Much progress has been made since my last post. The quad muscle exercises worked so well that I’ve first been able to ditch the walker and go on my cane indoors, then finally ditch the cane indoors and only use it outside of the house. And to think that all of this progress took place between October 14th and the 26th … my mind boggles, when you compare it to how long I was a literal post-op invalid, unable to do anything for myself from the waist down without the aid of a nurse or a therapist.
Speaking of a therapist, you should have seen the physical therapist’s expression when I met her at the door without my walker for the first time. Surprise would be an understatement. My latest surprise, during the session on Monday, October 26th, was to show her how well I navigated my house without my cane (and while doing left quad exercises at the same time). She was thrilled.
Yesterday, Tuesday the 27th, I had a session with the person she calls her boss. (He calls himself something else, but I couldn’t understand what he said.) I went through all of the exercises I could remember with him, plus a few that he taught me on the spot. He then pronounced that I was making “awesome” progress, and that my surgeon should be quite proud when I go in to see him for a follow-up next Friday. He also said that I need to go through another month of home therapy so that I can get my lateral stability and range of motion back to normal, and so I can continue strengthening my quad muscles.
If it seems like I’m going on and on about my quad muscles, remember: they cut through them to remove my old beat-up knee and reattached them to my shiny new knee. You could say they’ve been through quite a lot of trauma.
One last note: I’m still wearing the compression stockings and taking the high dose of Lasix for the edema in my ankles. I think that the swelling is pretty much gone by now, but I’m taking no chances. I’m getting it checked at my primary care doctor’s office this Friday.
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