"Total knee replacement"

I was there to have full knee replacement, every thing went well as I had the op on Monday & was released Thursday, overall it was better than expected the staff were all willing to help and step in, the 1st day I arrived at 7:30am although the first point of contact was good I felt a little stranded after my wife was ask to leave at about 8am the next 2 hours I was sat in the bay with very little contact apart from the usual form filling in routines which was made a little more unsettling because the curtains remained drawn throughout, 10am it all started with walk to be annesthetized for the operation where the staff were brilliant, I had a spinal block which at first I was unsure of but the staff were constantly reassuring me of its effectiveness, they gave me a sedative which helped to keep me relaxed to the point were I had a good sleep almost right through the operation, I then spent a short time in recovery the staff were very attentive until I was transferred to ward 16 I was made to feel welcome from the start, the next 24 hours were probably the worst starting with the spinal block didn't wear off until about 6pm and it's a strange sensation as it wears off, but when it wore off completely the pain started which was intense, I had morphine available at the push of a button I did have a problem to start with but the staff worked really hard to get it sorted out & when it stared to work I was in a very comfortable place & was able to have top up every 10mins I didn't need any more from about 2pm, from getting to the ward there were lots of observations blood pressure heart rate temperature so not a lot of sleep even through the night, Tuesday lots of people coming to see me physio's doctors etc so no real chance of sleep, they got me out of bed in the morning right after breakfast then the physio's started they could have been a bit more humanitarian as they seemed to push a bit to hard, it probably would have been easier with a little encouragement instead of let's get to!!! all credit to them though after my complaint it got better and managed the requirements by the end of the day & was walking around with crutches, I could have been released on Wednesday but my knee was leaking so had to stay a further 24hours, the knee was still leaking but not as bad so we arrived to a plan which was if the dressing stayed reasonably dry I would be released with the district nurse to come and change my dressing daily, to sum it all up it is painful to start with but I was probably pain free within 48hours this is when I was just relaxing, there was pain when I had to work it and it's easy to stop at that point but you have to push through that not by much and it will feel better much faster, today is Friday and I have already walked without crutches around my home still supporting my self on the furniture & kitchen sides