7 Weeks Post-Op

(I wrote this post last week for Knee Guru. A little late on updating it here on Blogger.)

It has been 9 1/2 weeks since my knee injury and 7 weeks since the Fulkerson. I have made GREAT improvements since my last post.  Physical therapy has brought me a long way. While I am still wearing the immobilizer brace, I am no longer using crutches or the walker. As of last Friday, I have been able to bend my knee 113º! Though I'm still in the brace, I have been unlocking it the past couple of days while walking - no more granny swagger! Yes!

Even more exciting, yesterday I was able to go up 3 stairs normally instead of one at a time. It did hurt a little but I'm taking it one step at  time (pun intended   ). It is so great to see that light at the end of the tunnel. Next week, I will have my next appointment with the doctor. He wants to see me bend my knee 120º at least. I am confident that I can meet/exceed that goal. When I saw him a couple weeks ago, he was not happy that I couldn't bend it past 100º (I got to 95 that day). Stiffness was my main problem throughout the first 6 weeks after surgery but that's finally getting better.

Thanks for your support and encouragement my fellow Knee Geeks! Hopefully next month I will regain most of my mobility and be able to start running by May!

Post-OP Day 17: Follow Up Appt.

Yesterday morning, I had my first follow-up since surgery. It went fairly well. My OS had set a goal for my knee to be able to bend 90º. Despite me keeping up with my exercises, I was not able to reach this goal. My knee was only able to bend 52º. They also ran another set of X-rays to check out how things were healing. It looked good!

I wish I had a picture of the X-rays to show. He showed me comparison images of my patella and the overall bend of the knee. The operation successfully aligned my patella into its groove (before, it had rested over the outer edge of the groove). The second image showed the rest of my knee and the bolts in my tibial tubercle. My shin looks bizarre due to the distal lateral release - the segment of my shin holding the bolts doesn't even look connected to the rest of my shin.

Since I was not able to meet my flexion goal, the doctor decided I would need out-patient physical therapy. I was fully expecting that either way. So, just a few hours after my appointment with the doctor, I started my first round of physical therapy. When the PTA tested my flexion, I was able to bend my knee a whopping two degrees more than at my earlier appointment!

The PTA did some heat therapy while I practiced tightening my quadriceps for probably ten or fifteen minutes. After that, she placed a rolled up washcloth under my knee and had me work on sliding exercises. I also worked on flexing my calf muscle at therapy and keeping my foot upright. It was a relatively easy therapy session but my knee killed after that!

Future Prospects:
- Go to PT 3x/week for the next few weeks
- In 2 weeks, I can start walking with crutches or a walker
- In 3 weeks, I will have my next appointment with the doctor

Attached are new pictures with the surgical tape taken off of my knee. Top knee view shows the whole shebang. Side knee view shows the incision from the scope.