"Stretching"

It's funny how my exercises are labeled as stretching. I mean... really... when was the last time you had to stretch in order to bend your knee?

Anyways... I've been making continued progress (praise God!) and they took away my CPM machine because it only helps to about 120 degrees.

On Thursday I was at (drumroll please)

125 degrees!

Three days before that I was at 117.

In the past the progress was at about 1 degree a day. This is 2 or 3 per day!

Also, last week I finally was able to peddle all the way around on the bike. Up until then I would just go about half way creating sort of a half-circle because I couldn't bend my knee enough to make it the whole way up and around.

Oh, and I'm crutchless!

So, I try to bike every day at home now. That seems to really help loosen things up.

Then I sit on the floor and pull on my ankle to stretch as far as I can go.

Here is what I did tonight.

I have a very curious helper.

I haven't bent this far since December 16th!

Hopefully I will be saying the same thing every day from here on out.

Right now I'm trying hard to work on the bending and not worrying a whole lot about strength. The bending is what will prevent the scar tissue from forming again. I've already had a sick feeling that it may be forming. The one P.T. assistant even said that he felt the same way.

My itchy leg finally resolved itself, but now I have an iritation on the knee. It is small and doesn't bother me at all, but it looks like blisters. Actually, it looks exactly like poison.

The therapist recommended that I try not to wear jeans... ok???

Tomorrow I see the doc again.

I have a feeling that he will be very happy with the bending progress, but maybe not so much with the strength. Oh well. I'm happy with things and I'm finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Roller Coaster

It's been 2 weeks now since the surgery to remove scar tissue.

Things were great for a couple days after the surgery and then all of a sudden the muscles tightened.

I went from bending it 130 degrees down to 80.

My physical therapist said the muscles were spasming. He seemed frustrated about it and that didn't help me any because I was already getting frustrated. It was all very discouraging.

Then about a week after surgery I saw my doc for a post-op appointment and he prescribed a muscle relaxer which I took 3 times a day.

It didn't seem to help.

Back to sleepless nights only this time I could actually roll over. But that was also the problem. Every time I roll over I engage the quad muscle which causes a pain flare that doesn't want to calm down.

Finally on Monday I noticed that I was able to bend it a little easier. My therapist noticed that too. It wasn't that I could bend it any farther, but just easier and with less resistance. I also saw my doctor again on Monday and he was pretty frustrated that the muscle relaxers didn't fix the problem, so he suggested that I taper off of them to see if they are really helping at all. So I started taking just one before bed.

The past two days I've noticed continued progress and I'm now up to 110 degrees on the CPM.

Oh, and here is a picture of the CPM.

I'm attributing the progress to a new stretch that I started doing on Sunday where I sit on the edge of the bed and let my leg dangle.  I try to get it to relax down to 90 degrees. Then I lay back on the bed which stretches the quads farther (without bending the knee farther) because of the way they attach to the hip. I usually lay there for a good 15 minutes. I like to do this at least 3 times a day.

Also, my leg has been really itchy. From the mid-thigh to mid-calf.

It is so annoying!

I had a dream last night that I was scratching my leg and then I woke up and sure enough!

I was scratching my leg!

I wrapped it with an ace bandage and that helped the itch for the rest of the night.

I remember an itchy rash after the first surgery, but that only lasted 3 or 4 days.

This isn't even a rash.

It's nothing!

Just an itch.

And it's been there for at least 10 days now.

Grrrrr. . .

The ups and downs have made the last 2 weeks seem like 2 months!

But at least I'm making some progress now.

Success!

Summary: The surgery yesterday went great!

It was at the surgical center at my doctor's office and not the hospital, so it was smaller and more relaxed. I loved the nurse that did all my prep work.

He started my IV and was looking all over for a good vein. I warned him that he wouldn't have a lot of luck. That led into a conversation about "the bigger the man, the bigger the baby."

The anesthesiologist came to talk with me and I made sure that I wasn't getting a block.

