The presurgical x-rays, “Showed tricompartmental changes and severe joint space narrowing. There were severe changes involving all compartments and knee joint is out of alignment.”
The orthopedic exam the day before surgery demonstrated that “gait was antalgic,” (a way of walking to avoid pain).
The surgeon’s operative report said, “There were severe changes involving all compartments.”
I decided to have my total knee replacement because I had not been able to walk without pain for nearly ten years. This past fall as friends, family and coworkers would tell me of the beautiful colors they had seen on their fall walks, I noticed that my body had a visceral pain response, and then my thought would always be, “I wish I could go for a walk outside without pain.”
This wish has not yet totally been granted because I still walk with some pain; but it is the soon-to-be-over postoperative pain, not the never-ending pain of an arthritic knee.
It struck me the other day as I was physical therapy exercises, that my knee was “new,” and I would have “new” opportunities because of it. I remembered my grandparents and other elderly people in the community where I grew up. Once they started to limp with a bad joint, they continued to limp with pain until the day they died. They did not get a chance for something “new.”
I am deeply grateful for the surgeons who have perfected surgeries like a knee replacement which can give someone a new chance in life. And I am deeply grateful for a Creator who has given us the chance to learn and excel in things like surgery, and a Creator who shares with human beings knowledge of the body. And I am deeply grateful that our human bodies are created in such a way that they can undergo an invasive procedure, adding new parts to our bodies, and then our bodies can heal. All of this really is a bit miraculous to me when I stop to think about it. And such redemption! The redemption of my leg to be able to walk again!
All of this reflection brings to mind one of my favorite verses from the Christian scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “So if anyone is in Christ, there is new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Now, I think we can be relatively certain that the Apostle Paul was not writing about knee replacements when he was writing this letter to the people of Corinth. In fact, for much of this chapter, Paul is talking about how we are not at home here in our earthly bodies, because our ultimate home is with God. And Paul is further encouraging us to look at one another with God’s eyes and see the new creation each one of us is! Finally, Paul urges that once we have seen each other with God’s eyes we work towards reconciliation with each other. (A much-needed thing in our world today.)
Thanks to a brilliant orthopedic surgeon, my knee has been made new.
But, in Christ I am a totally new creation – beautifully created, won at a price and ready to do the work of reconciliation. How about you?