Working with Your Titanium Knee . . . on a Surfboard

This session was nothing special. Somehow it was both flat and closed out at the home break. No, I'm not joking. Not much was going on in the water, but when something would roll through every so often, it would meander through slowly and then fold over all at once near the shore. Those aren't the best conditions.

I really didn't care. I wanted to surf. I've been skating a lot and working a little. Both have kept me out of the water.

So, I paddled out. The picture shows me on my first wave. It appears that I'm crouching with both legs when, in fact, one leg is bent and the other—the one with the titanium joint—is resting on the board. I don't know where I came up with this position. However, it works for me. The replaced knee is allowed to take a breather while my other leg does the bulk of the work in keeping my body low. This is truly significant, if only to show that you learn to work with your prosthetic joint. Not long after my return to surfing after the knee replacement surgery, I worried about not being able to get and stay low on the board. Eventually, I let the concerns go. I was so relieved to be surfing again that I stopped sweating the small stuff.

Well, it appears that I've slowly begun to figure out what works. If I'm ever paying enough attention to notice a small tube that might present itself in front of me, I now know how to, in essence, assume the position. Of course, I seem never to notice the little barrels. I've seen more than a few shots of me looking down the line and totally oblivious to the fact that a lip was throwing right behind me. This is the story of my life. That lip is always where I'm not looking!!

Alright! I've done my knee replacement pep talk for today. You can still surf after a knee replacement. Really. You can do it. Do be scared. There's no way to talk you out of the fear. Just know that the future holds many wonderful things once you have your joint replaced.

Make the drop, eyes wide open.