I have been keeping many of my favorite inspirational quotes close by these past few weeks. Ones like 'Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.'-Carol Burnette; 'You must do the things you think you cannot do.'-Eleanor Roosevelt, and 'The greatest amount of freedom comes after the greatest amount of discipline'-Dr. Mary Hardwick, my college advisor.

Why, because it's been almost 6 weeks since I had my first knee replacement and I believe I am beginning to understand what people meant when they told me that I would have to work really hard in physical therapy and work really hard at being patient. I always thought of myself as a somewhat patient person, but I may have been mistaken.

As one of my friends reminded me, my knee didn't get this bad in a few weeks, it took years to deteriorate so while it won't take years to come back strong, it will take more than a few weeks. Every day I do exercises on the stationary bike, stairs, straight leg raises, and practice getting up from a chair using only my legs and not hanging on to anything, which isn't as easy as it sounds.

Everyone at physical therapy has been great and patient with me, but today they had to remind me to be patient with myself. This past week I have moved more than I have in the past month, started driving again and today I am having a hard time walking. Which reminds me of a saying that we've all heard, two steps forward and one step back.

I have to keep reminding myself that as long as I am making some sort of forward progress I will get there. I am moving in the right direction and it's okay to have a bad day. If you've ever had a joint replacement, please know that I am sending you the biggest hug right now!

More From WZAD-WCZX The Wolf