My thighs/calves and surrounding muscles in my knee have started to regain some strength, therefore my physio said it wasn’t necessary to see him every week. That’s quite an improvement, and I’m only talking about my wallet!

I just really need to make sure I focus on keeping up with the exercises to make sure my leg doesn’t get weak. I need to make sure I’m doing squats/lunges/knee tensing thingo that I can’t quite explain. If I don’t keep doing them, my leg will eventually become weak again and I will find myself at square one: a swollen knee and unable to walk. That’s a situation I hope to avoid, and thinking about it is motivation enough to keep up with the exercises.

Knee problems? What knee problems.

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Monday I had noticed my knee was a little swollen, and a little bit sore. To be safe, I didn’t go for a run and didn’t ride my bike to work. Yet when I arrived at the physio’s this morning he immediately noticed the swelling (I actually thought it had gone down). He tapped my knee cap and showed me the difference between my bad knee and my good knee. It turned out the knee cap in my bad knee was actually floating around in fluid – wow! Then he set to work on my muscles, and I cried. It felt like someone had grabbed my muscle, twisted it as tight as possible, and then tried to pull it out of my body. To say the experience was horrific would be an understatement. I will be sure to post photos of the bruises that come up. I bruise normally after sessions with him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these ones come out completely black.

So for the next week I’m not allowed to do any running, or any riding. I have to keep it up when I can, and take it easy. Oh, and do hamstring stretches. Lots and lots of hamstring stretches.

While normally I would be fine with that, and accept it as part of my rehab, the reality is that it’s bloody annoying. I’m only 1.5 weeks away from participating in a 14km walk/run in Sydney, the City 2 Surf. I wanted to run this year, and in fact had signed up for one of the running sections. Now all of that is in jeopardy, and I’m frustrated. I’ll be meeting with the physio again next Thursday, the day before we fly to Sydney. He will tell me if he thinks running will be a good idea or not, and I will ignore him if he says I can’t. Kidding, I won’t ignore him (he IS the expert after all) but if he says I can’t run then I know I will be incredibly disappointed.

I’m going to listen to the expert, keep my leg up, and pray. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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3 months later I had a knee reconstruction and began the long period of rehabilitation. I documented each day of my first week follwed by a few more regular updates discussing my progress. It’s been 7 months since my last update, and 9 months since the surgery.

Appearance wise my knee hasn’t changed too much. I know from previous accidents that I scar badly and it takes a LONG time for them to go away. In fact, my scars tend to turn into hypertrophic scars, red raised lumps. I have a scar on my left knee from when I sliced it open on a raised tile in a pool; I was 13 at the time. I’m now 25, and even after 12 years there are still pink bits on the scar. It became quite lumpy originally, but when playing soccer at school I copped a strong hit in the knee by the soccer ball causing my knee to swell. When it went down I was pleased to see my scar had been flattened out in the process.

The actual lines from the stitches have gone, and while my hypertrophic scarring has kicked in and made the long scar look a little bit lumpy, it’s also faded significantly in parts along the length of the scar. The fluro light makes the upper scars look a lot darker in the 9 months picture compared to the 2 months, but looking at them normally I wouldn’t say they’ve faded much at all. The scar on the very left of the picture (not quite visible on the 9 months picture) has a little bit of fading, but not much.

The fluro light made my knee look a lot whiter in the left picture!

With regards to movement, I’m happy to say that I’ve nearly regained full use of my leg again. I can now bend my knee to the same angle as my good leg, but there’s still quite a strength difference. I can notice it when I’m feeling a little bit tired, walking up or down stairs I’ll tend to compensate for my right knee a little bit. My physio has got me doing strengthening exercises in the gym 2 – 3 times a week to build up the muscles so hopefully this will go away in time. Last visit to the physio there was still a 4cm difference between my left and right thighs, so my right quads and hamstrings are getting quite the hammering in the gym in a bid to even it up.

A little over a month ago I was given the all clear to start running slowly in figure 8′s and changing directions, but it was only in the last 2 weeks that my physio told me to really start putting pressure on my knee. I haven’t been doing it as yet and I know I really need to get cracking on it. Until I was allowed to change directions I was still able to run, and have been working towards running 5km following the “Couch to 5k” running program. Now that I am able to put pressure on my knee I’ll be setting up some markers and running between them and getting used to changing directions.

I don’t expect to be seeing the physio for much longer; at this stage I’m only seeing him once every 6 weeks. The sports insurance from the netball courts that had covered all my physio has just run out (as they only pay for rehabilitation up to 12 months after the injury was sustained) and I’ve also reached the limit on coverage for physio services from my own personal health insurance. At $75 a pop to see the physio it’s not something I want to be paying often.

I’m not sure what my next few bench marks are, perhaps equal sized leg muscles? I guess I can almost say that it’s the end of this saga, and something I can put behind me. Still, it’s kinda sad that I even have a category on my blog specifically for discussing all the various injuries I sustain. Perhaps my next aim should stop hurting myself?

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Physiotherapy:

Boy, have I learnt my lessons here!! No matter what happens, do what the physio says. For one week I barely did any exercises, instead utilising the all-powerful wishful thinking method of dealing with my rehabiliation. Big mistake. When I visited the physio and he tested my bend, it got to the stage where I was actually crawling along the bed trying to get away from his grip. Extremely painful, and it was all because I hadn’t done anything for the week. I’m happy to say it only took me one mistake to learn my lesson, and I’ve been doing my exercises religiously since then. Funny how doing what a health professional recommends actually works! *end sarcasm*

As of next week I will have reached the stage where I will only require physiotherapy once every fortnight. To put it into perspective, this week is the first week since October 2008 that I haven’t seen the physio at least once.

Bend

Unfortunately Mat wasn’t home, so I’m unable to take a photo. This was my knee after 2 weeks:

The difference in my good knee and bad knee after 2 weeks

That was as far as I could literally go without excruciating pain. Through 2 months of physio my right leg now hangs normally, like my left in the picture. In fact, I can even pull it underneath me! It’s strange to be so excited by that, but for me it’s huge. Walking down steps is still a little bit of a challenge, but one that I’m gradually winning. In the beginning it was a slow painful progress to go down stairs. I had to step first with my right leg, then use my left to join the right on the one step. Now I can go step-by-step, one foot on one step. There is still a little bit of a jump/limp to it, but only because my knee doesn’t have the strength to support my weight in a downward fashion. If I go down stairs immediately after doing my exercises there is a notable difference and it becomes a lot easier, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until I get the better of the evil set of stairs.

