OP
OP
PolarBear60
Former BoneSmart staff member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2015
- Messages
- 4,620
- Age
- 66
- Location
- Central Texas
- Gender
- Female
- Country
United States
Enjoying my first full day at home. My preferred PT came at 8 am for the first workout of the knee. We did a few exercises, and she massaged the ligaments, which was mildly painful but will be oh so helpful. I removed the elastic bandages last night to check things out. Everything looks good. At 10 am, the home health nurse stopped in to get me checked into their system. She brought me replacement bandages but recommended I keep the original on as long as possible for the infection-fighting properties of the aluminum.
I bought the motor for my CryoCuff, and that makes a huge difference in it's value to me. The manual method gets so tedious moving the ice water in and out of the cuff as to be almost worthless. In fact, the hospital staff was comical to watch as they tried to figure the thing out. I tried to show them how to use it (the instructions are clearly on the outside of the cooler), but eventually, it became more entertaining to watch them do it their way. They'd fill the cuff, separate it from the hose, then wrap it around my knee, leaving the cooler across the room, rendering it useless to me. The motor keeps the water cycling through the cuff, so it's always cold. At least until my bottles of ice melt. Then I swap them with three more I have in the freezer.
I'm moving easily with the walker. It's cumbersome in the house (the door to the kitchen is narrower and requires a little ingenuity to get it in there). I may be switching to a crutch soon for ease of movement. Each day, the knee feels better. I've been lifting to try to do heel slides, but today I was able to do some. I've been tightening the quads to try to lift the leg on its own, and I was able to do that a little today. We started the PT session at a little over 90 and finished at a little over 100. My PT was happy, but I figure that's likely a measurement error. We worked a little on extension, too. Prior to surgery, extension was 10. I think we're better than that now.
I'm nestled in my nest and sleeping as needed. I'm taking medication as scheduled. I'm experiencing virtually no pain. When I do notice it, pain is in the 2-3 range and upon trying to get the quads working, it goes to 4-5 range until I stop trying to do what I need to do. Walking around is not a problem.
I slept moderately well last night. As I mentioned yesterday the poop fairy has visited and continues to visit. So far, so good for this recovery. I'm pleased with the start. Swelling, so far appears to be moderate. Bruising is beginning to show, but it's not bad. OS said with the mess inside the knee, he had to put the soft tissues under a lot of trauma to get everything cleaned out, and that's what it feels like. The knee is not as hot as I expected it to be.
I'll be back later with more updates.
I bought the motor for my CryoCuff, and that makes a huge difference in it's value to me. The manual method gets so tedious moving the ice water in and out of the cuff as to be almost worthless. In fact, the hospital staff was comical to watch as they tried to figure the thing out. I tried to show them how to use it (the instructions are clearly on the outside of the cooler), but eventually, it became more entertaining to watch them do it their way. They'd fill the cuff, separate it from the hose, then wrap it around my knee, leaving the cooler across the room, rendering it useless to me. The motor keeps the water cycling through the cuff, so it's always cold. At least until my bottles of ice melt. Then I swap them with three more I have in the freezer.
I'm moving easily with the walker. It's cumbersome in the house (the door to the kitchen is narrower and requires a little ingenuity to get it in there). I may be switching to a crutch soon for ease of movement. Each day, the knee feels better. I've been lifting to try to do heel slides, but today I was able to do some. I've been tightening the quads to try to lift the leg on its own, and I was able to do that a little today. We started the PT session at a little over 90 and finished at a little over 100. My PT was happy, but I figure that's likely a measurement error. We worked a little on extension, too. Prior to surgery, extension was 10. I think we're better than that now.
I'm nestled in my nest and sleeping as needed. I'm taking medication as scheduled. I'm experiencing virtually no pain. When I do notice it, pain is in the 2-3 range and upon trying to get the quads working, it goes to 4-5 range until I stop trying to do what I need to do. Walking around is not a problem.
I slept moderately well last night. As I mentioned yesterday the poop fairy has visited and continues to visit. So far, so good for this recovery. I'm pleased with the start. Swelling, so far appears to be moderate. Bruising is beginning to show, but it's not bad. OS said with the mess inside the knee, he had to put the soft tissues under a lot of trauma to get everything cleaned out, and that's what it feels like. The knee is not as hot as I expected it to be.
I'll be back later with more updates.
