Week 3-4

Now we're getting somewhere! On my 4th rehab appointment with Sam, we started doing some weight-bearing exercises. He laid a scale down on the floor next to a phone book. I hopped up on the scale for my baseline weight (it was not a pleasant number, but I'm grateful I haven't gained any more weight since the surgery). Then I stepped onto the phone book with my good leg, leaving my surgery leg on the scale, standing "normally." Sam had me calculate the % weight I was putting on my surgery leg (25%). Then he told me to increase it to 50%. Seriously, I wasn't expecting a math quiz, and it's really early in the morning! But I manage to divide my actual weight by 2 (hey, I figured out 25% easily enough), and start to lean. And lean. And lean some more. I tell Sam I can't possibly reach 50% without falling over, since I'm leaning so far to the right. He just laughed and said I still had a little bit to go before I was simply standing straight up. Wow! My equilibrium is toast.

Once I figure out 50%, we go to 60% (more math!), and then back to 50% for exercises. I now get to add:
1. Mini-squats - same as a regular squat, but not as far down. Full weight-bearing!
2. Calf raises - also full weight-bearing
3. Standing internal/external rotation
4. One more isometric - quad lifting

Sam decides to check and see if I am ready to start driving yet. For this, he places a pen on the ground, just inside my right foot. He instructs me to pick my leg up and place my foot on the other side of the pen, just like moving from the gas pedal to the brake. As has happened so many times before, I will my leg to move and it just sits there. I stare dumbly at my foot, wondering why it won't respond. I stare harder. It twitched. Yay! But the pen has defeated me, and I have one more week to wait before I can try the driving test again. I'd say I'm disappointed, but if I knew there was a driver on the road who couldn't make her leg move just by thinking "hey, leg - move!," I certainly wouldn't want to be on the road with her. I'm content to wait.

I also switch to 2 appointments per week, so now I'm seeing Sam on Mondays and Wednesdays. My first Monday falls within Week 3-4, so I focus on really nailing my new exercises so I can pass the pen test.

The standing leg rotations are done with my good leg on the floor, and my "bad" leg bent at 90% from the knee, with my knee on a stool. These are killing my kneecap. All of a suddon, the squats hurt my knee, as do the leg extensions. Really sharp pain, just under my kneecap. I mention this to Sam on my Monday appointment, and he looks concerned. But as my appointment went on, we started to see a trend - the pain intensified when I put pressure on my right knee. We decided I would either skip the leg rotations or add additional cushioning to see if it was just my weight on my kneecap that was causing the problem.

Also on Monday, I am happy to report that I was given authorization to toss one crutch out the window. I can now mobilize about my house with a free hand! This is an amazing accomplishment, and I spend Monday evening, all day Tuesday, and most of today moving things from one place to another, just because I can.

Sam wants me to build up to 45 minutes on the bike. I can do that by doing 4 10-minute sessions, and running them all together, or just continue adding time onto a single session until I hit 45 minutes. I opt for a combination, and am doing 2 bike sessions per day, adding time until I hit 22.5 minutes each. I'm up to 16 minutes each, and then I can feel my tendon start to twang. Have I mentioned how much I love my Game Ready ice machine? I extended my rental another month because it is so wonderful to just wrap that cuff around my hip and have the ice water course around the entire area. It just feels so good, and no fussing with towels and melty ice packs. Plus it calms twangy tendons down in a hurry! If you can get one of these, I highly recommend it.

My next rehab appointment is today at 5:30. I bet I pass the pen test today. Pedestrians, beware!