Insurance

I’m happy to say that my claim was approved, and I’ve banked my first cheque for reimbursement. It worked out to be $275 in physio costs (after my health insurance claims), so I’m extremely grateful for the insurance agencies kindness in accepting my claim after the cut off date. In the next week I’ll be putting through my next claim, from December to the end of January and I expect it will be a little bit less (as I missed a few weeks of physio immediately after my surgery). Knowing I have an insurance company behind me takes a massive weight off my shoulders though, and I can focus on everywhere else that money is a concern, like my trip to the US later this year.

Scars

It’s probably not obvious from the photo below, but unfortunately my scars have become a tad bit keloid. They have raised a little bit, the most obvious being the circular scar to the very left of the image. It’s actually got quite a lump to it.

2 month old scars

If you know me well, then you’ll know I scar pretty badly. I have a scar on my arm that is almost 6 years old, and still extremely pink/purple. I plan on buying some silicon patches to try out, which I’ll be sure to post about it when I eventually start the treatment. I’ve heard these particular patches work miracles, let’s hope it’s the same for me!

I’ve noticed if you look at my scar a little blurry eyed, the two dots on the right and the long one could almost be a smiley face! Who’s a geek now!

Things next on my list to achieve:

1. Ride a bike for 30mins continuously
2. Walk down the stairs normally
3. Jump

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Scars revealed for the first time

Today I finally got to take my patches off, and reveal my scars for the first time to the world (I saw them yesterday when the original patches came off and new ones were applied).

As you can see there’s a total of 6 marks: 1 long one (5 stitches), 3 smaller ones (one stitch each), and 2 small holes. Unfortunately the smaller hole became infected, so I was provided with some brown ointment to apply on it after my shower to help clean it up.

I’m quite happy with the scars, since they long cuts are really quite thin. Hopefully it means they’ll heal and fade away much faster. Knowing my luck, that’s going to be the look of my knee for the next 5 years! Have I mentioned how much I love jeans (aka covering up my legs – yeah, that’s why they’re so white). My knee is still a little swollen too, although it might not be so obvious in that image. Particularly around the bottom of the image, leading to my thighs. It’s extremely round….

Now to have my first shower in 2 weeks where I haven’t had to spend 10mins wrapping plastic around my leg. Woohoo!

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Another thing I’d been worried about (rather foolishly) was the possibility of having already damaged my leg to the point the ligament was already torn again. When I was there today, the surgeon tested the ligament by pushing my thigh down and pulling my shin up. Previously, it was really easy for him to do and he was able to separate the sections. This time, it was rock solid proving the ligament was implemented and healing well. Good sign!

When the patches came off I was really pleased to see how thin the scars were. Typically, my scars remain pink/purple for a long amount of time, and can have small lumps in them. I have a scar on my knee from approximately 10 years ago that’s still pink in the centre, and one on my arm from 6 years ago (from getting a mole removed) that has lumps in it, and is still bright purple. It’s only just begun to change to skin tone colour around the edges. I’ve been told that I am a mild keloid scarring person, and based on the wikipedia entry I can agree mine are very mild! My scars look absolutely nothing like in the articles! But back to the hospital, the nurse cleaned up any remaining dried blood and applied fresh dressings to the area. They can be removed for good tomorrow, when I’ll be able to post a picture.

I was told I was free to begin putting full weight on my leg again, and to start walking immediately. I’d actually started limping around in the morning, so had a good idea of how I’d be able to move. That way I wouldn’t look quite so retarded in the hospital in front of others! I received a few more instructions, and the nurse gave me some ointment to put on one of my wounds. Unfortunately it looked like it was slightly infected (nothing serious) so I would just need to rub that on for a couple of days. We then headed out the front where I made an appointment to see the surgeon again in 3 months for a progress check, then I was free to leave.

On the way out I stopped in at the gift store and bought some chocolates & flowers, and dropped them off to the nurses in the ward where I had stayed 2 weeks earlier. One of the nurses identified me immediately when I came in, and said “hey Kelly! How’s the knee!” Very impressed with her memory. We chatted about it, and I handed over the gifts. I thanked her again for taking such great care of me when I was there, told her nurses were under rated, wished her a Merry Christmas and left. I felt really good for doing that, hoping I made someone’s day *grin*

I then stayed at home for an hour, before getting ready to visit the physio. It’s only around the corner from me, and normally takes 10 – 15mins walk to get there, but today I left with 25mins to spare. I was determined to walk there to celebrate my newfound freedom from crutches, and I had timed it perfectly. I arrived just in time for my appointment. I have such a profound limp at the moment that it really slows me down walking. As usual, my physio worked his magic and after half an hour I had already managed to bend my leg more. He gave me my list of exercises to focus on for the week, which were the same as when I initially hurt myself. Thankfully, since I’ve been there/done that, it will be really easy to do. The main thing I will need to focus on for the next month will be working to be able to fully bend my knee again.

The difference in my good knee and bad knee

As you can see in the above picture, while simply sitting on the desk my right leg goes only so far. That’s while merely relaxing my legs, and letting them just hang. One of my exercises is to swing my leg back and forth, gradually increasing the amount I can bend it. Easy, non-painful exercises.

So that’s pretty much it for the next few weeks! I’ll post a photo of my scars tomorrow once the patches come off, and perhaps in a month or so I’ll take another photo showing the difference in my legs hanging from the desk to show how much I’ve been able to achieve. At the moment I can’t drive, since I can’t bend my leg enough to switch between the brake and accelerator. I climbed in the car tonight, and could barely get my leg in the door without having to lift myself off the seat to bring my knee in. I’ll give myself a week, then try again. Until then, it’s walking around the block, exercises, and rest!

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My knee/leg 7 days after surgery

First off – I don’t think my leg looks very glamorous lying on the couch. It reminds me of a chicken leg haha. Also, the keyboard, mice and iphone cable were in the picture since I took the photo sitting where I work during the day *grin* The cable was being held my knee while I took the picture.

Compared to day 2, there is more blood in the top wound, and the blood has dried in all 3 (hence the dark colour). The bottom left wound has amazingly spread out a fair bit, but as you can tell there’s not that much blood in that one, it was more just seepage than anything else. It’s also the most itchy of all of them, so perhaps it’s scabbing over already.

You may be able to see the bruise extending up my shin as well?? It’s a slight yellow colour.

Other than that, same ol’ same ol’! This time next week I’ll be posting a picture with the patches off, and all scars revealed…stay tuned!

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Not much has changed under the bandages – there’s a little bit more blood perhaps, but other than that it still looks like the same old skin sewn together. Boring!! I should take another picture so you can see the difference after a week; I’ll remember to do that tomorrow. It just looks like it’s all spread out within the patches, so when they come off it’s going to spill everywhere!! I’ll have to remember to wear shorts to the hospital so I don’t get my jeans caked in the stuff.

