Week 1-2

Every day, I get a little stronger. It's so amazing to be in a place where such minute changes are infinitely noticeable. For instance, I can lift my own leg out of the CPM machine (with my hands, of course). I can't do anything with it once it's in the air, but at least that's one more thing I can do!

I went back for my second therapy appointment, and was assured I'm making fantastic progress. I got some new exercises, including that exercise bike that was supposed to start last week.

So now I do 10 minutes on the bike every day (no resistance), plus all of last week's exercises, plus:
1. Internal leg rotations
2. More isometrics - abduction x2 with ball between knees and then between ankles
3. Leg extensions with ball between ankles

All the exercises take about 20 minutes to complete, and I do them 3 times a day. Plus I'm still 8 hours on the CPM, although I can drop one hour for every 10 minutes on the bike. Yay!!

I'm getting stronger with everyday things, like taking a shower, although I still haven't figured out how to keep the prescribed plastic wrap on my leg as water runs over it. Usually I end up with a little water balloon on the back of my thigh, and soaked stitches. I can't wait for the stitches to come out, but there's a problem: the area is very red and inflamed, and it itches like mad. All I want to do is slap my leg silly, trying to make the itching stop! I think it's the tape, because the redness is a perfect extension of the tape pattern. In addition to the anti-inflammatory and the anti-spasmodic, I now get to take antibiotics.

But I'm still completely pain-free, which is amazing. And I'm really enjoying having all of this free time. My job is very high-stress, so I don't get many opportunities to decompress. I've been getting through so many of the books I've been waiting 5+ years to read. Life is good.