Day 14 — Recovery Day 13 | Thursday, August 13, 2026

“Well, hello everybody; this is day 13, thirteen days out from surgery, and it’s been a decent day. I’d say it’s very stiff at the start, then it loosens up, gets stiff again, pain throbs, pain subsides, throbs again — pain throughout the day. But overall, yeah, definitely making gains.

Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to rehab, soft tissue, and stretching. Clint, our physical therapist, came again today. I’ve upped his visits to four days a week now. We’re doing Monday and Tuesday back-to-back, Wednesday off from Clint (though not really off, since sweet Shannan will be cracking the whip making sure I sweat and bleed — she likes that), and then Thursday and Friday back-to-back again.

When Clint’s here, I make great gains, and then toward the evening when things stiffen up, Shannan takes over. She’ll get me on the therapy table and run me through the same paces Clint does. She watches everything he does, then steps in whenever she sees me not walking right or stiffening up. She’s really, really good — awesome, actually. I’ve got a great caretaker, a great full-time nurse, and I’m very thankful for her. It’s been great.

It’s been a great 13 days. Clint will be here tomorrow at 11:30, but today was good overall. I was stiff from the day before, stiff in the morning, stiff a lot of the time, and I want you all to remember I was never flexible in my life. I mean, maybe when I was playing AYSO as a 12-year-old, but not in high school, not in college — I was always the least flexible athlete on any team I’ve ever been on. Ever.

So for me to start where I started was no surprise, with an extension of -30 going into surgery and now fighting this battle every day to get it down to zero is going to be a real fight. However, I know that’s the victory that is going to make this knee great for the rest of my life, and these first eight weeks in particular are where I can make my gains and win that war.

Every day has its ups and downs, but come on, the downs really aren’t that bad. I’ve got an iKnee in me, not a total knee. I’ve still got all my own anatomy. What a beautiful experience. But the pain is real, the throbbing is real, so we’ll keep going from there. Still taking the antibiotic, still on the Journavx, still on the aspirin, still taking Percocet when I need it, and I’ll keep stretching and moving and grinning and bearing it, right?

Things are great. I had another good therapy day today, and great strides. Swelling has gone down in the thigh. The skin is looking better around the incision on the inside, medial side, where there might’ve been a little cellulitis starting — we nixed that with the Keflex. Still wearing the compression socks, but everything’s now localized down into the distal quadriceps, the muscle right above the knee. The calf has always felt fine. The IT band is tight, the quad is tight, the hamstrings are tight, the glute is tight.

All of that is working itself out with therapy and massage. Other than that, things are looking good, and I’m looking forward to getting up those stairs, getting a great night’s sleep, and hitting it again tomorrow.

You guys have a good night, and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye-bye.”

– Eric Hansen (iKnee Patient One)

For more information about the iKnee, check out iorthopedicsinc.com.