So here we are. Exactly two months after my surgery.
I'm pretty mobile but I still have more inflammation than I'd like. I can do 90% of all the things I did before.
At PT yesterday I learned that most of my issues are around the hamstring tendon connections and them not being as strong as they should be. I did a weighted heal raise and the PT said that if it hurts more as I go then we remove loading and let it heal.. if the pain goes down then it means we need to strengthen it with more exercise. Clear and concise directions. Knee doesn't quite do 0 degrees on its own.. but can be coaxed with manual pressure. Range is limited, it seems, by the amount of pain I can handle due to the compression of the inflamed tissue. I have a deep tissue massage scheduled for Tuesday (exactly 9 weeks after surgery). It's supposed to help. I might schedule it sooner after the right knee is done.
Right knee, which I'm planning to do in June (it's looking like second week), is going to benefit from all the PT I'm doing now. I'm expecting better results and faster recovery. There will be 0% Oxy on this recovery, but I will add in topical Diclofenac in an attempt to accelerate the recovery.
I have at least one 25 mile bike ride that I've signed for, with a possible second one a week after the first. First one is May 17th. I'm hitting the stationary bike at home right now but will need to be able to ride for about 2 hrs (should be less, but we'll see). As long as I can do an hour at home without pain then I should be fine. I'm up to 35 minutes of interval riding on the stationary.
Things I've learned.
Natural joints are still better than artificial, at least to me, because I feel like I still have better balance and control with the natural knee joint - however the remaining knee joint hurts more and sounds horrible. The physical feedback you get with an artificial joint is measured in vibrations and pain at spots you do not expect (or at least I don't expect). Phantom pain is real. Nerves are damaged during surgery...not just bone and muscle. Every day means every day .. especially early on and that means pushing through a lot of pain. This is not something anyone wants to really talk about, at least not the people I've talked to. Icing isn't just good for you, it feels GREAT. If I could buy one of those refrigeration machines I would...they are amazing. Icing with cold packs is a lot of work and has to be planned or you need to buy a lot of ice packs - it takes time to cool them back down. You'd think that the artificial joint would be ready to go quicker than the natural knee joint ... honestly it also needs to be warmed up before the range of motion and ease of motion improves - did not expect that.
Weight - Last measure I was down to 208 in clothes at the doctor's office. This should be 178 or even 168. That's a longs ways off though as I like to eat and exercise can only do so much. Better than the 220 I was at one point though. I have a legitimate goal of sub 200 for the right knee... or maybe I should do it in terms of percent body fat. If my scale at home measures remotely correctly dropping 5-10% should not be hard and will easily put me where I'd like to be either in terms of overall weight or overall strength. I'll trade not losing weight with adding strength and muscle.