I told him all about my issue with the last block and he was quite interested, saying that it's very rare for that to happen. He seemed to think that it was caused from the tourniquet (yes, I had to look up how to spell that) that they put around my thigh during surgery. That maybe a vein stayed pinched. Sounds logical to me.

I was able to see my doctor before the surgery this time.

Actually I did the last time too except I didn't remember any of it because it was after the anesthesiologist did his work on me.

He was running a little late, so he actually came in to see me with his jacket still on, looking like any Joe Shmoe off the street.

He reviewed with Micah and I everything that he planned on doing and signed my leg.
Did I ever mention he's the best?

I then went to the operating room and all the nurses introduced themselves and they moved me to the table. Then my anesthesiologist rushed in saying "I wanted to give her something before she had to go through all this." I guess he thought I'd be nervous wreck being in there.

I told him, "It's ok. I'm cool."

And that's the last thing I remember.

I woke up feeling sooooo tired and nauseous. Why can't they let me sleep?!

I had some pretzels and ginger ale and within 20 minutes I was up on crutches.

A therapist came and spent about 5 minutes with me, bending my knee to around 130 degrees!

I was about 95 before the surgery.

Quad strength diminishes very quickly with a surgery, but I was able to hold my leg up.

Micah said that after the surgery my doctor came out to talk with him. The doc told him that during surgery the first thing he did was bend my knee and he hit that "wall" that I was always hitting at around 95 degrees.

I had been concerned that he was going to bend it all the way to my butt with no problem and that he would determine that it was all a psychological issue.

Thankfully that was not the case.

With a lot of pressure he said it popped and cracked and crunched.

Scar tissue.

He broke it up by pushing it through that "wall."

Next he went in with the scope into the same two small incisions from before.

He cleaned out all the scar tissue and then checked the ligament that he added in the last surgery to make sure that it wasn't too tight and adding to the problem.

He said that the ligament looked great. (YAY!)

After stitching me up he bent the leg again, going all the way to my butt without any problems.

When we left the surgical center I got into Micah's truck and noticed that it was actually easier to get into then it was before the surgery. Because the leg was bending so easily.

A couple hours after we got home the "Roger's Cocktail" that he injected into my knee for numbing (in replace of the full leg block) started to wear off.

I was feeling a little pain just in time for the CPM machine to arrive. I'll talk about that and put up some pictures in the next post.

Later in the afternoon the nausea got the best of me.

But as usual, I felt a lot better afterwards.

Poor Micah was in the bathroom waiting to get into the shower when it all went down.

That evening I noticed that there was really no pain in the knee.

It was all in the quads. I guess since it hasn't bent that far since December.

They are on fire! I have no idea how I'm going to make it through physical therapy today. Maybe I'll take some oxycodone before I go. Oh yeah, he prescribed me oxy. I only took it twice so far and made it through the night without it. :)

All is vanity says the preacher

It is nearly 4 months post-op.

And tomorrow morning I go back. I'm really hoping that it is filled with scar tissue.

Because if it isn't... then I don't know what.

Tonight Micah and I went out for awhile, stopping at Walmart and Lowes and then dinner and a movie. It was difficult to just walk around the big stores. The knee would really start to bother me and I would be SO ready to leave the store... and then we still had to all the way to the truck.

I found myself getting really excited for the surgery.

Thinking "wow, after tomorrow things won't be like this anymore."

And that's when I catch myself.

Putting faith in a surgery.

Since all this started I've learned a lot.

I've learned...

It's ok if I don't get to 3 different grocery stores to find the best deals.

Dinner can wait a few minutes while I read a book to Elliot.

A phone call can mean SO much! (Thanks Kendra!)

But more than that I've learned that this too shall pass.

What is this little speck on the timeline of eternity?

It shall come and go and soon I'll be telling grand kids about it.

I'll be telling them that God speaks to us in mysterious ways.

That sometimes we must be brought low in order to look up.

I'll tell them that praising Him in the bad times brings him more glory then praising him in the good times.

I've also learned that I'm vain. So much is vain.

