8 1/2 weeks after a total knee replacement I shoed up for the first time.
After going through a warm up and stretching a bit I began to "approach " the foul line. I was loose enough but in the back of my mind I could not imagine what it was going to feel like. Finally after about 5 minutes of trying to convince myself it was going to be ok, I picked up the ball and walked to the line and delivered the first ball in almost 9 weeks. The knee was a bit "shaky" when I went into the slide step, but it held and the ball came off my hand with ease. I continued to look down at the foul line in amazement, looking at the "new knee". I managed to bowl 1 full game without any pain or discomfort, my biggest fear was, fear itself. When I had finished I had 5-6 people behind me looking in amazement at what I was doing, most looking in disbelief, as they had seen me go from a walker, to cane, to hobbling, to limping and finally walking to jogging. I was most proud of the fact the first ball I through was a pocket shredding strike, from that ball until the end I began to believe this might have been a sound decision to have the knee replaced. Tonight I'll attempt to bowl 15 frames, as the upper thigh does not possess the strength needed to support my slim 243 pound physique.
