Well it was a crazy Monday at the doctor office and since I did not have an appointment I had to wait 2 hours to finally see him. Getting to the doctors office was not fun and before I even saw him I ended up taking 2 pain pills because………
As I left our home the stairs were slippery and you guessed it, I slipped again and caught myself with the surgically repaired knee. Yes, it hurt but I decided to hold off on taking pain med’s and as I walked into the clinic they have these really cool looking tiles on the floor?????
I slipped on the tiles and boy did that send shock waves through my knee. While wating for the doctor I ended up taking my pain meds which helped me relax.
I finally was able to get into a room and my doctor’s PA saw me and told me there was no infection and the soreness in my tibia is because that is where he drilled out the bone to insert my new ligament. He couldn’t believe how much I was able to bend my knee and he quickly left and had the doctor in my office.
After showing me the diagram of how he grafted my knee, he left and the next thing I know I am talking to the physical therapist. The doctor wanted me to start working on strengthening exercises but when I went to their offices, he had me working on a bike, hooked me up to some sort of stimulus machine and handed me some exercises to do. It all seemed weird because they were setting me up for 3 more appointments that week.
Well, it was straightened out and I am not supposed to start therapy until after my stitches are out. However, I do not want to drive an hour for therapy when I only have to drive 5 minutes for therapy at our local place.
We went home and I was told to start using warm compresses to help get rid of the swelling.
Hot Cold Therapy
Basically I am now using more heat and elevation to get rid of the swelling. I know if I can get rid of the swelling my range of motion will be greater on the machine. I did work on the machine today and was able to bend my knee past 100 degrees and straightening it out I made it down to 16 and then the pain hit. The pain I am experiencing is the anchor in my tibia and it is awful. It hurts, I am now scared to even come close to straightening my knee to that point and it will be the hardest obstacle to overcome.
After working out I am now heating it for 10 minutes elevated and then using ice for the remainder of the day/night.
Also, while in the doctors office I noticed that I could lay on my side without pain so I tried to sleep on the sofa doing that. Well, about an hour into my sleep I was screaming because I moved my knee and that pain in my tibia came upon me in great force. I guess I will have to sleep on my back in the recliner instead.