So I saw my surgeon last Wednesday. He wasn't pleased with my flexion. In week 6, I was still at 95 degrees. That particular morning, my leg was stuck at 90 degrees since it was stiff. He said that I'd need to go in for an arthroscopy to remove scar tissue if my flexion didn't improve. The idea of going under the knife again was NOT pleasing whatsoever. It would be like the first time all over again except slightly bette. Anyway, I was REALLY mad at my PT because of it. I REALLY didn't understand why she hadn't been trying to meet my flexion goals. By four weeks, I should have been at 115 degrees but it was week 6 and I was just at 95. Anyway, so I went home that day intending to work on flexion a lot more. I began to ask my sister to help me with passive flexion to increase my ROM. This is what my PT should have been doing but WASN'T doing the past two-three weeks because she was under the impression that extension needed to be emphasized more. Anyway, I was really down about all of it. Somehow I managed to take my slow progress as an indicator of my overall slow progress in life. lol Yes, I was that down. It was not what I wanted to hear. My surgeon wanted to see me again in four weeks' time and said that I still had some time to improve my flexion so I should really tell my PT to push me harder.
So I got my sister to push me to my limits and it did help. I was soon going past 90. Then the next day my sister and I used a divider, a protractor and a ruler to measure my flexion and I had hit 105 degrees. I was SOOOO happy about that. The next day at physio, my PT spent the entire session just bending my knee. Yes, it was uncomfortable and my knee felt pretty sore afterwards but this is what she should have been doing all this time. I was able to get up to 105 doing heel slides after that as well and my extension went down to 4. I was SOOOOO happy about the extension especially because the extension had been stuck at 6 for a long time now. I think it was all the walking. The deliberate striking the heel and then rolling in towards the toe forced me to basically do knee extensions throughout the day and that must have been responsible for the 2 degree increase. 4 more degrees and I'll hit 0. 1 more degree after that and I'll be at the same level of extension as my other knee. So I continued with my routines: biking a lot and getting my sister to bend my knee. I kept up with the wall slides and the heel slides but the passive ROM was DEFINITELY important. Yesterday, I reached 110 degrees. Today, I reached 113 degrees but it was difficult to maintain. In a week, I want to reach 120 degrees. Two weeks later I went to hit 130 degrees in time for the surgeon's appointment. Then two weeks later full ROM.
Anyway, so I am DETERMINED to avoid having to go for surgery again. Other than that, my legs have gotten significantly stronger than they were before. Now I know this isn't rpm but it's some sort of speedometer for my stationary bike at home and before my surgery, I used to go at level 4 resistance at about 34-36 speed. I don't feel that I'm quite ready for level 4 just yet so I've been working on strengthening myself at level 3 primarily. Today I mostly maintained my speed from 29-32 which was a personal best since the surgery. My session was an hour long too. I've noticed that nowadays my knee no longer swells up the way that it used to. I think for my second surgery I'm definitely going to pay closer attention to my doctor's protocol. It had mentioned that I gradually work up to 20 mins in weeks 3 and 4 but I was often going on for 40-60 min sessions which meant that my hamstring was often ridiculously sore and I had a pretty huge swelling. Yes, I know. Idiot me. My biking in those two weeks should have only been enough that it didn't cause excessive swelling because in the first four weeks, the bike is only for ROM. But I introduced resistance in week 2 I believe actually. Or week 3.
Anyway, I remember that I often gave more importance to my bike session than I did to the flexion exercises. YES, IDIOTIC ME. Can I say that enough? Plus my PT wasn't pushing me enough in terms of flexion either. My SECOND surgery is Insha-Allah going to go much better. Anyway, I'm glad that just a few sessions of regular flexion with my sister bending my leg has increased my flexion quite a bit. Other than that, I am climbing up and down stairs normally albeit slowly. It feels weird climbing down stairs especially because the right knee just feels so stiff. I wonder when that stiffness will go away entirely. Sitting down in a 90 degree position is no longer a problem. I occassionally try bending my leg more. lol Other than that, I read in other ppl's blogs that in the morning, they always experienced some knee stiffness and that's true with me too. I usually need to warm up and stretch it out and it goes away. Oh yes. I am off the brace completely and I don't worry about my leg suddenly giving way or something like that.
