recovery update

Not too much has been going on over the passed week or so. I am still walking around in crutches not being able to put any significant weight on my leg. What I am able to do is touch weight bearing. What this means is that I can use my foot for balance when using the crutches, but that is about it. The Doc showed my how to use my crutches in a way so it mimics walking. I guess that is supposed to be better than me just swinging my bad leg around and not have it touch the ground.

I am also still using the leg immobilizer whenever I am out of bed. This is going to continue on for another 2 weeks, then I should be able to get around with out it on. Of course, when that 2 weeks is up, I won't be able to put any weight on my leg, but at least I won't need the immobilizer.

Since my last update, I have removed the dressing off of my knee (incision area looked pretty cool with those staples in there) and have increased my flexion in my CPM machine to the max value of 120. At 120, when I first start the machine and my leg reaches about 105, my knee starts to get extremely tight and it does get quite painful. But after the first iteration things feel pretty good, and there is really no pain.

Speaking of pain, I have been off of pain medication since late last week. When I went in to see the doc on Friday, he asked how the pain was and if I needed any additional prescriptions for it. I told him the amount of pain I have (virtually none really) and he mentioned that over all of the patients he has had, I am only around the 20th that didn't require much pain meds to get through the day this early after the surgery. Also, during my last visit to the doc, my staples were removed and I can finally take a proper shower (I am sure my wife is quite happy about that one) :)

I will be pretty much doing the same thing every day for the next 3 weeks until my next appt, when I should be able to do some weight bearing on my leg. That will be nice when that time actually arrives.