How I Prepared for TJR

As soon as I got the call from my OMS in August saying the FDA chose me for titanium implants, I began to prepare. 

For whatever reason, I am terrible at math yet excellent with money.  I began looking at my insurance to figure out deductibles and max out of pocket.  In fact, I called the insurance company several times to make sure I understood everything. 

As soon as I was sure of the cost, I began putting money aside from each paycheck.  If that meant not going out one weekend, I didn’t go out.  I knew I needed to create a financial plan.

Because I am in a single income household and have no children, I recognized I needed to be smart when it came to my bills.  Many people told me that recovery would take between three months and a year.  With this in mind, I made a list of my monthly bills and guestimated how much I would spend in three months.  Then I created a budget, and began paying off three months of each bill.  This includes house and car payments.  Trust me, all this budgeting is not easy, but for me it was necessary.  If you have a family, this could be challenging. 

As a teacher, I am fortunate to have vacations throughout the year.  When my implants where made and the office knew the date of arrival, they told me when they scheduled the procedures.  I didn’t have a choice in the date; however, it was close to the end of the school year, which would give me plenty of time to heal.

Here is how else I prepared for the surgery:

*I created freezer smoothie packs for after surgery (only to find that I don’t like sweets any more and never drank them-lol)

*I bought soft foods

*dry shampoo (I never used it)

*baby spoon (I never used it)

*button up shirts

*a small dry erase board

*a baby toothbrush (I never used it)

*I also have a cat, so I bought a 3-month supply of wet food, litter, dry food, and his arthritis medicine. (I also paid for a pet sitter to come and spend time with him the week I had surgery and administer his daily arthritis meds)

*I bought a 3-month supply of household items (toilette paper, deodorant, papertowls, etc).
*I paid for Netflix (what a lifesaver)

Creating and sticking to a budget can be arduous, but it was necessary for me to feel secure after the surgery.