It's funny but I think my surgery in the winter will Insha-Allah be easier, not because it'll be my second time around but just because I won't have to worry about money as much which is a relief. I think I've stopped living for some time. I put my life on pause especially this year in anticipation of the surgeries and well, the financial woes. I don't know... I would really like to feel the runner's high again. I want to feel strong and healthy again and the more that I have to wait until I reach that point in terms of my right knee, the more I feel like I'm straying from that goal. lol Atleast I haven't lost any upper body strength yet. My punches still move air. lol. I really want to make biking and strength-training a routine again but I don't know. The biking is never intense enough to get my heart beating intensely. Anyway, I'll be changing PT's soon. Let's hope this one's really good.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Latest physio update and a movie :)
So my latest physio session was on Monday. This time when measuring my flexion, I reached 95 degrees. It is definitely an improvement compared to struggling at 90 degrees and then at 80 for some reason. I'm getting better at climbing up stairs when I remove my brace though it still feels oddly uncomfortable. There's slight pain. My extension has remained pretty much the same which is frustrating. At physio, we worked a little on extension. Other than that, I have been given some new exercises. My routine now basically looks like this:
3 x 10: Quad sets
3 x 10: Towel-assisted heel slides
3 x 10: Heel slides
3 x 10 Wall slides
3 x 10 Hip abduction
3 x 10 Hip adduction
3 x 10 Hip extension
3 x 10: Bilateral squats
3 x 10 Unilateral squats
3 x 10 Steps ups
3 x 10 Step downs (without actually stepping down)
3 x 10 Step up and step downs
Okay, CLEARLY, I haven't gone through that entire routine even once so far but I will! :D. And of course, there is the 45 mins-1 hr bike session. Yes, I will do this atleast five times a week even though I should be doing this every day.
Other than that, my walking is still better, I sit with bent knees without any pain or tightness. But when I get up, I always feel weird :S. It feels like my knee becomes conditioned into staying in a particular position and needs to remind itself to adopt other positions.
Anyway, other than that, it has been raining quite a bit which I have absolutely been loving. There was a Greek Festival on my street this past weekend. After two years of choosing not to attend, my family finally decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately for us, we chose to leave at about 8:30 PM on the last day of the festival just when the festival was winding down. To make matters worse, the heavens opened and a spectacular thunder storm poured and poured onto the yellow streets. My little siblings, my mother and myself took shelter in a nearby Pizza Pizza, hoping to wait out the storm. I think we must have spent a half hour to an hour there so we decided to order pizza. Unfortunately, after we were done, the rain still had not let up and we were soaked on returning home. So my experience of Greek cuisine: zero. Fast-food: one. lol. Pizza Pizza pizza at a Greek festival. Dear lord.
Speaking of getting about, I have been picking up speed. I walk significantly faster than I used to before and it's not even deliberate. I don't even think twice about this. This is definitely something that I am glad about. The only times that I really stop are when I need to pause to rety my Zimmer splint that keeps falling off. I will be seeing the surgeon in a few hours. Yes, I should be sleeping but I stayed up watching Bridget Jones' Diary. Now THAT'S a good chick flick! They don't make them like that anymore. I ABSOLUTELY LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE Mark Darcy. That is all! lol
Over and out :).
3 x 10: Quad sets
3 x 10: Towel-assisted heel slides
3 x 10: Heel slides
3 x 10 Wall slides
3 x 10 Hip abduction
3 x 10 Hip adduction
3 x 10 Hip extension
3 x 10: Bilateral squats
3 x 10 Unilateral squats
3 x 10 Steps ups
3 x 10 Step downs (without actually stepping down)
3 x 10 Step up and step downs
Okay, CLEARLY, I haven't gone through that entire routine even once so far but I will! :D. And of course, there is the 45 mins-1 hr bike session. Yes, I will do this atleast five times a week even though I should be doing this every day.
Other than that, my walking is still better, I sit with bent knees without any pain or tightness. But when I get up, I always feel weird :S. It feels like my knee becomes conditioned into staying in a particular position and needs to remind itself to adopt other positions.
Anyway, other than that, it has been raining quite a bit which I have absolutely been loving. There was a Greek Festival on my street this past weekend. After two years of choosing not to attend, my family finally decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately for us, we chose to leave at about 8:30 PM on the last day of the festival just when the festival was winding down. To make matters worse, the heavens opened and a spectacular thunder storm poured and poured onto the yellow streets. My little siblings, my mother and myself took shelter in a nearby Pizza Pizza, hoping to wait out the storm. I think we must have spent a half hour to an hour there so we decided to order pizza. Unfortunately, after we were done, the rain still had not let up and we were soaked on returning home. So my experience of Greek cuisine: zero. Fast-food: one. lol. Pizza Pizza pizza at a Greek festival. Dear lord.
Speaking of getting about, I have been picking up speed. I walk significantly faster than I used to before and it's not even deliberate. I don't even think twice about this. This is definitely something that I am glad about. The only times that I really stop are when I need to pause to rety my Zimmer splint that keeps falling off. I will be seeing the surgeon in a few hours. Yes, I should be sleeping but I stayed up watching Bridget Jones' Diary. Now THAT'S a good chick flick! They don't make them like that anymore. I ABSOLUTELY LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE Mark Darcy. That is all! lol
Over and out :).
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Almost 5 weeks post-op
5 weeks post-op. lol I can't believe I'm actually 5 weeks post-op. I guess a few updates are in order as to how I'm doing and what I have been up to. I'm definitely becoming better. Walking around with the brace isn't a chore anymore. And I spend most of my time out of the brace at home. I'm trying to get the heel-to-toe motion going for my right foot while walking. The bending of the knee when walking still feels deliberate and I'm hoping that it will go away soon. Other than that, I have been biking about 45 mins on most days. I want to get it up to an hour soon but I'll wait a bit. For a few days, I wasn't very good with my exercises. So I need to get back on that. These days, I do my strenght-training and flexion exercises before I hop on the bike so that once I get off the bike and I can't really walk on the leg, I'll be able to just sit down and relax.
