I'm noticing over and over again,
@lgobrien, that my down days are usually quickly followed by "up" days. I just got over a bit of a painful mis-step, but today I'm feeling at the top of the world.
To possibly help others, I want to share what happened today in PT. The last couple days my lower back has been killing me. I am so anxious to get a professional massage, but I didn't think I'd be able to lie comfortably on my stomach on a massage table. I told my PT about my aching back, and she offered to check it at the end of my session. She quickly diagnosed the problem, manipulated my non-surgical leg every which way, and voila! My back feels way better. I told her I forgave her for pressing on my knee cap since she made up for it with the back help.
I'm down to just Tylenol during the day and a Tramadol before bed, which is still keeping me fairly comfortable. Nights are still ugly. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's just pure run-of-the-mill trouble sleeping or if I'm not sleeping due to knee pain. I really need my naps! I also find that I'm getting more and more anxious to resume my normal activities. I'm supposed to try to walk longer outdoors, so that will be my goal for this afternoon.
It's a glorious day sitting on my backyard deck. As a special treat, a doe and her very young twin very fawns just emerged from the woods, and stood staring at me and my dog Amos. Surprisingly, Amos managed to keep his mouth shut, and the 5 of us exchanged a long-held stare before they trotted back into the woods. It gave me chills!