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Post-Op Week 5

 Overall Feelings

Every day I see improvements! What a blessing! This week I got to put my don-joy brace at 60 degrees, which makes sitting a little bit more comfortable. I still like to extend my leg over an extra chair while sitting. However, sometimes that is just not feasible. When I'm sitting with my legs bent for a long period of time, I have found that my knee can get stiff. Getting up ever so often, or even just using my other leg to extend my knee, helps. 

I think my don-joy brace is what really helps me hit my range of motion goals! It almost forces me to bend it to the degree at which it is set. It might hurt for a day or so, but after that, my knee is able to bend easily to that degree. 

Physical Therapy

We are still doing the same exercises as previously mentioned in "Post-op Week 4." My range of motion seems to increase ahead of schedule, which is spectacular! For example, I wasn't supposed to move my brace to 60 degrees until Thursday, but my PT measured my knee at 61 degrees several days before Thursday! 

My PT said he thought I would be able to do a straight leg raise by the end of the week. Sadly, that wasn't the case. I can tell my quadricep is doing more than what it had been doing when I attempt to do a straight leg raise though! I'm really frustrated about not being able to lift my leg! 

Post-Op Appointment 2

My orthopedist checked out my knee cap. I used to HATE when doctors would do this. Since my knee cap was so loose, they would move my knee cap back and forth like a salt shaker! However, this time was completely different! He tried to move my knee cap, but it was so secure that I didn't feel any discomfort when he did this. This was the first time in 9 years where I felt confident in my knee cap! 

He tested my range of motion. I bent my knee as far as I could for him. I measured at 90/95 degrees, which was still ahead of schedule, since I wasn't supposed to move my brace to 90 until the next day. He tried bending my knee back further, which hurt really bad. 

He then asked me to do a straight leg raise, which I couldn't do. I told him I was concerned about that, but he said he wasn't concerned. He was pretty sure I would be able to do them by the end of the week. He told me to fire my quads (or flex my quads) as much as I possibly could during the day to help my quad wake up. My physical therapist told me to do this too, but honestly, I haven't been doing that. It's just not something I think about.  After I left the appointment, I put reminders on my phone to do quad flexes every hour. 

The doctor told me to keep my brace at 90 degrees for the next 3 weeks. I have my 3rd post-op appointment with him after that. He is hoping I will be out of my brace by then, be able to lift my leg, and be at 120 ROM. 

Activity Level 

Believe it or not, I actually went on a trip
this week! I went through the airport in a wheelchair per my physical therapist's instructions, and I rode in a plane for several hours. It is possible people! While I was in the plane, I set a timer on my watch for every 30 mins. Once it went off I got up and moved around a little bit. I did this to prevent knee stiffness; it seemed to work. It was so nice to get away having been home for so long. I didn't do anything too intense, but I was able to walk around places for a few hours or so (with several sitting breaks) just fine. 

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