraging. I have been amazed, however, at how we have all adjusted. We have started finding ways to exist within this new world. We wear masks when we go out in public. We are more than happy to order dinner online and pick up at the curbside. We understand that grocery shopping will take much longer than it used to. We even accept that we may have to wait in line before we are even allowed to go in a store.
Instead of going back, because we can’t, we have all accepted a new normal and have been forced to completely change outlives.
The New Normal for Those with Osteoarthritis
This experience with Covid-19 reminds me of what life is like for those who suffer with pain caused by osteoarthritis. Life used to be “normal.”
- You used to be able to walk as far as you wanted and without resting.
- You used to be able to play as much golf or tennis as you wanted without pain.
- You used to be able to go on trips and actually enjoy them.
- You used to be able to stand up after sitting for long periods of time without stiffness.
But then things changed. Osteoarthritis developed in your hip or your knee and you had to let go of the things you used to enjoy. An unwanted “new normal” took over.
Joint Replacement: The new, new normal
Whenever I perform hip and knee replacement on those who suffer from osteoarthritis, I get to watch them find a new, “new normal.” When you understand what osteoarthritis is, joint replacement surgery makes sense. (To read more about osteoarthritis, click here.) Patients go from a worn out, bone-on-bone surface to an artificial one, and they experience new changes in their lives.
Instead of giving up on being active, they increase their activity. Instead of staying at home, they plan trips and explore the world. Instead of watching others do things they used to enjoy, they engage life once again. Instead of saying no to friends and family when they are asked to do things, they start saying yes.
They start saying yes to life once again.
While joint replacement does not make the hip and knee completely normal, it can change the joint for the better, creating a new, new normal. It can give patients who suffer a new lease on life.
Most patients enjoy this new, new normal. Most wonder why they ever waited. Most start looking to the future, instead of looking behind.
Do you suffer from osteoarthritis of the hip or knee? To learn more about your options to get your life back and discover a new, new normal, make an appointment with Dr. Statton.
