New Knee Day 20

Yesterday was the first outpatient PT day I had a nice hour session getting the leg stretched, bent, massaged, ultrasounded and electrostimulated! After the session my knee was loose enough for me to walk normally down the 2 flights of steps out of the PT office! (Of course shortly after that it tightened up again.)

For anyone who has not spent quality time with a physical therapist I'll try to give some details....

Typically your session starts with some procedure designed to break up scar tissue and adhesions like massage as well as something to help blood flow like ultrasound. 

You may spend some time on one of the exercise machines. And at some point you can expect some stretching and bending of the leg. This tends to be the most teeth grinding part of the visit. Your job is to try to get your muscles to release and not work against your PT. You should also give helpful feedback so the PT knows when you are at your current maximum stretch or bend. This is where being a wuss only hurts yourself! Erik will typically gradually bend my leg and ask if that is a stretch. Once I start to feel it I will tell him and he will hold that position for a bit. Generally he will get a bit more stretch in between asking and my response. Erik and I have worked together for a while now and so he is used to my feedback. Be sure that you let whoever you are working with know what you are feeling and where you are feeling it. It helps to understand what they are trying to accomplish also so feel free to ask questions. Asking things like: "Is it supposed to feel like there is a hot poker in the side of my knee?" can often be enlightening.
Again when stretching and bending hurts you need to work within your pain tolerances. If you have a low pain tolerance you will likely want to take some pain meds before physical therapy. Your goal is to work the leg enough to get it moving correctly.

Today is my follow up appointment with my surgeon. 

New Knee Day 15: Pedaling!

Had PT today and after she left I hopped on the bike to do some partial rotations. I was really close to a full rotation but not quite there until I tried pedaling backwards. I was able to go full circle in reverse!

I figured out that the real difference was in my foot position. If I pointed the foot more instead of holding it at 90 degrees I was able to rotate my leg full circle. 

After slowing and adjusting foot position I am now able to pedal forward!!

Now I am working on getting everything lined up correctly and happy. 

New Knee Day 4: Home PT

So far I have had a pretty normal day. Brunch at Portage Bay Cafe on Roosevelt followed by a visit from the home health Physical Therapist.
The PT and I went through all the drugs I was taking which involved her quizzing me on what each drug was for and why I was taking them, etc. We then went around the house so she could make sure I was comfortable doing what I needed to do. She encouraged me to have someone stand by more often for a while. Like when I take a shower or use the stairs. She also figuratively slapped my hand for occasionally taking a full step going upstairs instead of the same leg up. She encouraged me to do my exercises 3 times a day. Or if that was too boring pick a couple one hour and a couple more the next then cycle through them all. Next person will spend more time on actual exercise and not paperwork. For the next two weeks we have home PT scheduled 3 times a week.

New Knee Day 1: One day down.

I'm all tucked in to my hospital bed. Immobilizer brace on to keep my leg straight overnight.

It has been a long day. Good news on rehab department- I was able to control my pain level and get in two Physical Therapy sessions and one Occupational Therapy session. 

OT is concerned with making sure I can take care of everything I need to - like getting into a shower, putting my socks on, etc. 

PT made sure I practiced stairs and walked with crutches plus they ran me through some incredibly not so fun exercises straightening and bending and lifting my leg. I had great range of motion numbers! 3 to 110 degrees! Big high five!

Now though I am knackered. I'm going to try for a good nights sleep. 

New Knee Workout

Feeling awesome!! Physical Therapist came in and got me up. I walked 50feet with walker! A little sore but way easier than I imagined. Of course I still have a nerve block in that knee so will have to wait until tomorrow for a more accurate taste of the pain levels. He also measured my range of motion: 8 to 94 degrees which is awesome! Of course with pain meds I am betting tomorrow's measurement will be less.

The PT asked a lot of questions about numbers of stairs in my house and where I had handrails. They will train me on both walker and crutches so I am glad I brought my crutches with me. Of course Mr. BikePT Erik already got me going there so I am hoping for a smooth day tomorrow. He warned me to be careful with my pup dog. Lots of people trip and fall or there dog jumps up and hurts them.