The first few months are rough.....I could not bend my knee hardly at all with the staples in and it pulled and hurt when I went to physical therapy. I used a walker for about 3 weeks and then graduated to a cane. Riding in the car was very uncomfortable as well for a while. I did however push myself and drove at 3 1/2 weeks. Be careful with the pain meds. I already have constipation issues and went 9 days with no bowel movement and did a bowel prep that my gastro called in for me. Thankful it worked within an hour and I was backed up to my distal colon (sp). I then used only Tylenol and muscle relaxers at night along with Gabapentin for nerve pain. It is a process and your physical therapist is your best friend and I believe in house therapy is the best. I did mine in late September however in March I started mowing my yard (43 minutes of nonstop walking), and am doing all I did prior to surgery except for getting up off the floor which is painful as I can't put much weight on my right knee. I recently went to Universal this past June and was walking 15-18,000 steps every day with my knee sleeve. Using a knee sleeve really helps me when I know I need to do lots of walking and was told as long as it didn't affect my range of motion it was ok. It's at 116. I suffered from lots of arthritis in my knee so I needed it and it was time. I"m being told that it can take for me longer than the year and hopefully the soreness and tightness will go away. You can do this just know it's a process. Make sure prior to surgery you have a walker, cane, higher toilet seat at home or get a raised toilet seat with handles on either side and a chair for the shower if you don't want to stand.