Three-plus weeks post-surgery. Sometimes I really feel discouraged, and other times I feel like I am really making progress. It has been very difficult to manage the pain with prescription narcotics (which I wanted to eliminate ASAP) and with OTC pain meds like Tylenol. Still on a blood-thinner (which will be done the end of this week), I cannot take anything that contains aspirin. So the meds are tricky. Sometimes I cannot sleep at night, and I just can't get comfortable. The fact that this has been a very bad week for seasonal allergies has not helped....
All whining aside, the physical therapist says I am where I should be in terms of the bending and straightening of the knee. That is good news. I try to use my recumbent bike daily, and I can now push all the way around both frontwards and backwards. Sounds like a small event, but it is progress. I am told that my surgeon likes bikes and that he will increase the time I use it. My left leg was quite weak after so many years of favoring it, that it will take some time to build up the quad muscle and the whole limb to balance out the strength of the right leg.
I was on my feet a lot on Sunday, hosting a Father's Day barbecue at our house. It was a fun day, but perhaps over-used the knee. Then yesterday I decided to go up and down our stairs a zillion times (to do laundry) and that was probably a bit much. The therapist recommended more biking and less walking to keep the swelling, and the pain, down.
A week from today I will see the surgeon for a final check-up, and it feels like a master's degree comprehensive exam. I am already fretting. I must bend and straighten to his liking, walk straight and stand balanced. So, back to the bike.......
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