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.