PT

Alright, three weeks in, I can't believe it has been almost a month already.  I have now had two weeks of physical therapy and I am pretty much walking on my own with only a slight limp and some mild pain here and there.  All in all I think I'm almost ready to get some surgery.  I have a doctors appointment next week to schedule the date.  I am aiming for the third week in June, that will be the two month point, although I'll take earlier if he gives it to me.  I am prepared for early July since I know I still have quite a bit of swelling going on in there.  If it is longer than that, who knows, I might just do it myself.

Physical therapy has actually been just OK.  I think I wished it would go a little faster but I am not 20 anymore.  The first week was mostly just stretching my calf and hamstring and trying to get my quads to reactivate.  My left quad looks like someone took a chunk out of it and I have lost about 8 pounds since I can't do much.  The last few visits I have been able to ride the bike and do some squats and leg presses which feels great.  The worst part is getting my knee straight.  To accomplish this, they lay my leg straight on the table and put a hand on both sides of my knee and then just go ahead and use their whole body weight to push it down.  I have learned that in physical therapy when they say "this is probably going to be a little uncomfortable" they really mean "I hope you are wearing adult diapers because you are probably going to poo yourself."  The last time I went she saw that my knee was pretty straight so she rolled up a towel and put it under my heel and did the same thing.  Yowza.

As bad as that stuff is the actual most startling moment came when I started Russian stim.  If you have never done it, it is similar to regular stim where they hook electrodes up to your muscles to stimulate them.  Normally this is relaxing and feels pretty good but in this case it pules in 5 second waves.  When a wave comes it stimulates my quad and then I am meant to flex the muscle and raise my leg.  It is basically like assisted leg raises.  Now, what made it crazy was that she asked me to tell her when it felt comfortable, just like regular stim so I was waiting and waiting and then I let her know.  She said "okay" and then preceded to turn it up like 5 more notches!  Well, I wasn't having that so I started screaming like a little girl, my leg was jumping off the table, and everyone was looking at me like I was on fire.  The PT just was laughing and saying I would get used to it and after two or three waves she was right.  But then of course I'm looking around and there are two distinct faces I can see amongst the other patients.  One is sheer and utter horror and immediate questions of "do I have to do that?"  The other was a grin which said "oh yeah, I remember how much that sucked the first time."

Today I am starting my third week of therapy and I hope I get some good news next Tuesday about surgery.  Fingers crossed.