Today started off absolutely terrible, but ended up pretty great. First thing I did this morning was swing my leg out of bed, as if it was completely normal. I would say it had to do with habit, and it actually didn’t hurt until it hit the floor and the blood trickled down my leg. My shin and calf muscles have become increasingly painful to walk on, and my calf has even begun cramping a little. This is probably due to the fact that my leg has been elevated SO much, and iced so much, that when I put my foot down to start walking I don’t really give my muscles a chance to get some blood in them. I’ll just have to make sure I really focus on stretching out my leg tonight.

Anyhow, after I got out of bed and did my morning ritual (ex-shower, only loo, wash face, and let Turbo outside) I went back into the bedroom to get my water bottle. Putting the top in my mouth (my attempt to “carry it”) I headed to the kitchen. Just as I reached the tiled surface, BANG. I dropped the water bottle, it cracked (it was a hard plastic) and water went EVERYWHERE. Mat hadn’t gotten home from poker until midnight, so the last thing I wanted to do was wake him up. Instead I got a towel, slung it over my shoulder and went back to the kitchen, then used the crutches to mop up the mess.

I also had a killer of a headache, which I had associated with sleeping wrong. It turned out later it had a lot to do with the setup of my “workstation” in the living room. Lying on couch with my foot up I was spending every day looking to my left to the computer monitor so I could work. In hindsight it wasn’t the greatest of ideas. I’ve now switched position to the chaise, and will alternate it during the day so I’m not constantly looking in the same direction. I took some panadol, then during a phone conference I had this morning, laid down with an ice pack on my head. I don’t know if I was still tired, or it was the fact I was closing my eyes to block out any form of light lest I irritate my headache any more, or (more likely) the technical babble during the meeting was as boring as batshit, but I’m pretty sure I dozed off during the meeting. It would have only been for a few minutes at most, and what they were discussing was way over my head. I’m pretty sure no one missed me. The most amazing part of it all was that I was able to pick it up at the end, make some amazing points and summarise the outcome to my boss (who was also in the meeting – perhaps he fell asleep too). One of the other staff members who works from home skyped me to tell me she’d almost fallen asleep as well, so definitely not only me.

During the meeting I received a phone call on my mobile from my chiro – apparently I had an appointment this morning but they were half expecting I wouldn’t show. They thought it would have slipped my mind because I’d had a big week – CORRECT. We rescheduled for 11.30am, as I was desperate to see her to sort my neck out. When I arrived, she found the trouble spot on my neck and CRACK, instant relief. Headache was almost gone although the remnants hung around for a few more hours, possibly due to the muscle strain in my neck. Nothing a good massage can’t fix. It also turned out the receptionist at my chiro played netball on a Wednesday night at the same centre we do, and was actually in the opposing team when Mat went down with his shoulder dislocation! She hadn’t realised it was me until I left for the hospital with him. Small world.

Rest of the afternoon was uneventful. I played in the backyard with Turbo for about 5mins. Basically I picked up his toy hamburger, threw it down the lawn which he raced after, then I slowly crutched over to him. He ran away, I followed, he ran away again, I followed again. Went like that for a few minutes until he tired of how slow I was, and laid down in the grass. Fine – I can take a hint!!!

So now you know how exciting (not) my days are, I think it’s best I post blogs just weekly from this point; unless you’re really fascinated by my “keep leg up, sook a bit about how sore I am, get bored, blog about it” stories??  I’ll be sure to add some more pictures once the stitches are out and we’ll see just how awesome my scars are going to be!!

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Overnight was a disaster. He couldn’t sleep, he was nervous and excited and was like he had ants in his pants. I don’t think he managed half an hour of sleep. I had managed to go to bed without taking any painkillers because I was feeling good, but Mat woke me up at 1.30am to tell me he couldn’t sleep (I had moved my arms in my sleep and he thought it meant I was awake). From when I woke up I felt my leg aching, and couldn’t get back to sleep. After a little bit, Mat offered to get my painkillers which I reluctantly accepted. 20mins later I was dead to the world again. Not so for poor Mat – he spent the night trying to listen to music on the ipod in bed, getting up and watching tv, and purely lying in bed, but he just could not get back to sleep.

Mat left at 6.30am as he had to be at our friend’s place (he was going in a car with them) at 7, and they had to be in Tweed Heads by 10 (11am NSW time – we lose an hour when crossing the border). He kissed me goodbye and left, and still feeling a bit drugged up I soon fell back asleep. That was pretty much how my morning went – wake up, stare for about 5mins, go back to sleep. I eventually got up and moved into the living room, where I found Mat had set up an additional chair at the home PC for me, so I could “mix it up” and play some games during the day.

I started the home pc, while I made myself some vegemite on toast. Using the path of kitchen > desk, I managed to eat breakfast while playing on the computer. However, having one leg up on another chair meant that I was slightly twisted towards the computer, and it wasn’t very comfortable for long periods of time. I lasted an hour at the desk, then moved to the couch again. From there, the day purely existed as sleep – twitter – read – sleep – drink – twitter – read – sleep and so on. Very uneventful.

At one point I was concerned about the bruising on my shin, and a slight swelling of my foot, but upon googling it it appears it’s a common symptom post surgery. All I know is my shin is damn painful to touch, so I might start icing that area as well over the next few days. I’ll be phoning the hospital tomorrow as well just to confirm they’ve booked me in to see the surgeon and get my stitches out, so if it’s any worse tomorrow I’ll just mention it on the fly to the person on the phone and see if they think there’s any cause for concern. Otherwise it can just wait until I see the surgeon next week.

Up until dinner time, I’d managed the day fine by myself. I wanted to wash the dishes though, but I was having problems standing for long periods of time today (making a cup of tea was bad enough) so decided it would just have to wait for Mat. I”ll apologise like mad, but I really just didn’t feel like I was up for it today. Even thinking about cooking dinner I felt defeated. I discussed it with Pauline, and given my options were corn chips (my “easy option” lunch which I’m ashamed of), toast, or some pasta that I wasn’t sure how to cook and would require a fair bit of getting up and down, I decided I would wave the white flag and call my mother.

I rang and asked if she would mind coming over to cook me dinner, and immediately wished I hadn’t. I think I was tired and just wanted a “sure I’ll come over now”, and for her to come and just make it. I didn’t want to have to think about it. Instead, I was bombarded with questions of “what did I want” and “what shops were open” and “what food do you have in the house”. When she suggested making me scrambled eggs I gave up and just said not to worry about it – I would just make myself some toast. I guess I just felt that for her to come all the way over and to just cook scrambled eggs was a bit of a let down. Very unfair of me, but I blame it on the fact I was spoilt earlier in the week when she brought over her amazing lasagne *grin* Speaking of which, Mat had eaten the rest of it about 11.30pm last night.

