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MUA LTKR, 8 weeks out; MUA at week 5; worried about ROM

I can see your BIG smile from here Polkadot!! :yes: What a great progress report --- you'll be biking soon - says the person who is too afraid to take the bike off the stand and try it :wink:. You must be feeling great! Don't overdo it! Cat training sounds like excellent therapy - much better than cat herding!
 
Cheers @Polkadot!:cheers2: This is marvelous progress for you and the kittie! Glad to hear your new sensibilities took over though and told you to get off the home bike. You've done enough today.:happydance:
 
That's great! Happy you've joined the forum.
It's good for healing to know there are others out there who know what you mean. :)
I too am facing comments on what all I am supposed to do or what to do so that I can be well "faster." Even the new physiotherapist today tried to compare this operation to a broken bone. I asked him if he ever watched such an operation in real. He admitted he hadn't. He too was of the opinion I had to "let him" do some painful massage to loosen up the scar. I said" no way!" I said it would get better with time.
We really need to listen to our bodies. This forum helps us remember that.
 
Yay! How well you are doing! If you can ride that inside bike, it'll be no time before you'll ride that outside bike. Can you send us a video of your cat? I'd love to see it! All I've been able to do is to get them to beg.
 
@VW54 your physiotherapist should know that typically PT isn't done on a broken bone until it's allowed to heal. No one goes to PT with a cast on their leg. Next time he gives you that line remind him of the protocol.
 
@sistersinhim - Here are links to two videos I shot last night of my cat sitting and shaking paws. My husband is performing, too! (The cat is more "snap-to-it" with me than him, but these examples are pretty good.) The one on the floor is very typical. I included the one on the arm of the chair to show that she has generalized her trick to be able to do it anywhere. On the chair, she is performing for shredded cheese. She usually eats only one or two shreds. I think she likes the attention more than the cheese! On the floor, she gets cat "treats," which are just a different brand than her usual cat food. She gobbles these all up. ,
 
Polkadoat, what a brilliant and adorable kitty! I thoroughly enjoyed watching these; thanks!
 
awww your kitty is adorable and smart (thanks to your training). congratulations on pedalling your bike.:yay:
 
WOW!! I love it! She is brilliant! What a hoot she is!
 
Great report and such fun videos! The wins just keep on coming. You'll be riding that bike around your town in no time. The best exercises are the ones we love. I got a kick out of your kitty, though. Cats have so much attitude, which is why it's such fun to see them ask for treats. She's very pretty, too!
 
Lovely videos of your cat, @Polkadot !
We do have a thread in the Social Room called Pets and our recovery where these discussions about our furry friends are welcome. Posting there would help to keep the emphasis of your recovery thread on your own recovery, not on the lovely animals. I'd love to see more of your lovely cat on that thread. :SUNsmile:
 
Sorry, @Celle ! I was responding to someone. I should have shifted over to the social area--thought of it later, darn--and directed people over there.
 
An 11th-Week Report

I'm sl-ooo-ww-ly increasing in flexion. On Wednesday, I was at 98 degrees at the start of my session. After the therapist did a bit of massage, I was able to bend to 105 under my own power (with great effort, tongue between teeth, and all that), so I believe--"I believe, oh, yes, I believe"-- I will get there someday! I'd say I'm still consistently in the upper 90s just doing my thing at home. The latest good news is that I am now able to straighten my leg out fully--measured at 0 degrees on Wednesday! So I am very gradually knocking off a few "thin pencil leads" on each end of my ROM. (I saw a post where Josephine explained that there is very little difference between, say, 95 and 98--just a few pencil leads. That really puts things into perspective, doesn't it?!?)

Now for the important stuff! Again, these are little baby steps, but here are some things I can do this week:

1. I can sleep on either side for part of the night without much discomfort. (This doesn't apply to last night, though. I don't know what happened, but I had a TERRIBLE night last night. At 2:30 AM, I finally got up and rooted around for a pair of leggings, which, as Pheebs52 has mentioned before, seems to help with the yucky surface sensations.)