Anyway, this past week has been INSANELY busy trying to process all the competitor application forms for the upcoming TKD tournament. I have moved into my new office and I like the fact that it's a place that I actually get work done. At home, I'm never really able to focus but here for some reason I am. I'll be heading out to the tournament in about two weeks' time. Should be an interesting experience.
Other than that, it seems a pity but I don't think I'll be returning to school next year. Atleast not for the first semester. I've decided to pay for myself for the next two yrs of school and then figure things out. Well before I return to school, I am going to ensure that I have things figured out. And I really did want to finish up my degree even though I learnt next to nothing -_-;;;;.
I wonder what direction I'l be taking career-wise. Maybe Taekwondo will become my career. That would be interesting. But hmmm... who knows?
Right now, I'm listening to Yiruma's Time Forgets. lol Looking back on certain things, it is true: time does forget. I can't believe two years will have passed since my injury by this October. Two years. Two entire years since all that chaos. I'm still sorting through the havoc. I guess everyone is collecting our respective shards and piecing them to the best of our ability into something newer and perhaps better. I really want to know what lies ahead for me, what more is out there. I guess I'll find out at some point. I can't believe I'm turning 21 this year. I really need to figure things out, follow that societal timeline for our lives and get a move on it.
Anyway, enough dwelling on things I have no answers for. Since my brace will be coming off this week, I think I want to design a routine to get a move on strengthening. Time to take out my gym clothes. Speaking of gym clothes, I really need to get myself some more. And then I'll begin spending every other day at the AC, working on lower body stuff and upper body stuff and there's of course the biking. Let's see what my surgeon has to say this Wednesday! :O EEK!
Anyway, this past week has been INSANELY busy trying to process all the competitor application forms for the upcoming TKD tournament. I have moved into my new office and I like the fact that it's a place that I actually get work done. At home, I'm never really able to focus but here for some reason I am. I'll be heading out to the tournament in about two weeks' time. Should be an interesting experience.
Other than that, it seems a pity but I don't think I'll be returning to school next year. Atleast not for the first semester. I've decided to pay for myself for the next two yrs of school and then figure things out. Well before I return to school, I am going to ensure that I have things figured out. And I really did want to finish up my degree even though I learnt next to nothing -_-;;;;.
I wonder what direction I'l be taking career-wise. Maybe Taekwondo will become my career. That would be interesting. But hmmm... who knows?
Right now, I'm listening to Yiruma's Time Forgets. lol Looking back on certain things, it is true: time does forget. I can't believe two years will have passed since my injury by this October. Two years. Two entire years since all that chaos. I'm still sorting through the havoc. I guess everyone is collecting our respective shards and piecing them to the best of our ability into something newer and perhaps better. I really want to know what lies ahead for me, what more is out there. I guess I'll find out at some point. I can't believe I'm turning 21 this year. I really need to figure things out, follow that societal timeline for our lives and get a move on it.
Anyway, enough dwelling on things I have no answers for. Since my brace will be coming off this week, I think I want to design a routine to get a move on strengthening. Time to take out my gym clothes. Speaking of gym clothes, I really need to get myself some more. And then I'll begin spending every other day at the AC, working on lower body stuff and upper body stuff and there's of course the biking. Let's see what my surgeon has to say this Wednesday! :O EEK!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
90 degrees of flexion FINALLY!
So I went to physio yesterday which marked day 21 post-op. I guess the doctors were serious when they said I'd be walking after two weeks which is true. I am walking around and no longer use a crutch but it's slow and walking around too much causes my knee to swell up. Yesterday for instance, I went to physio at 3 PM and then was on my feet until about 9 PM. It was nice to be on campus. I had gone to the library to take care of some assignments for my job. I really REALLY miss being a student. I want to attend class, print lecture notes and have to study and write papers. I really do miss that. This is kind of unrelated to my surgery progress but I thought I'd explore this here as well.
The past two years were far too erratic for me to even properly be considered a student. Between working too much and extra-curriculars, stress and personal issues, there was hardly enough time to be a student. The next few years, I want to make academics my priority again. My extra-curricular time is already going to be full what with work as well as volunteering at my TKD dojhang. The rest of the time is going to be devoted to solid studying.
Anyway, so progress report: so I've permanently given up crutch-walking. By the end of week 3, I was off even the single crutch. My walking is slow and it's a huge contrast to the speed I would maintain pre-surgery but atleast I'm on my feet. Granted though, I don't like to be on my feet too much. It's a real chore when you have to take the public transit. Oh well. I guess this will just force my leg to get back to normal faster which is good. Considering that I am already doing everything on my own now anyway, this is good progress.