I put so much thought and time into such petty and temporary things.

And what do they amount to?

NOTHING!

What are they on the eternity timeline?

NOTHING!

And yet the temptation is there.

Every day.

Do I look nice enough?

Are my clothes fashionable?

Does the house look outdated?

Do we need more flowers in the landscaping?

Does so-and-so think I'm a dork?

What do others think of my mothering skills?

Goodness sakes alive! How do we not all go insane?

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.

14 Weeks - More Surgery

Today I went back to see my doctor basically to see if the brace thinga-ma-jig is working. Which we kinda decided that it isn't.

He told me a story about another patient who had the same surgery and the same mobility problems. Ended up she had tons-o scar tissue.

So he thinks that that may be my problem also.

After checking my range of motion and watching my leg shake like CRAZY as I tried to bend it down from an outstretched position we decided that we are going to do surgery.

So, yes, most likely it is scar tissue, but it could also be that the MPFL tendon that he added is too tight.

He told me that I would have a femoral block again, but I asked that we not do that. My toes are still tingly from the last one. It was sooooo frustrating to not be able to cover up that foot at night or put a sock on it or even let anything touch it AT ALL!

He will first "manipulate" my leg... I take this to mean that he will test the range of motion and see how far it go while I'm out. He expects that it will bend farther, but with clicks and such as it passes through the scar tissue. Then he will open up the two small incisions from before and insert the scope to see whats going on in there. Hopefully he finds scar tissue and is able to remove it all. Then he will look over at the tendon to see if it is too tight. If so, he will cut it to release tension and he may have to open up the side incision to do that. Then I get stiched back up.

It's that simple.

The procedure will be done at his office and not at a hopsital. Immediately after the procedure a physical therapist will work with me and Lord willing I will be able to bend my leg much farther than I can now. I will come home that same day and continue with therapy appointments every day for a week.

He also ordered a CPM machine for me. Which is another thinga-ma-jig.

Basically it is the same as the thingy that I have now only it is motorized. I will only get this if insurance covers it because it is "ridiculously expensive" according to my doctor's assistant.

We didn't talk about pain meds except that I'm not having the block... I'm not really sure what I want. The oxycodone was wonderful at helping me deal with pain, but I love food.

And the oxy completely destroyed my appetite. Except for water. I didn't even want chocolate!

Pain or food. Pain or food. Pain or food.

Tis a difficult decision.

13 Weeks - Brace Thinga-ma-jig

Well, my brace thingy came on Wednesday.

A representative came to the house and taught me how to use it. He put it on my leg and tightened it until I felt a slight stretch.

Then we waited.

He said that after 5 minutes the stretch would release and then I could tighten it a little more until I felt a stretch again.

It never released.

He left the house and now I use this thing for about 15 minutes at a time, twice a day.

I called my physical therapist and asked him about it. (I haven't been to P.T. for a couple weeks now.) He said that basically we are retraining the muscle to know that it is "OK" to be in this position. I told him that after 15 minutes it feels worse then when I started, so he said to take it off for a few minutes and then put it back on for another 15.

Beautiful!

I haven't notice progress yet. My doctor wants me to give it 5 days. The rep. said to give it a month or so. The therapist said a couple weeks.

I go back to the doc on Thursday which will be about a week after I started using this torture machine.

If he doesn't see progress he most likely will want to schedule surgery.

We shall see.

11 Weeks

Physical therapy sessions have dwindled down to just once a week because my insurance only covers 15 sessions. I have two left before we start paying for them.

At the beginning of last week he order the brace machine thingy to help me bend. It still hasn't arrived.

On Friday at P.T. he started a massage technique to relax the quads. It actually really helped. I was able to bend a couple degrees more and it didn't feel like such a terrible stretch. He said that I can continue doing a deep tissue massage before stretching every day, so that's what I did over the weekend.

Then I noticed that I wasn't feeling a stretch, but more like a wall.

Usually I bend and start to feel a stretch in the front of the knee as I near 85 degrees. But since hitting 90 degrees I don't feel a stretch anymore.

