Hi softtail. Glad you joined us on bonesmart. I had my Left one done December 10 of 18, and my Right one will be done this coming Monday. Your recovery so far sounds about as parallel to mine as any I have read. I also enjoyed that period before the nerve block wore off. I couldn’t believe it when they got me up the afternoon after my surgery, and I could stand with no pain, and actually let go of the walker. I thought, “Wow! This is going to be a piece of cake.” One of my more gargantuan misconceptions as it turned out. A good friend of mine locally here had his RTKR Monday of this week, and his wife texted us that he was sitting up in his chair, had been standing, and was feeling great. We just said, That’s great!” He’ll figure it out soon enough.
I also had difficulty with the straight leg raises. My routine was 3 repetitions of 10 lifts twice daily. I actually don’t remember exactly where the pain was centered, but I remember it was intense. The first time I tried, I was barely able to even get my heel off of the sheet. My objective was 12 inches, and I think the first day I only managed about 4. By the 3rd day, I was getting my 12. Then, on the first try of the 4th day, I gave my mighty first effort, and almost kicked my wife in the face! Straight up, 18-20 inches. I don’t know who was more surprised, me or her. For the first few weeks, what I referred to as my “static pain level” (just laying there dormant and not bugging anybody) was a pretty constant 3 or 4.
And although I firmly stated at 8 weeks that there was no way I would do that again, it turns out it’s really worth it after all. Hope your second recovery continues well; I’ll be joining you soon.