Fortunately, I had nearly a month to prepare my house for my recovery. I obtained all the necessary equipment (walker, cane, bath bench, etc.), laundered and removed all the throw rugs, and made sure I could move about my house with the walker when I returned from the hospital. I practiced using all the devices and found what did and did not work. By practicing, I found obstacles that would have been frustrating to handle after the surgery and devised ways to eliminate or reduce the problem areas. For example, the bathroom doorway was not wide enough for the walker with the door in place, so I took the door off the hinges and stored it in the guest bedroom. My hairdresser loaned me a device with handles that slipped under the sofa cushions. It would allow me to safely get up off of the sofa. Even though the device was adjustable, my sofa was still too low to allow me to stand without bending my operated knee. I had to find a way to raise the sofa. Since my sofa ...