I feel a wall.

It just won't go any further.

Today I had an appointment with my doctor and I knew going in that we were going to talk about surgery - just to see why it won't bend. He had me bend it and noted the lack of progression. Then he asked me to relax the knee, so that he could do the bending for me. He agreed that it felt like I was "hitting a wall" at 90 degrees.

He is definitely ready to do surgery very soon... he actually made it sound like he doesn't expect the brace thingy to work and seemed like he would prefer to just schedule the surgery today, but I requested that we wait and see how the brace thingy works first.

I go back to see him in two weeks and he expects to schedule the surgery that day... I'm praying that something will loosen up in there and we won't have to do that, but if I don't make progress I'm more than ready to go back under the knife to see what's going on.

Cortisone

Today I went to see my doctor because my therapist wanted me to have a cortisone shot. Things have been very slow with progress and he throught that the cortisone would give me the boost that I need.

I was quite prepared for the worst because my oh-so-caring brother warned of how incredibly painful it is and how my entire day and following day would be ruined.

I politely thanked him. ;)

As a matter of fact... I felt nothing.

Probably because that side of the knee is still completely numb, but I think they also applied a topical numbing agent.

7 Hours later... I'm not noticing any change yet.

We talked about my current state of improvement or lack thereof.

He is quite concerned.

In the middle of the appointment he left the room to go talk with my therapist (who is next door down the hallway). They agreed to order one of those braces for me that helps me to slowly bend my knee further and further as I am comfortable.

After that he talked about how my quads are locking at times and won't allow my knee to bend. He said that I'm subconsciously protecting the knee and that we just have to retrain the muscles.

I reminded him that its not about just retraining the muscles because of surgery, but going all the way back to the injury a year ago. I was never able to get to the point where I trusted my knee, so we have to undo a year of bad habits. :/

He commented on the possibility that something is wrong inside there and.....

(drumroll)

We may have to go back into surgery, so that he can check things out.

We didn't talk about what that surgery would entail. In two weeks I will see him again to check on any improvement. I believe that at that time we will or will not talk about details of surgery. All depending on improvement.

9 Weeks: Back to therapy

I went back to therapy on Tuesday after a 2-week break. Bending is now at 80 degrees... I was expecting it to be a little farther.

I started a few new exercises.  One of them being the treadmill... backwards. Yes, I walk backwards on the treadmill.

Yesterday's appointment showed no improvement, so we talked about a brace that I could put on when I'm sitting down. The brace has a mechanism that I can crank and slowly it bends my leg. I bend it as far as I can without causing pain and stay in that position for 5 or 10 minutes. Then I crank it a little more (like a degree at a time) and stay there for another 5 or 10 minutes. I continue to do this for as long as I want, so this is something that I could do at work or while watching a movie.

I guess my therapist is going to talk to my doctor about this option.

I just got a call from my doctor's assistant. She said that she received an email from my therapist requesting a cortisone shot for me, so I will go in on Tuesday to have that done.

I have less than 2 weeks of therapy left (that insurance will cover). I don't feel like that is enough time at all, but I am, however, getting to the point where progress should speed up a little. And hopefully that cortisone shot will make a big difference too.

Yesterday I tried driving for the first time. I could drive completely normal except I needed a little help from my left foot to depress the break peddle all the way.

Hah... I just realized that in a couple days will be a year since I injured the knee. An entire year of limping. I'm going to need to see a chiropractor after I'm through with this!

8 Weeks: Puerto Rico

We just returned from our vacation to Puerto Rico.

LOVED IT!

The waves were pretty rough at most of the beaches, so I was unable to get into the water.

Then we found Crash Boat Beach.

As you can see the waves toward the pier were a little bigger than the waves on the right.  I found the calmest area to get in and with a little help from Micah I got out far enough to float around on a boogie board. After 3 days of just sitting on the beach and watching Micah snorkel getting in the water was such a treat!

After awhile I got brave.

I started timing the waves so I could go up over them at their highest point.

