Five Week Followup

So I had my five week followup at OCR today and have confirmed that I can go back to the pool now (YAY). So, I'll get to go to swim practice at lunch tomorrow!  I'm so excited, I can't even describe how happy I am!  Yay swimming!!!

So I was way off on my range of motion numbers from the other day.  It turns out that 142º is my GOOD knee in flexion, not my repaired knee.  That one's at 124º (normal range of motion is between 135º and 150º of flexion).  My knee's actually been bugging me today for some reason, but I'm not really swollen, and Erica didn't seem overly concerned about my degree of flexion or extension, so I must be on track there.

I had my strength tests repeated today (I did a set of these before surgery in December). The first test is that you get strapped into something similar to a leg extension machine, but it doesn't have weights; rather it has a computer system attached that records how much power you have by moving your leg against its resistance.  Because of the way it works, you have to fight against it in extension and flexion, so they can measure the strength of both your quadriceps and your hamstrings.  The readings are matched against your healthy leg.

As of this morning, my left quadricep is at 96% of the strength of my right one, and my left hamstring is at 73% of my right.

The second strength test is a leg press, but again you don't push any weight.  You do as you normally would (though this is single leg, not both legs) and push against the foot plate with as much force as you can for about ten seconds.  The results from that test show my left leg is at 64% the overall strength of my right leg, which I was told is "about normal" for five weeks post-op.

The tests I did today are also going to serve as my baseline going into my right ACL surgery in February.

Speaking of which, since I'm going to have to start my rehab all over in three weeks, I'm just supposed to continue with my current PT regiment with the addition of getting to add swimming and road cycling (spoiler: it's snowing today, so I don't see the road bike coming out before my next surgery).

Lastly, I did ask about the pain in my spine, and she took a look at it and said if something bad was going on I'd have swelling or redness or would be getting spinal headaches.  But she also said that lingering pain is something most people don't experience, and to talk to the anesthesiologist before my next surgery to see what they have to say about it.  As it is, the pain is getting less frequent, but I do still get it from time to time, and I'd like to know if it's something that needs to be checked out.

Two Weeks and Beyond

Okay, well, it's been a while since my last post.  Part of that was me being on vacation for New Years (I traveled by car from Denver to Dayton, OH, then drove with a couple friends to Cherry Hill, NJ to spend NYE with even more friends – it was a fantastic time), and part of that was that I had my luggage, my laptop, and my iPad all stolen out of my husband's car (the window was smashed and my things were taken from the back seat) the night before I left on said trip. So I've been spending a lot of time trying to restore my computer (I had a backup, but it was about 30 days old) and get my life back in order after a couple interesting/exciting weeks.

Anyway, just before I left for the New Years trip, I had my two week appointment at the OCR.  I got a fun new list of PT, so I'll list that first (from memory as my checklist was in the stolen luggage):

• Strength
• Full Squats (With Weights, 3 x 10, 3 times a week)
• Single Leg Squats (Affected Leg, 3 x 15, 3 times a week)
• Calf Raises (with Weights, 3 x 10, 3 times a week)
• Standing Hip Extensions (With Ankle Weights, 3 x 10, 3 times a week)
• "Skaters" (3 x 10, 3 times a week)
• Leg Press (2 x 10 both legs, 2 x 10 single leg with half weight, 3 times a week)
• Hamstring Curls (2 x 10 both legs, 2 x 10 single leg with half weight, 3 times a week)
• Cardio
• 45 Minutes of Stationary Bike or Stair Stepper, 4-5 times a week

I love the strength training, but the cardio is getting old already, hehe.  However, assuming everything goes okay with my five week followup this coming Monday, I can get back in the pool next week, woohoo!

Also at my two week followup I had x-rays shot.  Dr. Trumper says everything is lined up perfectly, and healing fine.  I snapped a couple pictures of the x-rays on the light box, and I love this one here, because you can see the titanium pin that's holding the top of the tendon in place.

Everything is still healing at a pretty good pace.  My extension is perfect, and the flexion is getting better all the time (my last measurement was at 142º, but that was at the two week follow up).  My bruise is mostly healed at this point (and doesn't itch anymore, hallelujah), but the skin there is still darker than normal.  This is exactly how I healed when I had the hematoma from my blood clot, so I'm not sure if it's just big bruise related, or if it has something to do with being on blood thinners (I am off of those now, but only as of just yesterday).  I have been having more stiffness in the joint in the last week or so when I sit in one position for a long period of time.  When I get up my knee aches and I have to walk around a bit to get it back to its full range of motion.  This is something I was told about when I got surgery, so I'm not too worried about that.

One thing that does concern me a little is that I occasionally have weird, localized back pain right over my spine.  I'm used to having lower back pain, but that always feels like muscle pain (because it crosses my entire lower back), and this feels like a golfball sized spot immediately over my spinal column, and the location seems to coordinate with where the spinal injection was placed.  I haven't asked about it yet, but I'm going to check on Monday to see if this is normal or something odd is happening.

In other news, the steristrips finally came off last week and I was able to see the entirety of all three incisions. The scars are still pretty purple right now, but if it's anything like the last arthroscopy, they'll all fade to nice, light white lines in a couple months.

Lastly, I made the decision about two weeks ago to go ahead and get the right ACL replaced as well.  That surgery is scheduled for February 7.  I'm going to have to pay more for this one as my health insurance has rolled over and I have to hit my deductible and out of pocket max again, so I assume I'll be paying right around $2000 for this surgery.  I do already own my cryocuff, though, and insurance does cover the rental on the CPM and everything else (minus copays), so now's not a bad time to do it (before I switch insurance in April – just in case it gets worse).

Assuming this surgery goes as well as the last one (knock on wood and such), I should have two completely functional knees by this fall.  I'm not sure when I'll start getting back into impact sports (hockey and softball), but it will be nice to be able to run and bend without my knees going out from under me.  And hopefully this will enable me to avoid having to get total knee replacements when I'm older as well.