After we hung up, she rung back twice to make sure I’d managed to make the toast. I was actually still on the couch watching the QLD Roar match, and told her I hadn’t even attempted it yet. I assured her that I would be fine making toast (as I’d made it earlier), and relieved she hung up. She also said that she had been thinking of calling me and seeing if I wanted to go for a drive just to get out of the house, but given how sore and achy I was today it was probably best that she didn’t.

Now I’m on the couch writing this post, having just taken some painkillers before bed. It’s the first time I’ve written my daily summary on the actual day, and I’m not sure what inspired me to write it now. It’s 1020pm, and Mat’s just rung to tell me they’re finally leaving Tweed Heads. He should get here around midnight or a bit later, so in essence he’s been awake for about 36 hours straight now. He’s going to be SHATTERED when he gets home. Since I’m so comfortable on the couch now, I think I’ll just sleep here until he gets home. Actually, I think I can feel the drugs starting to kick in, my entire leg just feels hot like fire, and my eyes are starting to close. Beats the usual dull ache I guess!!

Time to lay down and snooze for the 10th time today – night all!

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Mum also came over for a cup of tea in the morning, and we chatted for a bit. She bought over some mail for me which was the first bill from the hospital, damn they’re quick! I’ve got to call medicare and see what the process is, whether I pay outright and they pay me back, or if I can claim through them first then pay the difference etc. I’ll have to wait until Monday to contact them however.

I also decided today that I would make Sunday my productive day. I’m going to have to blog some ideas on things to do when you’re stuck on the couch (or bed), since I seemed to really be struggling for ideas. At the moment my “activities” range from sleeping on the couch, watching tv, reading a book, and incessantly checking twitter.

Other than that the day passed normally. No pain, a little bit of aching but nothing that required painkillers. I managed to shower without getting my patches wet, so that was awesome. Mat tends to think there’s a little bit more blood within the patches, but it’s not much so I would assume at this point there’s nothing to be concerned about. It looks as though I’m really starting to fall into a pattern with my leg – laziness!

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And once again, hero Mat comes to the rescue. He wakes up and realises I am sitting up rubbing my knee. Without a complaint, he went and got my painkillers for me, made sure I had everything I needed, then went back to sleep. I took a painkiller and attempted to read rss feeds on my phone but before too long the drugs had kicked in and my head started drooping. I put the phone away and settled down to sleep for another few hours.

Today was also an important day work wise. We were trying to get a beta software version built so we could release it to some customers for testing over the Christmas break. My particular role was to make sure the release notes were done, and test the install once built. Let me assure you, they were both extremely hard tasks to do with a fuzzy head.

About mid-morning after release note writing, I excused myself from the staff meeting and had a sleep instead. My head was spinning, I felt a little nauseous, not good. I slept for an hour or so, and felt so much better afterwards.

That’s pretty much how the day went. Work, get tired, nap. Work, get tired, nap. I have also found it’s easier for me to get flustered with work – I can only focus on one thing at a time. It might be environmental though, working from a couch doesn’t really encourage productivity. I’m sure it will pass when I return to the office in the new year.

Today I really suffered from boredom as well. You can only really sit in the same spot on the couch for so long. I passed the time by stirring Mat and sleeping, but really struggled when I was working. Motivation wasn’t there, and I just wanted to see something different than our living room. My prayers were answered when my mate Adam rang to see if Mat and I were interested in coming round and chilling at their house.

Mat hadn’t driven a manual since doing his shoulder, as it was his left that he had injured – his gear shifting arm. But since we wanted to go to Adam and Chere’s, we would need transportation and he decided to give it a try. He was able to change gears, and although it hurt in the beginning his arm seemed to free up more and more. It was still aching when we got home later though, so we immediately put some ice on it.

So tomorrow, being a weekend and no work to do, will be a challenge in finding exciting things to do to keep myself occupied. My sister’s mate came through with a suggestion I should finish rating all my music in iTunes, which Is a killer idea!! Stay tuned for my announcement when I finally do it (600 songs to go so probably within *checks watch* 8 hours?? Yes that’s how bored I am!).

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1. 5 things I have learned while having a sore back

As you can possibly tell already, I’ve felt much more positive today. The day started with Mat getting up at 6.30am (earlier than he does normally) to totally re-set up my work computer in the living room so I can sit on a different part of the couch. I can get myself on and off the couch a lot easier now, which has made me a lot happier. It was so kind of him to get up and do that (I hadn’t asked mind you), I’m so so SO grateful for his help. After he had set that up for me, and I’d done some work for an hour or so (yeah that’s right – work!!) I decided I would challenge myself to get a cup of tea without having to wake up Mat. Normally this requires making the tea on the kitchen bench, walking to the couch and sitting down. Given my hands are full with the arms of my crutches, it wasn’t going to be that simple. Here’s, how I accomplished it:

Path taken by myself and the cup of tea from the starting point of the kitchen bench, to my sitting on the couch sipping on tea

Damn right – I used Microsoft paint and rainbow colours. That’s what boredom will do to you (plus I thought it was funny).

Phase 1 – Red. Making my cup of tea, and moving it to the edge of the kitchen bench. During this phase Mat woke up, heard me fiddling in the kitchen and immediately rose. He asked what I was doing, I played innocent and didn’t turn around, and simply said “nothing!” He huffed and went into the bathroom, so I offered him a cup of tea (although he would have had to get it himself after I’d made it haha).

Phase 2 – Orange. I didn’t draw the fridge in my picture, whoops. It’s to the right of the kitchen bench. So standing in front of the fridge, I balanced on my good leg and transferred the cup of tea from the bench to the edge of the desk.

Phase 3 – Yellow. This stage was easy – slide the cup down to the end of the desk next to the couch.

Phase 4 – Green. Me crutching around the living room to get settled on the couch in the corner next to the desk. I love our couch – so big and comfortable, except when you have a busted knee and try to sit on the chaise. See previous points about Mat changing so I am sitting on a different part of the couch now.

Phase 5 – Blue. Simply turning around on the couch, picking up my tea, and sipping it. SUCCESS!!

I was so proud of myself by achieving that this morning, I think I told everyone I almost spoke to about it. How sad!! But it was a small victory in regaining my independence, so I’m still stoked. I haven’t really attempted much else in the way of getting myself drinks/food since Mat’s been up since then, and wouldn’t let me lift a finger.

I also got to take my bandages off today, so I got my first view of what to expect in the way of scars.

The wounds on my knee covered with patches

Because of all the dried blood (or seepage) under the patches, I can’t really tell where there are stitches. I’m positive there’s some in the middle area, the darkest one running horizontal. It’s too long a cut not to have something holding it closed. For the one in the top left, I think I can see maybe one or two, but I don’t think there’s any in the cut bottom right. If you look at it through drug hazed eyes like my own, all of the cuts combined could almost be a retarded percentage symbol, or division symbol.

