Week 4 Post-Surgery: Back on My Feet and Training the Future of My Business

It’s now been four weeks since my hip replacement surgery, and a lot has happened. The first two weeks after surgery, I shut the business down completely to focus on recovery—and to be honest, I had no choice. I wasn’t mobile enough to even think about pool work. But those two weeks of rest were critical.

The last two weeks, I’ve been back at it—but not alone. I brought on a new employee and started training him. His first week was rough: he had to drive the route and handle all the pool labor on accounts that hadn’t been touched in 21 days. That’s no easy task, especially in the Arizona heat.

During his second week, we focused on equipment training, water testing, and chemical balancing. It’s one thing to clean a pool—it’s another to understand what the water needs and how to keep everything running smoothly. He’s picking it up quickly, and I’m impressed.

For the next two weeks, he’ll be running the route solo. This will give me more time to heal and get back to doing what I can do—cleaning filters, tackling small repairs, and slowly building my strength. If all goes well, he may come back in August to help part-time.

I feel extremely fortunate. I’ve kept all my clients, I’m walking again without that constant pain, and I can see a path forward—not just for my recovery, but for the future of the business. This experience has reminded me that letting go and getting help isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a step toward growth.

More updates to come as I continue down this road to recovery and reinvention.