So back to my actual progress. At my physio session yesterday, I was at 90 degrees of flexion. At physio today, one of the physical therapy students under the supervision of my PT passively flexed my leg while I lay on my stomach so that it was at about 95 degrees. There is still so much tightness. I hate this tightness. I wonder when it'll go away completely. Anyway, so after doing that, I was to try doing a heel slide on my own to see if my ROM increased. It did but by 2 degrees which I guess is something. Maybe I should come to physio earlier and actually warm-up for about 15 mins or so before the actual appointment. Yesterday, I only got to warm up for about 5 mins.
My performance on the bike has improved. My bike goal is supposed to be 20 mins and as mentioned earlier I've already exceeded that. Initially on the bike, I had to slowly break past some of the initial stiffness by doing half revolutions and then attempting a full back revolution and then a full forward revolution and then taking it from there. That's gotten better. Now it doesn't hurt like it did initially in week 2 so that's another improvement. My operated leg, however, would always point downwards whenever my foot was to descend into the lower half of the revolution. As of today, I noticed some improvements in that I was able to keep the foot mostly straight throughout the entire revolution which means that my quads and hamstrings were firing as they were supposed to. I just finished an hour on the bike and god, my right hamstring feels majorly tired. I'm going to stretch the hamstring and the calves a bit and do the same on the left leg. It's a little frustrating that I can't do quad stretches yet but that'll happen once I achieve full flexion. I really do wonder when that'll be.
Anyway, other than that, my scar is healing nicely. There is about a 4 cm incision and half of it is barely noticeable whereas the other half is. The PT also did a little ultrasound around the scar to break up the formation of scar tissue.
Oh yes, my extension is worrying me. It was actually worse this time in physio at about 8 degrees. Last time my extension was at 6. I need to get it down to -2 which is normal. I read somewhere that if full extension isn't achieved by week 8, another surgery may be needed. lol Yeah... I don't want that.
Other than that, there isn't much else to report. I went to the doctor's today for a prescription and I was really fed up with the slow pace of walking. It really is demoralizing. On my way home, an older woman commented on my brace and asked what procedure I had. I told her about it and she told me that she was getting a total knee replacement done which meant that she couldn't walk on it for about three months. I know she's in a worse predicament than myself but I still can't help feeling sorry for myself. lol. Like I said, I don't make a good patient.
The past two years were far too erratic for me to even properly be considered a student. Between working too much and extra-curriculars, stress and personal issues, there was hardly enough time to be a student. The next few years, I want to make academics my priority again. My extra-curricular time is already going to be full what with work as well as volunteering at my TKD dojhang. The rest of the time is going to be devoted to solid studying.
Anyway, so progress report: so I've permanently given up crutch-walking. By the end of week 3, I was off even the single crutch. My walking is slow and it's a huge contrast to the speed I would maintain pre-surgery but atleast I'm on my feet. Granted though, I don't like to be on my feet too much. It's a real chore when you have to take the public transit. Oh well. I guess this will just force my leg to get back to normal faster which is good. Considering that I am already doing everything on my own now anyway, this is good progress.
So back to my actual progress. At my physio session yesterday, I was at 90 degrees of flexion. At physio today, one of the physical therapy students under the supervision of my PT passively flexed my leg while I lay on my stomach so that it was at about 95 degrees. There is still so much tightness. I hate this tightness. I wonder when it'll go away completely. Anyway, so after doing that, I was to try doing a heel slide on my own to see if my ROM increased. It did but by 2 degrees which I guess is something. Maybe I should come to physio earlier and actually warm-up for about 15 mins or so before the actual appointment. Yesterday, I only got to warm up for about 5 mins.
My performance on the bike has improved. My bike goal is supposed to be 20 mins and as mentioned earlier I've already exceeded that. Initially on the bike, I had to slowly break past some of the initial stiffness by doing half revolutions and then attempting a full back revolution and then a full forward revolution and then taking it from there. That's gotten better. Now it doesn't hurt like it did initially in week 2 so that's another improvement. My operated leg, however, would always point downwards whenever my foot was to descend into the lower half of the revolution. As of today, I noticed some improvements in that I was able to keep the foot mostly straight throughout the entire revolution which means that my quads and hamstrings were firing as they were supposed to. I just finished an hour on the bike and god, my right hamstring feels majorly tired. I'm going to stretch the hamstring and the calves a bit and do the same on the left leg. It's a little frustrating that I can't do quad stretches yet but that'll happen once I achieve full flexion. I really do wonder when that'll be.
Anyway, other than that, my scar is healing nicely. There is about a 4 cm incision and half of it is barely noticeable whereas the other half is. The PT also did a little ultrasound around the scar to break up the formation of scar tissue.
Oh yes, my extension is worrying me. It was actually worse this time in physio at about 8 degrees. Last time my extension was at 6. I need to get it down to -2 which is normal. I read somewhere that if full extension isn't achieved by week 8, another surgery may be needed. lol Yeah... I don't want that.
