I think i thought that 6 weeks was going to be the magic time to be back to pretty much normal. I would ditch the crutches, id be walking freely and driving kids to and from school like normal oohh and back to work.
Week 1 Week 6
The scar goes really purple when it is cold!
Don't get me wrong I am super excited as each day is a day closer to being back to my pre-operative functioning. BUT....
My expectations at this post op appointment where pretty simple, I like to have goals...
*Can I have the brace off...YES...woohoo i can finally have a full shower and not just wash the leg on its own with a washer, no more garbage bags...sweet
* Can I start physio...YES...great...this come with a two tone excitement as I had heard most people have a love / hate relationship with their physio- pain to get the gain but thats OK i want it to be better and i am more than happy to work for it.
* Can i come off crutches...NO...BOO! reason being i have to 'wake up' my quads as they have been wasting for 6 weeks due to inactivity. That is for my physio to help me with, lucky him. If i come off them too early i risk falling, instability and disappointment...patience
* Can i drive....Drs question ' can you guarantee your leg is going to respond quickly to brake hard and have fluid movement to and from accelerator to the brake pedal?' Unlucky for me although i have an automatic car my affected leg is my driving leg. Now he did say once you are confident off crutches generally you will be OK to drive. He suggested as we live rurally to drive up and down dirt road before i do any great trips. I would hate to cause an accident so i understand, it just doesn't make it any easier getting on with life..patience... I have been down our 2 car road to pick the kids up off the bus but i had to use two feet two pedal method was kinda funny!
*Can i go back to work...this was more a question surrounding do i have to go back to work haha! If I had a desk job I would be happy to go back. I am an emergency nurse and we are due to relocate into a bigger building so we are going from 15 bed department to 52 bed department. I'm not sure who is reading this but for people who have ever attended an emergency department there isn't many jobs that require us to be sitting, we have to walk quickly with purpose and poise haha!. Wearing a pedometer you can walk 10,000 steps in the first 4 hours and we do up to 12 hour shifts. We have to park and walk 2 blocks to the hospital up hill which was great exercise pre-op. As this is not workcover I want my knee to be where i feel comfortable before i go back and if that means more sick leave than so be it. My Dr suggested triage and although one of my favourite jobs in the department i dont think triaging with crutches is going to be OK. Dr wants to see me again in 6 weeks which will put me at 3month mark so I asked for a medical certificate until then and he abliged.
The Dr removed my brace and gave it a stretch sitting my heel on his knee and asked me to relax it into a straight position. Interesting I had thought with the brace on I was extending the leg into a straight position. OUCH! clearly not. Dr explained my last 30 deg has been blocked by the brace and it was now up to me to gain this back, lucky me. He then proceeded to bend my knee back under the the chair...ouch ouch ouch! so tight it feels like an elastic band is going to go PING. 'I am very happy with that! was his response to that movement so I guess if he is happy then I am too.
I still feel like the knee is very swollen ans feels warm to touch compared to the other knee, surgeon said to carry on! That i will...
I don't know exactly why but that first night sleeping without the brace was excruciatingly painful! I was quite excited to be without it as I thought i would have a great night sleep as i wouldn't have to chase the support pillow that i put between my leg all night (I toss and turn a bit) and i wouldnt have the weight of the brace to manouvre under sheets, blankets and doonas. I woke crying, actually not just crying sobbing! I couldn't even vaguely move my leg without wincing and trying not to squeal. I couldn't get comfortable. I had already taken panadol osteo and nurofen and wasn't due for more, so i asked my husband to get me an endone, i hadnt used narcotics since week one. I did have to laugh my husband who by all account has been very helpful brought 1 tissue for a crying woman, well better than none. Sleep didnt come easily but it did come and i woke feeling fine, so just a bad night. The leg feels like jelly kind of like the lower half of my leg isnt being controlled and its doing its own thing.
So off to make a physio appointment and get this knee moving!
Liss x
(15/8/2016)
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