the day after

After breakfast, headed to PT, and Kim came around to get me started. I started with wall slides, 15 minutes (put you leg against the wall while lying on your back and then let gravity help slide you leg down). Everyone hates wall slides - the goal is to slide as much as possible until you can't go further, and then use your good leg to push the bad one back up the wall. Repeat. Headed over to a table for some quad sets 3x15 (try to flex your quad muscle, which is difficult due to lack of extension and swelling). Assisted straight leg raises 3x10, and hamstring sets by pushing my heel into the ground, 3x10. Also did band stretches with a band around my toes and pulling on my foot to stretch the leg. Kim did some patella mobs (moving the kneecap to loosen it up and keep the scar tissue from forming and maintain flexibility) and then we did prone hangs and then finished with elevated ice. Had some significant bleeding from the drainage portal, but that's not unexpected.

Dr. Steadman came in around 11 and move around the room. For me, "Your knee was bad". How bad? "On a scale of 1-10, a 10." Not worst ever, but pretty bad? "Well, maybe a 9.5." About another surgery, he said he'd see how this one goes. He said to push through the pain (which after some clarification from Rae later really meant go to discomfort). If there was anything I couol do too much or too little of, he said to trust the PTs. As for a goal or what 'full ROM' meant on my sheet, he said it meant to push, he's not going to restrict me from a motion perspective.

The sheet had weight bearing in 1 week, but Steady said only touch down for 6 weeks. That's a long time to be on crutches, although I'd practiced that long before. He didn't do a capsular release on the medial (outside) of my knee, since he though the tendons and muscles were so tight, it probably wouldn't have helped. He said he always does the inside. Rae later mentioned, 'Oh you were the one who Dr. Steadman was putting an elbow to when I walked in.' I'm guessing he did that and realized the rest of the soft tissue was so tight, didn't do the outside. Main things to focus are the patella mobs and muscle contraction on the quad.

In the afternoon, we did much of the same, although added about 3 pounds on the prone hang. Managed to squeeze out 107 with the wall slides. That night, I managed to put my leg in the straight position for about 15 minutes and then did about 15 minutes of a combination of wall slides and seated assisted flexion raises. CPM and ice most of the night as well. Overall, the knee feels pretty stiff and sore. Seems like the swelling is restricting the motion and I have some pain that seems to be from one of the portals as well.