Micah stood a few steps back and enjoyed being pummeled by them.

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

And then I miss-judged a wave.

It plowed into me and I was tossed around under water. I tried to stay limp except for my right leg, keeping it stiff and directed away from the bottom.

I started to get up... and then inevitable happened.

I got hit by another one.

And then another.

Thankfully nothing bad happened to my leg, but because I only had the one leg to support me every time I tried to stand up I was easily knocked down again. I have a nice scratch on my back and on the back of my arms from being drug along the bottom.

We were only there for 5 days, but we did a lot!

We saw whales.

Went to 5 different beaches.

Micah got stuck in a current and almost drowned.

Micah left the rental car keys in his pocket and got into the ocean.  The computer chip in the key was ruined and therefore would not start the car, so we had to call Avis who did NOT have a spare key (what?) so we had to call a tow truck. (FUN)

We ate.

A lot.

(Almost every restaurant was open to the outside)

And now that we are back I realize that I made a lot of progress while on vacation.

I'm not sure if it was the climate or the hot tub, but I can bend my knee further.

Maybe another 15 degrees further than before.

I was walking around a lot without any crutches. Obviously I was very slow and limping severely, but I was walking!



7 Week Re-check

Today I went back to see my doctor.

The good news is that the x-rays showed good healing of the shin at the tibial osteotomy and at the femur where he drilled for the added tendon.

Four weeks ago I could actually see on the x-rays a line in my shin bone and the hole in my femur.

Today I saw nothing!

I didn't say anything, but I think the calcium supplements helped.

In other news... he's not happy about my bending progress. He even called over to my physical therapist to tell him to work me harder. And in a couple weeks he will most likely give me a cortisone shot if he doesn't see marked improvement.

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to Thursday's therapy session!

He said he really wants to get things moving because it's been a "bumpy road."

Makes me think that I'm not progressing the way he would like.

Or maybe he's just referring to the little things like the itchy rash that covered my leg (a reaction to the orange stuff they put all over my leg) and the insomnia... I can't think of anything else he would be referring to. Oh, maybe the numbing that's left in my foot which is down to just a tingling in my toes now.

I've been taking Benadryl and Tylenol to sleep at night for about a week now. It's nice to get sleep, but he told me that Benadryl doesn't give you "good" sleep. If it persists I'm supposed to go see my family doctor.

He also adjusted my brace so that it will rotate to 120 degrees and suggested that it may be doing me more bad then good at this point. I'm only supposed to wear it now when I feel like I need some protection. The same with the crutches. Use one or both as needed.

Apparently I need to focus on walking correctly too because he stopped me as I was leaving to show me what I was doing wrong.

Walking is so complicated!

Day 41: Progress and Normalcy

Monday at therapy I made some progress. I'm always surprised  at what I'm able to do once he asks me to do it. He added an exercise: Step ups. Basically like stepping up onto a stair that's only 3 inches high and then back down again. For just a second or two with each step 100% of my weight is on the bad leg. And more then that it is bent! It felt really good to be able to do that. Then at the end, when he tortures me by helping to bend my leg farther then I'm able to bend it on my own, we were able to bend it to 65 degrees.

I finally got fed up with the insomnia and took 2 benadryl and 2 tylenol... it worked! 6 Hours of sleep! I did that two nights in a row and then last night took a break from it (I don't want to be dependent on drugs to sleep) and only got about 3 hours. I usually sleep for the first 2 hours and then wake up and roll over constantly for several hours and then fall asleep for another hour before waking up around 6am. The trick is to find a position that doesn't make my knee feel like it is swelling.

I've been doing a lot more around the house. The other day I made homemade pretzels!
(LOVE Pinterest)
It was a recipe that utilized the bread machine for the dough cycle. So no kneading!

