My right knee was replaced seven years ago, so I had an idea what it entailed.

A plaque marks the door at Porky’s room at Westminster Canterbury, a retirement community with a rehabilitation center in Virginia Beach.

On Feb. 26, I had my left knee surgery and it went well. As of this writing, it has been approximately 90 days since the surgery. Each day it gets better and hopefully by the South Atlantic Well Drillers Jubilee in Virginia Beach, Va., I’ll be walking without the assistance of a cane.

Knowing that I wouldn’t do the required therapy at home, Bess had made previous arrangements with the rehabilitation center.

Four days after my surgery in the hospital I was transported by two ambulances to the Westminster Canterbury Rehabilitation Center. It only took one ambulance but due to my size it required four people … that was the reason for two ambulances.

Upon my arrival, again due to my size, they ordered me a large bed with a trapeze overhead. Once I was comfortable and secure, Bess left on a week’s getaway with a lady friend to North Carolina knowing that I couldn’t call her to get me out of the rehabilitation center.

Porky works on his physical therapy this spring after a second knee replacement. Source: Chris “Piglet” Cutter

Westminster Canterbury is a large retirement community in Virginia Beach with a rehabilitation therapy center. It’s well managed, has great personnel looking after the residents and the meals were great. However, due to my surgery, I wasn’t hungry and managed to lose more than 10 pounds.

The health care aides would congregate in my room when they were on break or not on duty to hear my stories.

The therapists were great and they had heard all the excuses the patients would give in an attempt to get out of the exercises. Believe me, I tried them all.

I was in the therapy center for two weeks then in outpatient therapy for another week.

I recommend that anyone having knee surgery, if they can, check into a qualified therapy center because, I promise, if they only do the in-home therapy patients won’t do the exercises required. People doing only the in-home therapy don’t recover as well or as fast.

 It has been about 100 days since the surgery and I’m walking with only a cane to gain confidence. Hopefully, soon I’ll be discarding that.