I took the bandages off about lunch time, then had to place them back over the top to hide it from Mat, as it tended to make him feel sick looking at it. He’s not real big on blood (yet as I type this he’s watching some dodgy horror movie about killer sheep?! Oh look, a sheep just ate someone’s intestines again). About 6.30pm tonight I decided it was time to go for the next major challenge, which was to have a shower. The hospital had given me some waste disposal bags to cut up so I could use to wrap around my knee and keep it watertight. (WTF?! There’s alien looking things in Mat’s horror movie now). I wrapped up my knee, and with Mat’s help taped it tight.

It took about half an hour from the time I started strapping my knee, to the time I was completely dried and on the couch again. Only about 10mins of that was physical water running time (c’mon – I washed my hair too, I’m normally waterwise). The rest was tiny baby steps working my way into the bathroom, getting in/out of the shower, and getting changed. What a mission! I’m yet to figure out a way to get out of the shower that doesn’t totally hurt, as we have a small step up out of the shower. I’ve also got to work on my strapping technique, since my knee was saturated. On the bright side of things, it meant I was able to wash a lot of the betadine off.

I also took a painkiller today about lunchtime, when my knee was aching a bit. Big mistake. I think I could have held off for a lot longer (OMG – a sheep just pulled off the guy’s penis is Mat’s horror movie. Has anyone seen Black Sheep? Don’t). After I took the painkiller it probably took about an hour to kick in, but from that point on I was a write off. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t think straight, I felt like what I can only imagine a drugged up junkie would feel after taking a hit. I sat and stared on the couch, I was in between sleeping and being fully conscious. It was shit!! I’m definitely only taking them if I need to before going to sleep for the night. Other than that – I don’t want to feel like that again…I like being in control. I managed to chat to a few people online, and open some files for work, but didn’t accomplish anything worthwhile.

So the aims for tomorrow – get into a regular routine for my exercises the physio gave me (I’ll post full details tomorrow), and manage to have a shower with a dry knee afterwards. Anything else I can achieve will be a bonus, and I’ll try to keep my positive attitude going. After all, there’s a helluva lot of people worse off than me, I should be thankful. And I’ve got a LOT of things to be thankful for! See ya tomorrow!

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First and foremostly, I want to say I was completely naive in thinking this would be a breeze. I definitely didn’t consider how completely and utterly dependent I would become on other people. The pain – I can deal with it, no worries. But being dependent? Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do by far!

Today I struggled just to even get off and on the couch, and that was a huge blow to me. I hate having to ask help for every little thing. I like to think I’m independent, can stand on two feet and do whatever I need to do, when I want to do it. It’s just the way I’m built, and in everyday life if someone offers to help me it will take a bit before I say yes. So my advice to anyone getting a knee reconstruction? Be prepared to ask for help. Simple as that.

I have to admit, I cried a little bit today. Out of frustration more than anything. Mum came to visit this afternoon to drop off my painkillers and some lasagne she had made for us (vrey very kind, her lasagne is AMAZING. I tried to get off the couch, refusing help, because I wanted to walk her outside. So in the end I hurt my knee greatly in the area where I suspect there are stitches. I tried to hide the pain, and using the crutches walked to the side door. That was as far as I could get. I told her I would have to give up, and just go sit back down. Then promptly cried. Mat gave me a dirty look and told me to just sit down and stop pushing myself. Mum reiterated the point. I called defeat, tried to get back onto the couch, hurt myself again and promptly sweared and yelled for the next minute while Mat got up and helped me get back onto the couch. He’s been so patient, I love him dearly for it. Mind you, he’s also injured with a dislocated shoulder, so everything he’s been doing to help me has been one-armed. We’re the perfect pair aren’t we? He can be the legs, I’ll be the arms.

As previously mentioned, Mum picked up my painkillers today for me as well, as they weren’t available from the hospital when I checked out. It turns out the painkillers are called “Endone“, or oxycodone. It’s basically an opiate, and replaces morphine and heroin! Woah mumma. Knowing that, and also knowing the effects of drugs on my sister after she became addicted, I resolved to take them only when necessary. e.g. before going to bed so I can sleep without feeling my knee etc. I just don’t want to risk my health and well being. I think I possess the self control not to become addicted, but I just don’t know. I’d rather not take the chance.

Other than that today hasn’t been that eventful. I got out of hospital today, which I’ve already blogged my diary on that event. The only pain I am really feeling is when I try to get off/on the couch, which we can probably solve tomorrow by moving to a different part of the couch. The chaise might be just a little difficult for me at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat, which is probably from the tube they had to run down my throat during the operation to keep me ventilated. I’m sure that will go with time. It’s not unbearable, it’s just when I swallow that I notice it. I’ve also got to do a few exercises the physio taught me, two of them I’d done with my previous physio so nothing new there. The only one that I find difficult is the bend, where I’m bending my knee by pulling my thigh into the air. I’m guessing my knee is really quite swollen, so it’s a bit difficult to do it at the moment. And putting it back into the straight position can be a bit of a mission, and hurt a little. That’s the only exercise I really have problems with..

So all in all, I think it’s easy to see that I’m impatient and wishing it was all over already. My aim for day 2 is to accept people’s help, ask for it when I need it, and stop trying to do so many things myself….let’s see how it goes shall we?

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7.20am – arrived at the hospital, handed a form and asked to sit down. I fill it out, and end up causing the lady at the hospital all sorts of extra work as my medicare number was different to the one they had listed. She had to re-print labels with my details, and apply about 15 labels to different page in my file. Just sitting here waiting for someone to come and get me now. 

8.00am – They came and got me, and took me to a room to get changed. This is where I had to say goodbye, and I actually started feeling a little sad. He looked so worried, and said he loved me about 5 times *grin* It was such a hasty goodbye, I felt bad. But I was ushered into a room, handed two gowns – purple and white – with the purple going on first (opening at the back) and white (over the top, opening at the front). I was also handed some very sexy white paper undies that I had to wear. I was so nervous I bumped into a trolley, and the nurse and I laughed. She had to shave my leg with an electric razor (I’d been too worried to shave myself in case I got a shaving cut. Any cuts on the area to be operated on would cause them to cancel the surgery). She then caked my leg in betadine, and covered it with a cloth taped to my leg. After that, we went into an interview room where she checked with me about 5 times if I was positive it was my right leg. I was weighed, blood pressure tested, and questioned about any allergies, metal parts in my body (e.g. piercings, screws etc). A compression sock was put on my left leg to ensure no blood cloths formed during the period of inactivity. I was then sent to the waiting room for all the patients. I was given a reclining chair and told to put my leg up, and to put a blanket on. Keeping warm would relax all my veins etc.