2. I've kept moving up the settings on the bike at PT, and am this close (shows fingers close together) to being able to revolve my big exercise bike at home. I can feel it. It's going to happen soon!

3. I went to a 2-hour-and-20-minute movie this afternoon and walked out of there without limping! I had to change foot positions every so often. I sat in a seat in the second row that has a bar in front of it, kind of like a bicycle rack--so I could extend my leg and rest my ankle on the bar much like resting it on a footstool at home. I even bent both knees up and rested both feet on the bar--with hardly any discomfort. This is huge for me. I haven't been able to sit in a "normal" chair that long until this week! In fact, yesterday I decided I wasn't ready for the movies. Today after PT and an additional 30-minute massage, I was! I'm not planning to go to any more movies any time soon; however, it's good to know that I CAN! (Sorry, DH, you will have to go to Detroit the movie without me.)

4. My husband and I went for a half-mile walk tonight with no problem, even though I was quite busy all afternoon. (I can walk farther, at least a mile or a bit more, but we decided to go easy tonight.) No tight bands across the knee. Yay! Extra points for me because I recognized the bird songs and sounds we heard. (He's a birder. He was happy.) We saw a great blue heron flying low over the river, as well as a couple of kingfishers. I love them!

5. I'm almost able to handle going downstairs backwards, foot over foot. I can do three or four steps at a time, and then my new knee forgets and doesn't bend. It's as though my body has forgotten how to do stairs, and @Pheebs52 assures me this is one way that could get the memory back for me. I'm very encouraged by this.

6. Just Tylenol today, except for one hydrocodone a few minutes ago. I took NO narcotics before PT!

I'm struggling with a few things: My hip and lower back are complaining--a lot. These are not new problems, but I thought I had it under control. Guess not. And I'm still being driven crazy by that "antsy" feeling various times of the day. I feel as though I want to jump right out of my skin. Too much idleness, I think. Plus, I believe it has something to do with nerve over-stimulation. The "burny" feeling that made me get out the leggings in the middle of the night is often present at the same time. To handle this during sleep, I tried plastic wrap, and it just made me hot--and not in a good way!
 
@Polkadot I am wondering if you are truly aware of the great strides you have made in such a short time? I just came to the end of my 12th week post-op, and can say that I have experienced the mood swings, concerns about progress, dealing with this pain and that pain and wondering if it will ever all be gone at the same time, feeling trapped as if in prison due to not being able to drive, feeling like a complete loser and failure for not getting better faster, and the list goes on. I didn't do the PT exercises religiously between my twice a week sessions, and was no worse off because of it. Actually I think that I may have been better off. I iced my knee almost constantly for at least the first month and a half, and after that even had ice on it more often than not. Be sure that you are also icing the back of the knee, as that is where there is much swelling, and the ice just plain feels good! I promise you that 6 months from now you will look back and wonder why you spent so much energy on worry. Conserve your energy and let your knee use it to heal. Focus on all of the positives and ignore the rest (yes, I know, easier said than done). Maybe think of this time as a chance to really put you first, and engage in self-care. I colored, did word puzzles, indulged in playing online games. Of course, this was not when I was in the throws of one of my many meltdown, pity party, or want to just give up entirely periods of time. This too shall pass, my dear. You are strong! You are a survivor! You deserve to give yourself a break from the mental maddness!! Please do look after yourself with a kind and gentle heart! You are worthy of that, and you deserve it!:flwrysmile:
 
What a great report @Polkadot! Your progress is great and encouraging to me. You are about two weeks ahead of my second knee and you had a MUA as well. I haven't been able to do much of what you have and looking forward to doing these things. I know "normal" is a setting on my dryer but I really want to feel normal! Great report.:roseshwr: Oh, I loved your kitty videos!
 
@Polkadot, YOWZA!!! Where to begin? This is all so incredibly positive! I'm about to go in to spontaneous combustion with excitement for you, lol. Well done! Best post of the day! Whatever you're doing, keep doing it; hahahaha!:loll:
 
wonderful report Polkadot. you're sounding very optimistic. glad you got out with hubby. what movie did you see? hope you can conquer that antsy feeling and the burny feeling.
 
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