Other than that, there isn't much else to report. I went to the doctor's today for a prescription and I was really fed up with the slow pace of walking. It really is demoralizing. On my way home, an older woman commented on my brace and asked what procedure I had. I told her about it and she told me that she was getting a total knee replacement done which meant that she couldn't walk on it for about three months. I know she's in a worse predicament than myself but I still can't help feeling sorry for myself. lol. Like I said, I don't make a good patient.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Day 18 post-op
It's weird how this Tuesday, almost three weeks will have passed since my surgery. As previous posts have described, the first two weeks were a very trying experience both in terms of physical pain as well as how emotionally draining it can be. I've been criticizing my progress quite a bit, especially in terms of flexion. In today's physio appointment, I discovered that my flexion had improved to about 85 degrees, but still five degrees away from 90. It's a shame that I didn't meet the goal of the first two weeks which was 90-100 degrees. No matter. I am slowly becoming stronger at working. I'm down to one crutch and I am trying to introduce more walks into my day. As of two days ago when I discovered I could do a full revolution on my stationary bike at home, I've been using the bike quite religiously. The first day, I spent only 15 mins. The next day, I upped it to 30 mins. Today, I upped it to 40 mins and added 10 mins of resistance at level 2 and about 2 mins at level 3. That I can tolerate this makes me happy but my speed is significantly slower than before my surgery. After my bike routine, my knee swells up quite a bit. Today I decided to do both towel-assisted heel slides, unassisted heel slides and wall slides which meant my knee was pretty swollen. However, I discovered that I was finding it easier to pull my leg up. I think the fact that my hamstrings and quad muscles have gotten stronger definitely has something to do with my being able to pull my knee back like that. I mean with the wall slides, I already knew for a while that 90 degrees was within my flexion range but heel slides require your own body's strength to pull you into that flexed position. In any case, I did the bilateral squats, toe raises and hamstring exercise with the theraband as well. I have been lazy with the hip adduction and abduction. My hip abductors are quite strong but my hip adductors are quite weak for some reason. Anyway, I should really work on that as well. Another thing to note: today from physio, I decided to walk up to Spadina station with my sister and from Pape station, my sister and I walked home. Of course, I used the crutch the entire time but atleast for a few more days, I'll use one crutch and wean myself off it by week 4. Yet another update: after three weeks, I got to see my dojhang again. It wasn't a particularly busy day but it was still nice to see everyone. I stayed for about an hour, watched a class, greeted all the Instructors and a few of the children that I was fond of, and then headed home. In a week, I'll be coming in every day to work upstairs in the office. I may opt to work in the evenings. I don't know. We'll see. I don't know what hours I'll have.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Day 1 of Week 3
Seems like I haven't posted in a little while. I had my physio appointment yesterday which I thought was better than previous appointments. Before the physio appointment, my PT had told me to bike for about 10 mins or so to warm up my knee. I ended up doing half-revolutions. By the time my actual appointment came around, it was time for measuring extension and flexion. Extension remained the same at about 6 degrees. Last time, it was 7 degrees. One degree improvement I guess.
Flexion, however, was at 80 degrees now. Now that's still an improvement from 56 but STILL! By now I should have been at 90. I do quite possibly hate heel slides simply because they don't adequately seem to reflect my flexion. I am able to bend my leg a lot more than I can with heel slides when I do wall slides but that's another story.
Anyway, from there, she proceeded to do ultrasound therapy which was apparently supposed to help with the swelling. I have no idea what it actually did. Then, she manually massaged my knee. My sutures still hadn't been removed yet so she simply massaged the upper half of my knee where the swelling is primarily in the quad. The massage definitely helped because the swelling came down quite a bit. Then my exercise was to practice extensions using stimulation. The stimulation felt SOOOO weird initially because my leg muscles would twitch rapidly due to the electrical current passing through them. But after a while, I became used to it.
Then there was an hour and a half wait for the appointment with the doctor to get my sutures removed. I thought stitches removal would be painful but it kind of stung. There was a knot that sewed together a hole they'd dug for one of the instruments. Then there was the 4 cm incision running on the left side of my operated leg which had a subcutaneous stitch done. Now THAT hurt. Pulling it out involved taking one end of the string, wrapping it around a pair of scissors and simply tugging. Now tugging on stitches that are woven beneath your skin with the inicision healed around it definitely stings. Either way, it was pulled out and a trio of strips were placed on to reinforce the incision. After that, I headed home.
This was all yesterday. Today, I discovered much to my surprise that I was able to do a full revolution on the stationary bike both forward and backwards. This made me REALLYYYYYYYYYY happy because I remember struggling on the stationary bike earlier and the sooner that the stationary bike becomes easier, the faster I can get my regular cardio sessions back on. So this DEFINITELY makes me happy. Of course, I'm not using any resistance and this is mainly for flexion but still. I should really ask my PT for some strength-training exercises because I need to get a move on the strengthening. I wonder if I can add any weights to my squats.
Anyway, that's all for now. :D. I am trying my best to be able to walk heel-to-toe without limping or swinging from the hip but it's a still a little bit awkward. Atleast I can walk for short distances though. All in due time :).