9.30am – i had been waiting in there for an hour and a half. I actually spent the time sleeping – not sure why I’m so tired. My name was finally called, and we walked into another room. I went to the loo again (nerves kicking in), and asked my name and date of birth, and confirmed my hospital bracelet matched my records (for my UR number). I would be questioned on my name and date of birth every time I met someone new from that point on – going into surgery, getting painkillers after etc. They were very thorough. In this new room, I was also asked again on whether I was absolutely positive about whether it was the right knee. I actually started getting worried, racking my brain to make sure there was nothing I’d forgotten.

9.45am – They checked for any allergies again, then lying on a bed I was wheeled into the anaesthesiasts room (she called it her “fridge”). She explained it was kept cold to ensure the surgeons didn’t warm up and start to sweat (bacteria). They put the catheter in my hand, then I was left there for a bit while they finished setting up. The surgeon came in and greeted me, double checked the leg, then drew a nice big arrow on my leg to point out which knee it was. 

10.00am – they put in the general anaesthetic, and wheeled me into the surgery. I moved myself onto the table, then vaguely remember talking to one of the surgeon’s about jager bombs, then I was out of it. I have no memory of the surgery at all.

11.30 – apparently I arrive in the ward. I have no recollection.

12.00 – 5.00pm – I managed to wake up in little bursts, eat a little bit of food and post twitter updates, before crashing heavily again. Each time I woke up it was because the nurses were checking my blood pressure, pulse and temperature.  I really can’t remember much over this time.

5.30pm – Mum arrives with a nice candle thing for a present, and some chocolates. It’s great to see a familiar face, and she fusses over me trying to make sure I’m set up and everything is within reach. Very nice of her. She stays for about an hour and a half just chatting, and helps me eat my dinner. I can’t stand pumpkin, so she eats it for me (after I spend about 15mins trying to convince her to eat it). It took me about an hour to eat my dinner, and I only finished a breadroll, about 3/4 of my cheese omlette, mashed potato and beans. It was cold by the time I really started to get into it, but it tasted so good! Mum also bought me a bottle of water and diet coke, the diet coke being a lifesaver in helping my stomach settled. Mat calls and tells me he can’t find a way to get into the hospital – he can’t drive because he dislocated his arm the Thursday before, and our closest mates are busy, we didn’t dare ask anyone else. Mum offered, but it would be approximately a 1hr round drive for her between picking him up, coming back to the hospital, dropping him home, then going home again. I tell her not to worry about it. Mat’s upset he can’t come, but we both understand the circumstances, and it’s not that big a deal to me. Mum also takes a photo of my leg.

My knee hours after the surgery

7.00pm – Get up for the first time to go to the toilet. They offered to let me use some rolling thing, but said I’d be fine with crutches. I’m a bit wobbly, but I get there. On the toilet I make the mistake of flexing my hamstring and almost scream out in pain. Made a mental note to ensure I didn’t flex my hamstring again. Make it back to bed with no more issues. Because I stupidly brought top & bottom pyjamas, I end up being given a hospital dressing gown to wear to bed, totally sexy. I was given some heavy painkillers to go with my dinner, and try as hard as I can I can’t stay awake once I reach the bed again. I tell Mum I’m going to fall asleep, so she may as well go home, kiss her goodbye and she’s on her way. I think I’m asleep before she’s even left the room. 

8.30pm – wake again, and this time I manage to stay awake to actually remember what I’m doing. I start reading my book, as well as watch some tv and more twitter updates. Mat comes online on msn, and we chat for about an hour or so. The nurses are mighty impressed by the iphone and IM abilities. 

10pm – the lady down the end has resumed snoring very very loudly. I praise the lord that I thought to bring my ipod with me so I can drown out her sound. I haven’t yet found a powerpoint to charge my iphone, so using the ipod allows me to save the iphone’s batteries. Just as I start to watch good news week I’m presented with some more painkillers. The nurse also informs me I’m meant to be wearing a knee brace, so she locates one for me and we put it on. I last until about 1/2 way through the podcast, then I’m knocked out again courtesy of the painkillers.

10.30 – 2am (second day) – I wake up to hear the lady snoring, and change my ipod to play music with 1/2 hour timer. I wake up periodically, and reset the ipod to play again. I should have just let it play overnight. At 2am I wake up and wonder if they had taken my blood pressure, temperature and pulse at midnight like they said they would. I think it actually looks light outside my curtain, check my iphone to see what time it is, realise its 2am and go back to sleep. 

6am (second day) – wake up with the nurse inserting more antibiotics through the catheter (I’d been disconnected from the IV drip last night after my first trip to the loo). She also checks my pulse, blood pressure and temperature. The other nurse walks past and sees I’m awake, and tells me I was dead to the world last night at midnight when she came to check on me. We laugh, and I told her I hope I wasn’t too painful to navigate my limbs so she could do the necessary tests. She assures me I was fine. She asked about my ipod (because I had that playing in my ears), and I explain I’d been watching good news week then some music. She tells me she absolutely loves that show and never realised it was available as a podcast. She has a new nano, so I inform her on where to find it in the iTunes store.

7am (second day) – breakfast arrives, and I down a wholemeal breadroll with butter & strawberry jam, apple juice, and banana. I try to stay awake, but I’m soon fast asleep again, damn painkillers.

8am (second day) – the surgeron comes in with a couple of aids, and checks on my knee. It turns out I don’t need the brace as he didn’t have to make any repairs to my meniscus cartilage (which is good). He said they’d had a look around with the camera, and my ligament was completely torn….far out! He said the surgery went perfectly, and he’s really happy with the results. He tells me I need to come back and see him in 2 weeks to get the stitches out. They’re dissolvable, so if I’m wussy I can leave them in (they’ll fall out as they’re on the outside), but I said I’m tough and will see him then. 

8.30am (second day) – time for a shower. The nurse takes my catheter out of my hand, and puts a cotton wool bud over it (taped down). Using the crutches I work my way in where the nurse has already dropped my bag off. She’s placed a seat in the shower for me, but I prefer to stand. In the end the seat is totally in the way, so I pick it up and put it on the other side of the shower curtain. I find I can actually put some weight on my leg, which is great. The rest of the shower is uneventful. I manage not to get much water on my bandage courtesy of the tremendous wrapping job by the nurse – plastic bag over my knee and taped down. I get changed, and I’m stoked when I realise my jeans will fit over my bandage.