I can vacuum small areas at a time, clean up Elliot's toys, do the dishes... I even did a load of laundry! Though it was kind of tricky getting the basket down the stairs with crutches.
I feel so much better being able to do "my job" around the house.
Doing nothing, sleeping never, sitting always... it's just a bad concoction. Being able to accomplish a task here and there gives me just the little bit of confidence I need to keep pushing. Keep stretching. Because the knee is completely stable for the first time in... well... ever. I'm pretty sure that I'm physically able to do much more then I'm mentally allowing myself to do. It's going to take some time to learn how to trust it again.

Day 36: 5 weeks post op

So today is 5 weeks since the surgery...

Kind of hard to believe that it's been that long, but at the same time it feels like forever!

Ever since the doc unlocked my brace 3 days ago I feel like I'm making better progress with bending. I try to bend it a lot more throughout the day.  Even sitting in normally in a chair with it stretched out in a slightly bent position. I'm just bending it enough to feel a stretch.

Yesterday I tried to do way to much! I made cookies, rice lasagna, spaghetti and homemade bread sticks. My good foot was killing me because I put about 80% of the weight on it all the time. And my bad hip was also nagging because I was constantly using it to pull the weight up off my bad leg.

Despite all that I did yesterday I still only slept for 1 hour. 1 HOUR! I have no idea why. I think it was my worst night so far.

I need to learn how to sleep again. BEFORE we go to Puerto Rico!

Day 34: Remembering how to walk

Yesterday I had a physical therapy appointment. As usual he pushed me pretty far. Bending is the main focus right now and we didn't make a lot of progress since my last appointment 6 days ago.

It felt really stiff over the weekend, so I expected not to show much progress. Towards the beginning of the bending section I was able to bend it to 52 degrees (with a lot of help... and grimacing!).

Towards the end he took another measurement... 57 degrees. That is the same measurement that I had 8 days ago. I'd like to see a lot more progress over an 8-day period.

My goal was to flex an extra 10 degrees each week.

I'm a little behind now.

Immediately after the therapy I saw my doctor.

He said I was progressing as expected and suggested that I try sitting more often throughout the day with the brace off... allowing the knee to bend until I felt a nice stretch.

He also unlocked the brace to 60 degrees. The brace has hinges on either side of the knee that were locked to prevent any bending. Now I can flip some switches and it will bend up to 60 degrees. I can do this whenever I want to practice walking correctly.

It's quite odd feeling.

For 4 1/2 weeks I've been crutching around with that leg straight, swinging from the hip. (Which I think may be one of the big culprits to my hip discomfort... there's definitely and alignment issue.) Now I'm trying to relax the hip and allow the knee to bend and actually use my quad muscles to assist in walking...

Weird...

In less then 1 year I've had to go through this process of learning how to walk twice!

It's funny how you can take little things like walking for granted.

I had a friend over yesterday for a play-date and it was amazing and depressing at the same time to watch her jump from her chair to help her child or climb the stairs so effortlessly.

Take it from me... as long as you can walk, walk. As long as you can run, run.

Stupid things like laziness can cause your muscles to weaken

which causes injuries to happen

which require surgery.

Shut off your computer.

Get up.

Do something.

Because God gave you the ability!

Random Details

I've been learning a lot every time I have an appointment.

Can I just say that I love my doctor?!

He comes into the room all cheerful and excited to see how I'm doing and just doesn't stop talking. He genuinely wants me to know what's going on and what he is thinking.

Then I get to ask questions. Every single time I appreciate him more and more because when I start asking questions he becomes even more comfortable. He'll sit down in front of me or lean against the counter - intently listening to every word and taking his time to answer my questions. Never rushing me or making me feel like I'm wasting time or asking stupid questions.

Ok, enough about the doctor.

Random details I've learned...

The screws in the the shin bone are made of stainless steel, won't cause problems with flying (when we go to Puerto Rico!!!) and most likely will need to be removed in a year.

They apparently put a screw in the the hole that was drilled into the side of my femur, but this screw is made of some type of material that will actually turn into bone. Sweet!

That drill hole is 6mm. Or about 1/4". About half the size of a dime.

I'm not suppose to take Ibuprofen because it is actually bad for the bone healing. Ice is to be my anti-inflamatory. And actually I've been using heat once a day and I thinking its helping... I'm going to talk with my physical therapist about heat this week.

