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!