10.30am (second day) – the physio was meant to arrive around 9am, but he’s running late. They’d rung him about 10am, and he only just showed up at half past. Luckily I’d arranged with Kim I’d call her before she made her way to the hospital to pick me up (she had her baby Hayden in the car so was easier for me to meet her downstairs). I find out the way my leg has been supported has been wrong, and that I need to keep my leg completely straight. I get lessons on walking with the crutches – I’m actually using them to walk with my leg – I’m not hopping. I also get given my exercises that I need to do over the next fortnight, consisting of straightening my leg (by flexing my quad), bending my knee (within pain boundaries), and moving my foot up & down. He writes my referral for my physio that I’d been seeing (Anthony Thomas at Physiocare – can’t recommend him enough, he’s fantastic!!) describing exactly what procedures had been done and his recommendations on what I need to do. 

11.30am (second day) – the physio is long gone, and we’ve been waiting for a wardie to come and collect me in a wheelchair to take me downstairs. Kim has arrived, and ended up having to go to a different carpark because I was still stuck upstairs. They wouldn’t let me go on my crutches, thought it was too far. I don’t think I’d have managed with all the bags I had anyway. In the end, a nurse went and found a wheelchair and wheeled me down herself. My painkillers to take home weren’t yet available from the pharmacy, so mum agreed to go and pick them up for me later on her way home. What a good mum I have!! 

2.05pm – I’m now at home with my leg elevated, and icepack on. Mat was home, and made me some lunch, got me a drink and set me all up with the computer. What a lovely boy. I’ve now typed up all the blog you’ve just read (if you made it this far congratulations are in order) and I’m absolutely knackered. I think it’s time to go have another nap in bed. Part of me wants to go to netball tonight to watch our team, but everyone is telling me I shouldn’t. Nevermind that we can’t get there *grin* Mum said she’ll be coming around tonight with a lasagne she made for us (how lucky am I!!) so I could try and convince her to take me *evil grin*. Obviously I’m not one of those people that can just stay at home and rest….I guess I’ll have to learn over the next fortnight. Bed time, ciou!

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Today I was reading the local news website, upon which I saw the following:

Coast doctor cleared to practice
Sunshine Coast doctor Ian Raddatz has faced disciplinary action a second time but has not been banned from treating patients.

Link here

That was the doctor I’d seen! I was completely shocked and spun out as I read the article. Things jumped out at me, like the fact he faced disciplinary hearing for recommending unconventional diets to patients, unsolicited nutritional advice (see my issues about his seafood recommendations in my original blog post), and that he was banned from practicing altogether in 2000 for unsatisfactory conduct.

Thank GOD for gut feelings and seeing a second doctor for another opinion. Who knows what would have happened if I took the tablets he gave me, and what state my knee would be in now. I wish I had known that he was working under supervision and had faced the board previously – I sure as hell wouldn’t have gone to see him. I wish the Health Department had some sort of a list where people could research their doctors, view their history and if they had ever had to front the board. On the other hand, if they implemented a system like that, it could put a lot of doctors out of work who might not necessarily deserve it. Ones who had been accused of something, and not necessarily been guilty. It’s a hard call to make. If only I had googled his name I might have found the original article when he returned to practise after being banned the first time. I underestimated the power of google *grin*

At the end of the day, I think I’m just stunned and angry all over again at how unprofessional he was, and how horrible I felt after the appointment. There’s really nothing I can do, he’s already met with the board and had restrictions placed on him. I can only hope he learns his lesson, the psychiatric treatment he undertakes is successful, and at the end of the day he never, ever, diagnoses anyone incorrectly again.

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12.30 – arrive at the clinic directly across from my “accommodation” for next week (the hospital). I am handed a green document detailing all the things that could happen to me today, including possible blood tests, cardiograph and x-rays. I am a bit shocked by the small box on the rception desk that simply states “please place urine sample here”. Apparently I have plenty of time to deposit my sample, as long as I hand it in before leaving today.

12.45 – just met one of the nurses who did a blood pressure test and checked my pulse. She reminded me I am not to eat anything after midnight the night before my surgery, and can only drink water until 4.30am the day of the op. After that I will be fasting until it’s all over. I can’t have multi vitamins or fish oil, or anything with a blood thinning effect for several days beforehand. E.g asprins or nurofen. Lastly, my knee is checked for any cuts or scratches. I am not allowed to get any cuts on the area prior to the surgery to avoid the risk of infection. She also hands me a tube and explains it is a shower gel containing antiseptic, and I will need to scrub myself with it the morning of the surgery. The nurse informs me I will be meeting with the anaesthesiologist today, and one of the residents involved in my operation. They will be along soon, but in the meantime I am sent back to the waiting room.

12.55 – still waiting so I work up the courage to do my urine sample. Go to the loo, pull the cup out and stare at it. Surely I don’t have to fill the whole thing? Decide to aim for a third and go for it. In the end it’s more like a sixth but it should do. No spillage and nothing on my hand woohoo. I put the lid on, then for good measure I wash the whole cup, and my hands, about three times. Walk into reception and as a bonus there is no one behind the desk. Drop it in the box and quickly walk away.

1.10pm – this time I am meeting with the pharmacist. We walk into her office and it is absolutely freezing. She would get a rude shock if she went onto the street, it’s damn hot out there. She runs through a list checking for any medications I may be taking, and it’s all over in 2 minutes. I answered no to everything. Back to the waiting room for me. At this stage I am becoming extremely thankful for my iPhone.

1.40pm – met with anaesthesiast and told they will be giving me a general. She had checked my history and apparently when I was really quite young I had had convulsions. I recalled mum telling me it had happpened when I was extremely young, and since it hadn’t happened since the anaesthesiast wasn’t too concerned.she also found that when I had fractured my arm when I was little they had given me a general then, so it shouldn’t be a problem this time around. She explained it simply they will insert a needle in my hand that puts the medicine in my blood to send me to sleep. A mask will go on my face to provide oxygen, and only after I fall asleep will they run the tube down my throat to ventilate me. Easy. I may have a sore throat after the surgery accordingly. She ran me through all the possible reactions to a general anaesthetic but assured me that reactions are extremely rare (it’s safer than driving a car). Had my heart and lungs checked out, then back to the waiting room again. I think all that’s left now is to see the resident.

2.00pm – I have just seen the resident and have nothing left to do so I am free to go home. He checked my heart and lungs as well, and also inspected the knee a fair bit – checked my movement, if I had been seeing a physio etc. I learnt he estimates the actual op will only take approx. 1 hour once I am physically there waiting to go in. He double checks my medical history, then that’s it. Nothing left to do now other than wait for the day to arrive. I still haven’t got the jitters, but we will see how I am come monday!

I sat in this room for 2 hours, but it went surprisingly fast!

The urine sample box sitting proudly on the reception desk.

