Week 9

Week nine finally provided a little encouragement.  The doctor followed up with me at the beginning of the week to see how I was doing.  I told him it seemed things were maybe getting a little better, but I wouldn't know until I gave it another shot to bear weight while walking on the Alter G.  I told him about my slip on the ice - he didn't seem to concerned.  We agreed that if he didn't hear back from me following my next PT appointment, the assumption would be no news is good news.  Not only did I show improvement in my range of motion again (it was uncomfortable for sure, but it measured at 103 degrees), I was able to walk on the Alter G at PT.  I did it for a full 10 minutes at that.  However, it was not pain free.  It still hurt in that same spot I've been talking about...but it was at least semi-bearable this time.  I probably spent most of my time keeping my leg fully straight to aggravate it as little as possible.  Again it still hurt, but I was able to gut it out.  So I took it as something positive and moved forward.  Outside of that, lots of ice and home exercises.  Until next time...

Week 8

Week eight was similar to week seven again.  I didn't bother attempting to use the Alter G treadmill at PT.  Again, the only positive thing to note was a little improvement in range of motion (I believe I finally got past 90 degrees...but it was a very uncomfortable 90 degrees).  It's been tough to get the tightness and swelling out of my knee.  The PT provided me with a compression sleeve to wear - I think it helped some with the pain because it provided some stability.  The pain was also managed by me just being more diligent in all my movements in an attempt to not exacerbate anything.  I contacted the doctor/physician assistant again and they continue to think much of my struggles are attributed to swelling in my knee still.  They recommended I hit the Naxproxen hard and ice, ice and more ice.  

Living in MN does not help the situation any, especially considering it's winter time.  Well my worst fear came true when I slipped on some snow/ice.  I ended up catching myself on my bad leg of course.  I did feel a little pop, so of course I became concerned.  Fortunately, I did not experience any pain or swelling associated with it.  Still, I couldn't say I know if I did or didn't do something further to my knee.  Time will tell. 

I will not deny these past few of weeks and the struggles have caused me doubt my choice to proceed with this surgery.  I was able to do pretty much anything prior to it (of course followed by symptoms I would experience afterwards) and it's started to make me think I may not get back to that point again.  Of course it's still very early, but to have the majority of my pain located in a spot in which I had no pain before the surgery is concerning to me.  If it were not for the MRI back in the summer, I wouldn't have even known anything was wrong with the medial side of my knee.  So the challenge continues...

Week 7

Week seven was much of the same as week six.  I still experienced that sharp pain on the medial side of my knee.  I attempted the Alter G treadmill again during PT and that was unsuccessful.  There was a slight improvement in my range of motion so I suppose that was a plus.  Overall it's been a very trying time period.  Until next time...