Day 29

Day 29

Its almost been a month and it has been a roller coaster. I flew home yesterday for thanksgiving break and started physical therapy with the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute and the session today went great. Sometimes getting a perspective from different physical therapists is good because they have different ideas of how to do things and its another observation on the mechanics of your exercises. I have been doing a lot of different exercises since I last updated. I started doing different types of mini squats, leg press, weight shifts, cup walking, knee bending, knee extensions, and balance. I started to walk in an underwater treadmill as well. Most of my exercises are to strengthen my quadricep as well as bend my knee. The good news is I started walking about a week or so earlier than my protocol calls for, however my range of motion is not where it should be. Today I was able to bend it 90 degrees which is good because about a week ago I could only bend around 65 degrees. The bad news is that I should be around 110-120 degrees in my advanced recovery. I know all people heal differently, however it's still disappointing. The doctor said it is due to a heavy build up of scar tissue under one of my incisions so I started to do ultrasound over that incision as well as an intense massage with lotion to try and break up the scar tissue. The physical therapists lay me down and bend my knee for me and I'm basically moments away from tears for about 5 minutes while they bend my knee. The good news is I should be able to unlock my brace and be able to bend my knee while I walk anytime in the next week or so. Also I found out that I should be able to start light running at the end of January which is 3 months post surgery. I still have small pain in my upper calf as well as extreme pain where my incision is when I bend my knee as far as I can go which is 90 degrees. I'm excited to be back home in Chicago for some good food.. pizza, hot dogs, Italian beef, chipotle, and of course thanksgiving. It's good to come home for a week and have mom cook me up scrumptious meals instead of ramen, easy mac and taco bell. Anyways Have a great weekend and I will start updating more often with more pictures.