Love,
Iram
Flexion, however, was at 80 degrees now. Now that's still an improvement from 56 but STILL! By now I should have been at 90. I do quite possibly hate heel slides simply because they don't adequately seem to reflect my flexion. I am able to bend my leg a lot more than I can with heel slides when I do wall slides but that's another story.
Anyway, from there, she proceeded to do ultrasound therapy which was apparently supposed to help with the swelling. I have no idea what it actually did. Then, she manually massaged my knee. My sutures still hadn't been removed yet so she simply massaged the upper half of my knee where the swelling is primarily in the quad. The massage definitely helped because the swelling came down quite a bit. Then my exercise was to practice extensions using stimulation. The stimulation felt SOOOO weird initially because my leg muscles would twitch rapidly due to the electrical current passing through them. But after a while, I became used to it.
Then there was an hour and a half wait for the appointment with the doctor to get my sutures removed. I thought stitches removal would be painful but it kind of stung. There was a knot that sewed together a hole they'd dug for one of the instruments. Then there was the 4 cm incision running on the left side of my operated leg which had a subcutaneous stitch done. Now THAT hurt. Pulling it out involved taking one end of the string, wrapping it around a pair of scissors and simply tugging. Now tugging on stitches that are woven beneath your skin with the inicision healed around it definitely stings. Either way, it was pulled out and a trio of strips were placed on to reinforce the incision. After that, I headed home.
This was all yesterday. Today, I discovered much to my surprise that I was able to do a full revolution on the stationary bike both forward and backwards. This made me REALLYYYYYYYYYY happy because I remember struggling on the stationary bike earlier and the sooner that the stationary bike becomes easier, the faster I can get my regular cardio sessions back on. So this DEFINITELY makes me happy. Of course, I'm not using any resistance and this is mainly for flexion but still. I should really ask my PT for some strength-training exercises because I need to get a move on the strengthening. I wonder if I can add any weights to my squats.
Anyway, that's all for now. :D. I am trying my best to be able to walk heel-to-toe without limping or swinging from the hip but it's a still a little bit awkward. Atleast I can walk for short distances though. All in due time :).
Love,
Iram
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Post-op day 11
By the end of week 2, you are supposed to have achieved about 90 degrees of flexion in your operated leg. I, however, am about 36 degrees away from that goal. When I went in for physio, my flexion was at 56 degrees as opposed to my first appointment when it was 26 degrees. I am disappointed in myself because considering how flexible I am, I should have gotten better flexion. I don't know why it is. It could be because that swelling above my quad becomes so aggravated if I try bending my leg that way. I really hate that everytime I do the exercises, my knee swells up so intensely. Today, this is what I did:
Quad sets: 3 x 10
Hamstring sets: 3 x 10
Heel slides with towel: 6 (my knee began to hurt soon after)
Wall slides: 40.
Then later on, I did about 10 mins on the stationary bike doing half-revolutions to increase my range of motion. I wonder what would happen if I tried to push through the pain though I don't think I'm supposed to be doing that. My hamstring does feel stronger but perhaps I should be doing more hamstring strengthening exercises with the theraband and add in the 1/4 wall slides as well as the rest.
I'm not particularly fond of my physiotherapist because she doesn't really give me a structured routine and even our physio sessions aren't structured. I did manage to get a second appointment with her for yesterday and she tried to increase my range of motion by physically moving my leg and also told me of another exercise to do: wall slides. Now, I do like wall slides. I don't like heel slides very much but unfortunately, my degree of flexion is measured using heel slides, not wall slides. I could have sworn that my flexion was at 90 or close to 90 during wall slides and then the seated knee bends. But the heel slides present a different picture.
Anyway, today's routine was very fragmented. I did it in several parts to deal with the associated swelling that came with every flexion exercise.
Part 1:
(as mentioned above)
Part 2:
10 mins on stationary bike.
- This hurt quite a bit because I kept trying to push my leg to go further.
Part 3:
1/4 bilateral squats: 30
Toe raises: 30
Seated knee bends: 30
Resisted hams (with theraband): 30
You know what? If my physiotherapist is going to leave this largely up to me to figure out (heck even after I started doing pre-surgery rehab, I thought my own routine was helping me more), I'll figure out my own routine. Of course, I'm sticking to the exercises that the protocol from my doctor says I can do and all these exercises are supposed to be in there. I just haven't been doing all of them. Maybe that's why my progress has been slower than expected. Anyway, so this is what I'm going to do:
Routine:
Quad sets: 3 x 10
Ham sets: 3 x 10
Heel slides: 3 x 10
Wall slides: 3 x 10
1/4 squats: 3 x 10
Toe raises: 3 x 10
Seated knee bends 3 x 10
Resisted hams with theraband: 3 x 10
Theraband glute kickback: 3 x 10
Hip abduction with weights: 3 x 10 (3 lbs)
Hip adduction with weights: 3 x 10 (3 lbs)
10 min of stationary bike - half-revolutions every day. Add 1 more min each day.
AND if my quad swelling prevents me from getting through all the exercises, I'll simply break them up through out the day but this routine must be done.