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I have had a moment where I pondered why I haven’t felt upset about it. Discussing this with a mate, she suggested maybe it was just because I understand that it simply needs to be done, I’ve accepted my fate and just got on with the business of organising it. I hope so, I’d hate to think that I’m bottling my emotions to a point where I can’t even detect them!

In the latest developments I’ve received letters in the mail confirming my pre-admission appointment with the anaesthesiologist (along with pages and pages of questions to answer) and my surgery date. Annoyingly, I can only call the day before my surgery (between 4 – 6pm) to find out what time I’m expected at the hospital. This really left it up in the air on arranging my transportation to the hospital. I had asked Mat’s sister to drop me off, but given she’s juggling a 9 month old baby and part time work, not being able to confirm a time earlier would really be inconvenient for her. She’s insisted that she can still possibly take me (depending on the time of course), but I told her not to worry about it. Instead, I’ll drop Mat off at work in the morning so I have the car, then pick him up just before I’m due at the hospital and get him to drop me off, before he takes the car back to work with him. The hospital is only 20mins return drive from his work, and it means we don’t have to pay parking (if I was to just drive myself to the hospital and leave the car there for the day until he picked it up later that night).

A letter attached to my surgery confirmation advised that any of the following in the operative area could possibly void my surgery booking due to the risk of post-operative infection:

• Pimples
• Ulcers
• Sunspots
• Rashes
• Animal scratches
• Gardening & lawn mowing cuts
• Mosquito & sandfly bites

In other words, no playing with Turbo (just in case) and no mowing the lawn (oh I’m devastated – sarcasm rating 10). The letter also states to care for my skin prior to surgery I should shower with an antiseptic soap two days prior to admission. No worries, can handle that.

I then began to read my Pre-Admission confirmation letter, and that’s when I started to get nervous. I was required to bring all the accompanying documentation (the bazillions of questionnaires, to exaggerate a little), medicare card, MRI scan and X-Rays, and the words *drum role* A URINE SAMPLE!! What the hell?!

I have to go and buy a little container for the pure aim of capturing my urine, and transporting it to the hospital. That’s going to be great fun! I’m going to be so nervous that it might leak, so I’ll be reluctant to put it in my bag, but where else am I going to put it? The cup holders (renamed to urine holders)? I’m going to look like an alco, because I’ll sure as heck have the urine sample in a paper brown bag, attempting to disguise it in a way that everyone will know what it is as soon as I walk in with it. The last time I was asked to provide a urine sample was when I saw the doctor for a checkup, and he wanted to check if I was pregnant. I declined in that instance, and a few years later I’m not pregnant. Ha!

It will be interesting to go shopping for such a container – where am I going to find a suitable one? Chemist? “Excuse me, do you sell urine sample containers?” I’ll be bright red from blushing as I ask. Who thought I was brave and outgoing was wrong, cause I’m sweating just from thinking about asking that question. Do I just go to Woolies and look at their plasticware? It’s going to be a one use container, I’m surely not using it ever again. That’s if they give it back. Oh no – what if they actually give it back? I’ll have to take it home and empty it myself, yuk man. I know it’s only urine, but YUK! It can go in the bin whole, I won’t even bother worrying about emptying it in the loo. No way.

Just trying to fill the damn thing will be bad enough. I’m buying gloves. I don’t want any splashback, or any of it touching me if the container overflows. I’ll have to make sure I’m not busting when I go – I don’t want any power peeing or anything. Simple slow-flow pee to make sure I’m in total control during my “deposit”.

Ok enough ranting about the urine sample now (yuk). Other than that everything is pretty hunky dory. The money for the surgery is sitting in my bank account screaming at me “hellloooooo look how much money you have. Don’t you just wish it was for everyday spending? Aren’t I attractive? And youuuuu caaaannn’ttttt touchhhh me”. I hate it when money starts singing to you *frown* Evil thing.

Ok back to reality again. I’ve organised time off work for the two days I’m in the hospital, and I’ll be working from home the two weeks after that. On the 19th December our office then closes down for 3 weeks over the Christmas break, so all up it will be 5 weeks I’ll be able to rest at home – that’s fantastic. I haven’t heard from the Insurance Company yet as to whether they will cover my injury; I’ve sent the claim form along with information on how much I’ve already paid for physio. I also included a letter asking for some compassion to cover me, since I wasn’t aware that I was covered until the deadline had already passed. So at the moment it’s still up in the air on whether I will be paying for physio after the surgery, or if it’s covered. Geez I hope they agree to cover me, that would be a fantastic Christmas present!!

Now I’m going to go back to twiddling my thumbs until my appointment next week with my “apple juice” container…catcha!

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One of my concerns was the crutches, it appears they recommend crutches for the first 2 weeks. As I am booked in for surgery on the 9th, the 2 week “crutch timeframe” brings me right up to the 23rd. Not bad – I’ll hopefully be off them in time for Christmas. However we are meant to be driving down to Lismore for Christmas day (as we’re visiting Mat’s grandfather), which is  a 5 hour drive. Hopefully there won’t be any issues with sitting in the car for a long period of time, otherwise I’ll just have to sit in the backseat with my leg stretched out, stir Mat up about being my “driver” and call him James. “Just to Lismore thanks James”.

Immediately following our trip to Lismore, we’re then returning on the 27th, only to head straight back up north to Bagara to go camping with friends. It’s going to be a busy time. What a better modus operandi for rehabilitation though? Chillaxing at the beach, drinking, and making Mat do everything for me since I can play the “injury” card. Just kidding, I’m too stubborn for that – I hate being dependant on people. I’ll have to speak to my physio and try to arrange to see him before we leave for Lismore so he can give me a plan for the next week and a half.

I googled about the recovery phases, and managed to find some great information on about.com. It steps through the different timeframes of recovery, explaining what the patient will be focusing on and basic activities they’ll be able to partake in. Of course everyone is different so I can’t consider that a concrete plan for my recovery, but it gives me a taste of what to expect.I know I have to be very careful walking as I can’t put my knee under any stress at all, so walking on the sand will be a bit of a challenge. I always charge over it like a lunatic, and it’s not the most even of surfaces!

Just a small point too, I’m yet to find out what time my surgery actually is, but I plan on blogging the whole thing. From waiting for it to happen, through to waking up in my hospital bed doped out on painkillers, I’m writing it. And if I get to see the gory image of what will be my knee with multiple cuts and stitches, I’ll be sure to take a photo for everyone to see! *grin* Stay tuned!!

Final note – I hope I get to wear one of these sexy things. I’m sure that will get me some major sympathy points!!

Knee Brace

**Update – 2nd Jan 2010**

It’s been over a year now since I had the surgery. To see all my blog posts related to my knee reconstruction, click here. Feel free to ask me any questions as well, I’m happy to answer them all.

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