Pomp and Circumstance

Guess who graduated from therapy today??

I was still at 120, but she says I'll still get another 5 or so back without any additional work, as swelling subsides and things settle in.  We talked a little about exercises that I can do going forward to make sure I don't slip back (my big fear).  I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Jim (my usual guy) so I think I will stop by there on Monday to tell him thanks.  Oddly, I will miss him, even though he routinely caused me pain.  :)

So, where do we go from here?  I think I am settling nicely in New Kneeland.  I like it here, and I know it's only going to get better.

At Last

There is only one word for therapy today:

GOOOOOOOAL!!!!!

Bend is, indeed, 120. I have one more scheduled appointment on Friday so I don't know if I'll be done then or not.  Tomorrow is eight weeks.

Hamstring machine was on 67, leg press machine was 90, sled was 85.  I had to do the steps up frontward and sideways, but they didn't really hurt, they were just tiring.  I got kind of a cramp in the back of my knee but it stretched out OK and it doesn't hurt now.

Seven Weeks

Supposed to have 45 minute appointment today, but he needs to leave early, so it's only 30.  Measurement was still 116.  I am bummed, though he says every doctor will tell you that it will be 6 months to a year before you feel it's at 100%.  Yeah, yeah, whatever.

A couple of new things today - rocking back and forth and side to side on the wobble board (how do they dream these things up, anyway?), and pushing and pulling a "sled" across the room.  The sled is like a lawnmower with no wheels.  It had 70 lbs plus the weight of the sled.  I could have sworn it was at least 200.  I had to do it three times.  Hamstring machine was on 50, leg press was on 80 - he actually made me sweat today!

Whatever

Therapy today - bend was 116.
They changed all of my remaining appointments to 45 minutes (from 30) because that girl doesn't think there's enough time to get everything done.  My copay is the same, so why not? Nothing else was new.

Small Victories

I changed my mind yesterday and went to the pool anyway.  Only stayed 45 minutes, but it was productive.  I'm so excited because, at least in the hot tub, I can get on my knees!  I can also squat way down.  One thing I do is sit on the steps of the hot tub and see how far I can pull my feet back on the step below, the goal being to get my heel to touch the back of the step, as I can do with my other leg.  I hadn't been able to get my big toe back past the edge of the step, but this afternoon - ta daaaa - I did it!  I hope it translates into a good number at therapy tomorrow.

Six Weeks

Physical "day off" today. I'm sore from Monday, and therapy yesterday, and swimming yesterday.  I'm finding myself in a weird position.  Being so much better in most ways, the remaining "not that much better" makes me think I'm never going to finish getting better, that I will never get the rest of the flexibility back, etc.  Make sense?  Even a little? But yesterday I had him show me where 65 degrees, my starting point for therapy, was.  Six weeks ago, that was the best I could do.  It felt then like 112 feels now - but I got beyond it.  And I will get beyond this.  It's just 21 more to match my other knee.  I keep wondering what it will be like in a year, when this tightness will be (hopefully) a dim memory.  Will I be plotting the demise of knee #2 by then?  I will have been to Spain and back again by then (finances willing, of course).  One of the best things to come out of this is to find out that fixing my knee also fixed my ankle.  Remember those days when I had to ice my knee and my ankle because of pain and swelling?  Since surgery, I have had no pain or swelling in the ankle at all!

Geecmom Returns

Yesterday was really great!  I spent the afternoon in Champaign caching with niece Courtney (our third annual caching day).  The first cache we went to required a 1/4 mile walk (and back) and it was totally pain free!  I am still so amazed by that.  In all, we were out about five hours and did 14 caches.  One was down a creek embankment with weeds and vines and uneven, sloping ground and it didn't make me cry.  It didn't even hurt!  Remember when downhill slants/ramps were my worst thing, guaranteed to induce bone-grinding agony?  No more! But five hours of driving and walking yesterday didn't bode well for therapy this morning.

I'm tired, and my measurement is still 112.  Oh well.  We do a lot of talking about things, pretty much confirming what I have been wondering about, like the quad taking so long to stretch because the knee was so bad for so long that it is really tight, and that it makes sense that my ankle flexibility is better now that my knee is better.  You know, that old "foot bone connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone connected to the leg bone" thing.  Everything affects everything else.

Hamstring machine was at 50, leg press was 75.  He was pleased that I had been doing stairs yesterday, too (no choice - Courtney lives on the 3rd floor), with no problems.  In my head, I would like to be done with therapy before election day (the end of my current schedule).