Today, I was pretty pleased with my seated knee bends. I was able to bring my leg nicely into a 90 degree position without any discomfort or shifting like last time. My earlier attempts had required me to tilt to one side to drag my leg further in but this time I was able to do it easily enough. Pulling it further back however was not quite possible.
I was taking quite a lot of breaks from writing this blog entry so I'm making new discoveries about what my operated leg can and can't do. To my wonderful surprise, my quad remembered how to do straight leg raises with my brace on. I remember trying to do it earlier on in the past week and a half and I couldn't do it so I'm psyched that my body remembers how to do it now.
You know something: I don't make a good patient or a good invalid. I complain a lot. I make myself miserable recounting the things I can't do and the trouble it takes me to do the things I could do easily only a week and a half ago. I become depressed and easily frustrated and beat myself up for what seems like really slow and poor progress. I'm discounting the fact that a week and a half ago, I couldn't even get out of bed without my sister moving my foot off the pillow that served as a foot rest. I'm discounting the fact that even though I'm still on crutches, I'm crutch-walking a lot faster and I'm fully weight-bearing. Yes, flexion drives me insane because flexion exercises are the only ones that actually hurt. Everything else, I can't wait to get started on. But flexion not only hurts but it also causes swelling afterwards. But even though my flexion progress has been slow, there's still been progress. Now that I've really started doing the other exercises, it's only going to go up from here. And I mean come on, I can now ride the subway if I want to. All I need to do is get myself one of those Nike bags, throw my wallet, water bottle and other bare essentials, hop on my crutches and ride the subway to TKD and other places. So yeah, I've come along. Sure, my progress is a little slow but it's picking up in leaps and bounds and once I can go all out on the exercises, believe you me when I say I'm going to go all out.
It was funny how the other day when I rode the subway, I kept staring down everyone who could walk daring them to test me. LOL. I didn't become a black belt in TKD to be pitied. It was funny though. I guess you don't see a Muslim hijabi on crutches with an injury like the one I (had) and now have corrected every single day. Oh well.
The progress is definitely lifting my spirits. I can't believe that my quad remembers how to do straight leg raises even if it is with the knee brace on. That makes me so happy. And nowadays when I do the quad contractions, I can actually feel the quad contract. When I used to do it before, I could only faintly feel it and sometimes I didn't feel it at all. I guess it is the weight-bearing crutch-walking and the quad contractions that have FINALLY brought my quad back to life. Now I just need to ensure that there is good muscular control.
The ordeal I was going through this past week and a half which really was more mental than physical after the initial few days, was enough to make me reconsider getting the second surgery done. Did I really want to put my body through this AGAIN? I can tell you one thing: I am not looking forward to it. The initial days really are enough to make you want to wish you hadn't done it. But maybe when I do it the second time, it won't hurt as bad because I'll have learnt all that I need to know. How to move my operated leg off the bed with the other foot. How to climb up and down stairs with crutches. And well, the newness of it all won't be so new anymore I guess and I might just handle it better. Plus, I'll be more prepared. I'll have a stash of books and movies on-hand as well as arrange to get a bigger table so that I can do homework and other things right in bed. Yes. THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE. Just bought a stool or some sort of short table that would be wide enough for my legs to slip through and stable and sturdy enough to do homework on. Hmmmm... I wonder if I should invest in the Cryo-cuff machine for my second surgery. lol Let's face it: I am going to get it done. Knowing my recklessness and tendency to think of myself as super-woman, I am bound to take that partial-tear and turn it into a complete tear. lol Might as well take this year off and get both knees fixed up while I'm at it. Hopefully, my second surgery will be well before the snow sets in. The earliest that it could be done would be the Wednesday of the last wk of October as that Tuesday would signify the completion of month 4 for my right knee.
Anyway, point being: I will get the second surgery over and done with as well and come back to TKD stronger than ever.
Quad sets: 3 x 10
Hamstring sets: 3 x 10
Heel slides with towel: 6 (my knee began to hurt soon after)
Wall slides: 40.
Then later on, I did about 10 mins on the stationary bike doing half-revolutions to increase my range of motion. I wonder what would happen if I tried to push through the pain though I don't think I'm supposed to be doing that. My hamstring does feel stronger but perhaps I should be doing more hamstring strengthening exercises with the theraband and add in the 1/4 wall slides as well as the rest.
I'm not particularly fond of my physiotherapist because she doesn't really give me a structured routine and even our physio sessions aren't structured. I did manage to get a second appointment with her for yesterday and she tried to increase my range of motion by physically moving my leg and also told me of another exercise to do: wall slides. Now, I do like wall slides. I don't like heel slides very much but unfortunately, my degree of flexion is measured using heel slides, not wall slides. I could have sworn that my flexion was at 90 or close to 90 during wall slides and then the seated knee bends. But the heel slides present a different picture.
Anyway, today's routine was very fragmented. I did it in several parts to deal with the associated swelling that came with every flexion exercise.
Part 1:
(as mentioned above)
Part 2:
10 mins on stationary bike.
- This hurt quite a bit because I kept trying to push my leg to go further.