He doesn't want me to use Neosporin because he wants everything to dry up and heal... but I started using it on areas where the scabs have fallen off. :) I just can't help myself. I love neosporin!

He says that there aren't any supplements that I can take to help with healing, but I'm a believer in that stuff, so I'm starting a calcium supplement this week. Since C and D help with absorption I'll be taking those too. On top of my favorite multi-vitamins.

My skin on that leg has been extremely dry. Maybe from the anti-septic stuff they put on. I've been using some lotion, but I never really see results from lotion, just a temporary fix. So, I started using my aloe plant the other day and can I say that I LOVE it!!! My aloe plant keeps having babies, so I have about 10 plants right now and its nice to put them to use.

PICTURES!

!!!WARNING!!!

THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURES!

MOST RECENT PICTURES (LEAST GRAPHIC) WILL BE AT THE TOP

OLDER PICTURES (MORE GRAPHIC) WILL BE TOWARDS THE BOTTOM

I'M TRYING TO WASTE SOME SPACE...

SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE THE PICTURES WHEN YOU OPEN THE PAGE...

I WANT YOU TO HAVE TO PHYSICALLY SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THEM...

ALL THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN WITH MY CELL PHONE, SO THEY'RE NOT THE GREATEST.

HOPEFULLY THAT'S ENOUGH WASTED SPACE...

This first picture is from about 18 days after the surgery.

So, let's talk about what you are looking at.

The small incision on the inside of my knee is healing nicely. As you can see almost all the scab is gone. This is where they drilled into the larger knobby portion at the very bottom of the femur.

The two red spots at about 12 o'clock are blisters. Just below them on my knee you can see a tiny cross-shaped incision. This was one of the two entries for the arthroscopy procedure.

The long incision in the middle is where they performed the tibial tubercle osteotomy. (Slicing off part of the shin bone.)

The next two pictures are from 12 days post-op.

All of the tape is still on in these pictures, so that makes it look even better.

In the picture showing the side you can see the crazy swelling.  That is from the lateral release - where they cut some ligament to release tension.  You can also see the other cross-shaped incision from the arthroscopy.

This next picture is from 5 days post-op and just for reference (because it's hard to tell what you're looking at with all the swelling) Micah took this picture from my feet.

BEAUTIFUL!!!

PUERTO RICO, HERE I COME!

And just to give you an idea of how bad the swelling is - here is a picture from the night before surgery.

A very well-defined, tilted, messed-up knee cap. This should be the most graphic of pictures.



Day 21

I have been sleeping in our recliner in the living room since coming home from the surgery. This is my permanent position. I tried sleeping in bed a couple times, but it just doesn't work. I can only sleep when I'm in the chair and even then its not good sleep. I'm getting sick of it. I really want to roll over!

Had my second session of therapy on Tuesday and my third will be tomorrow. I'm kind of surprised at how things are progressing. I'm noticing the stability of the knee cap already. After the injury in February I was still very unstable at this point in therapy. The knee cap felt vulnerable to re-injury. But right now it feels strong.

Therapy starts with electric stimulation on the quad muscles. About 15 minutes of it. 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off.  While it is on I'm contracting the quad muscles. The electric stim helps the muscles to do more. Sort of engages the muscles for me. So, on Tuesday I was able to do a straight leg raise with the electric stim on. I couldn't believe it. I didn't expect to be able to do that for another 2 weeks. I'm not able to do that without the stim though.  That will take more time.

My least favorite part of therapy is bending. I'm at 37 degrees with my therapist controlling the bending, but at home I'm probably only getting to 25 or 30. It's so incredibly tight feeling because of all the swelling that when I try to bend it it feels like there's immense pressure from the inside of the joint pushing out.

I'm able to do a little more at home now.  I can be up on my crutches for about 30 minutes at a time and then it really starts bothering me. So I'm able to warm up dinner and wash some dishes, fold laundry and change Elliot's diaper.

Baby steps.