Good afternoon Smarties! I just came back from my post-op visit with the surgeon and couldn't be happier. Pardon the rambling writing please because I'm exhausted and there's also some Oxy effect. OS feels I'm right where I should be at 75 degrees flexion since it's only been 3.5 weeks. Sure, if I were at 90, that would be even sweeter, but he's not in the least bit concerned. In his words, my ROM is very typical for this time frame. I'm not a *super-star* but I don't kneed (see what I did?) to be. It's really ok to be average; phew! It's much better than it was just a week and a half ago and he feels that shows I will reach his *magic* number of 100 in about 4-6 weeks. According to him, 100 is "the top of the hill," and any further increases are icing on the cake. Once I get there, I will no longer need PT and further increases will come easily on their own over time.
He feels my pain-level is typical for this time frame and said I was not a wimp; good to know! Sometimes I wonder, ya know? When he had his own TKR he said he was the biggest wuss on the planet, lol. Upon examination and some manipulation, he said I did not have a low pain threshold, but that what I feel is very real and legitimate. According to him, those who have less pain at this point in time are the exception. Naturally, I mentioned some of you Bi-lateral superstars. So, apparently, you guyz really did win the genetic lottery and truly are exceptional.
Interestingly, he didn't feel my swelling was all that bad when compared to most he sees at this point. I told him the PT thought it was lousy at 4 cm larger than the other knee. OS disagreed and didn't feel PT's comment was *helpful*. I did inquire on what I could do beyond ice and elevation to get it down some and basically, the answer is nothing. He doesn't believe compression sleeves help and doesn't believe Nsaids are the way to go. He did say some swelling may take up to one full year to vanish....hmmm...well...swell. C'est la vie.
He also made clear I should not ditch walking aids of any kind until I can walk limp-free. He sees a lot of people struggling to walk without aids and said they are harming their progress and creating other problems by not maintaining good form. Makes sense, eh?
One big improvement I noticed today was this mile long hallway seems to have shrunk to about 1/4 mile; hahahaha!
Life is good.
United States