Part 3:
1/4 bilateral squats: 30
Toe raises: 30
Seated knee bends: 30
Resisted hams (with theraband): 30
You know what? If my physiotherapist is going to leave this largely up to me to figure out (heck even after I started doing pre-surgery rehab, I thought my own routine was helping me more), I'll figure out my own routine. Of course, I'm sticking to the exercises that the protocol from my doctor says I can do and all these exercises are supposed to be in there. I just haven't been doing all of them. Maybe that's why my progress has been slower than expected. Anyway, so this is what I'm going to do:
Routine:
Quad sets: 3 x 10
Ham sets: 3 x 10
Heel slides: 3 x 10
Wall slides: 3 x 10
1/4 squats: 3 x 10
Toe raises: 3 x 10
Seated knee bends 3 x 10
Resisted hams with theraband: 3 x 10
Theraband glute kickback: 3 x 10
Hip abduction with weights: 3 x 10 (3 lbs)
Hip adduction with weights: 3 x 10 (3 lbs)
10 min of stationary bike - half-revolutions every day. Add 1 more min each day.
AND if my quad swelling prevents me from getting through all the exercises, I'll simply break them up through out the day but this routine must be done.
Today, I was pretty pleased with my seated knee bends. I was able to bring my leg nicely into a 90 degree position without any discomfort or shifting like last time. My earlier attempts had required me to tilt to one side to drag my leg further in but this time I was able to do it easily enough. Pulling it further back however was not quite possible.
I was taking quite a lot of breaks from writing this blog entry so I'm making new discoveries about what my operated leg can and can't do. To my wonderful surprise, my quad remembered how to do straight leg raises with my brace on. I remember trying to do it earlier on in the past week and a half and I couldn't do it so I'm psyched that my body remembers how to do it now.
You know something: I don't make a good patient or a good invalid. I complain a lot. I make myself miserable recounting the things I can't do and the trouble it takes me to do the things I could do easily only a week and a half ago. I become depressed and easily frustrated and beat myself up for what seems like really slow and poor progress. I'm discounting the fact that a week and a half ago, I couldn't even get out of bed without my sister moving my foot off the pillow that served as a foot rest. I'm discounting the fact that even though I'm still on crutches, I'm crutch-walking a lot faster and I'm fully weight-bearing. Yes, flexion drives me insane because flexion exercises are the only ones that actually hurt. Everything else, I can't wait to get started on. But flexion not only hurts but it also causes swelling afterwards. But even though my flexion progress has been slow, there's still been progress. Now that I've really started doing the other exercises, it's only going to go up from here. And I mean come on, I can now ride the subway if I want to. All I need to do is get myself one of those Nike bags, throw my wallet, water bottle and other bare essentials, hop on my crutches and ride the subway to TKD and other places. So yeah, I've come along. Sure, my progress is a little slow but it's picking up in leaps and bounds and once I can go all out on the exercises, believe you me when I say I'm going to go all out.
It was funny how the other day when I rode the subway, I kept staring down everyone who could walk daring them to test me. LOL. I didn't become a black belt in TKD to be pitied. It was funny though. I guess you don't see a Muslim hijabi on crutches with an injury like the one I (had) and now have corrected every single day. Oh well.
The progress is definitely lifting my spirits. I can't believe that my quad remembers how to do straight leg raises even if it is with the knee brace on. That makes me so happy. And nowadays when I do the quad contractions, I can actually feel the quad contract. When I used to do it before, I could only faintly feel it and sometimes I didn't feel it at all. I guess it is the weight-bearing crutch-walking and the quad contractions that have FINALLY brought my quad back to life. Now I just need to ensure that there is good muscular control.
The ordeal I was going through this past week and a half which really was more mental than physical after the initial few days, was enough to make me reconsider getting the second surgery done. Did I really want to put my body through this AGAIN? I can tell you one thing: I am not looking forward to it. The initial days really are enough to make you want to wish you hadn't done it. But maybe when I do it the second time, it won't hurt as bad because I'll have learnt all that I need to know. How to move my operated leg off the bed with the other foot. How to climb up and down stairs with crutches. And well, the newness of it all won't be so new anymore I guess and I might just handle it better. Plus, I'll be more prepared. I'll have a stash of books and movies on-hand as well as arrange to get a bigger table so that I can do homework and other things right in bed. Yes. THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE. Just bought a stool or some sort of short table that would be wide enough for my legs to slip through and stable and sturdy enough to do homework on. Hmmmm... I wonder if I should invest in the Cryo-cuff machine for my second surgery. lol Let's face it: I am going to get it done. Knowing my recklessness and tendency to think of myself as super-woman, I am bound to take that partial-tear and turn it into a complete tear. lol Might as well take this year off and get both knees fixed up while I'm at it. Hopefully, my second surgery will be well before the snow sets in. The earliest that it could be done would be the Wednesday of the last wk of October as that Tuesday would signify the completion of month 4 for my right knee.
Anyway, point being: I will get the second surgery over and done with as well and come back to TKD stronger than ever.
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