July update

I saw the surgeon, Dr Nascone, on the 17th.  He seems happy with my progress.  Sadly his timeline for recovery is 6 to 12 months and he suspects I'll be on the slower side of that.  I almost agree with him after today as my knee was not happy about all the sitting and walking it was forced to do yesterday.  Hopefully it will be a bit more comfortable tomorrow and I can get back to giving it full workouts.

Top 10 Ways to Know I'm fully Recovered

10.  Able to use the bike with both legs pedaling - Accomplished on most days as of 7/12/12
9.  No longer have to plan out all the steps in getting a shower and dressed, the in-case chair gets removed - removed on 8/7/12 as it was in the way of getting a shower
8.  Able to wear jeans - can do as of 8/20/12, although tight on the knee by the end of the day
7.  Started the outside work, including mowing and weeding - started 8/31/12
6.  Good days and Bad days aren't determined by my knee
5.  A momentary pause when I stand rather than a minute
4.  Able to safely use stairs (up and down) with alternating legs
3.  Can sit and work for more than 1 hour at a time
2.  Able to schedule client appointments without thinking about my stamina
1.  Able to dance a full night's contras on time. (Yeah, I couldn't do on time before but I can try again)

0" reached

Last Wednesday at PT, with just a bit of pressure from the therapist, my left leg went to full straight!!  Now we work on bendy stuff.

This past Monday the therapist worked on scar tissue at the kneecap and below.  Felt so weird, the swelling started that evening and went back to overstuffed sausage for Tuesday and Wednesday.  Today I got it to reduce a bit and got on the bike.

Both legs made full revolutions for 9 minutes at almost full speed for me.  Dancing can't be far behind.

Wheee!!!

Showered tonight standing up!  Also took 10 steps without a cane!!!  Tomorrow see new PT about getting leg to fully straighten and bend - probably going to be hurting tomorrow night.

June 1 and oh is this frustrating

So, here it is June 1 and I am so frustrated.  Yesterday switched internet providers and spent a good bit of the day vertical, did my exercises and then had two legs aching and paining all night long.  Various gels did little to assist in getting them to quiet, nor did muscle relaxer or pain meds.  Thus spent most of today asleep.  How is this progressing forward towards dancing again?  I so want to dance, even a slow walking waltz would be a joy.

On the plus side, I am walking better, using the cane more for stability and less for support.  I am up to six minutes on the bike, no left leg.

May 18, after the 4 month anniversary

Yes, On Monday I was back to my upbeat self, feeling as though all was possible.  Sadly on Tuesday and Wednesday I had a bug of some sort, no energy, no stamina, no appetite.  Managed to get out of bed enough to care for Guy and make sure I had water.  Thursday I say an out-patient therapist - uses laser and percussion therapy, I do the exercises at home.  We'll see how it goes, whether I improve over the coming weeks.  Today I'm feeling pretty good, did my exercises, got on the bike and worked on flexing and stamina.  Plus, weighed myself and I'm down to 190 - not recommending this as a weight-loss strategy but it is nice to know that there is a downward trend on size.  No, I don't think I'll look better smaller - I know my knee will appreciate fewer pounds pressing down on it.

Carpooling to the Friday Night Dance to listen to Swallowtail and watch the dancers.  I'll have a cane and a walker but no wheelchair this time.  Got to wean myself away from them.  Hope I don't overdue it.

May 14th

So, yesterday was supposed to be the day I continued building on 3 days of walking, sitting, and being vertical for more time each day.  Instead at some early hour of the morning my quads and hamstrings exploded with spasms and cramps, my knee felt like it was the size of a basketball and there was no relief for hours, even with pills.  It became a misery day trying to shuffle enough to feed the cat and myself.  I tried pep talks - 12 years ago you ended up finding out who you thought you were married to wasn't and you got through that; 7 years ago you found out about lumps and breast cancer and you got through that; 3 years ago you found out about slipped disks and sciatic nerve pain and you got through that - and I learned that I am lousy at pep talks.  Instead I spent a lot of time thinking that less than four months ago I spent a delightful evening at the Baltimore Mid-Winter Ball dancing to Perpetual eMotion playing and Will Mentor calling and right now I can't bend my left leg more than ten degrees and barely shuffle and dancing seems so far away.  Yeah, sometimes life just plain f***ing sucks.
Not to worry, I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be back to my old cheerful, upbeat self, but right now I am so tired of the pain, the immobility, the frustration,.  I still sometimes dream of walking and dancing and I'm happy and then... I wake up.  Yeah - told you I suck at pep talks.