Kelly's World

On Monday I will be hitting on 2 months since my knee reconstruction, so I figured it was time for an update.

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

It’s now been 4 weeks since I first started meeting with my physio, and boy what a difference! I am now walking on my leg without a hint of a limp (except for those with a trained eye) and can bend my leg almost 3/4 of the way.

I saw my physio again this morning, and we discussed the surgery in detail. He drew on my leg where they would be making incisions, and where the scar would be. There will be 3 “cuts” of sorts in my knee, all on the front but only one requiring stitches. That one will be about approximately 5cm long – better than the huge line running down my shin that I was expecting!! I guess it’s lucky that I don’t have plans to become a supermodel anytime soon – a combination of being a fatass with scars just doesn’t sound appealing.

This morning was the hardest workout I’ve had with the physio to date. I really killed my legs – it felt fantastic. They were wobbly afterwards, and I haven’t had that feeling of a good workout for so long it was just such a great feeling. I did lunges, squats, calf raises, leg presses, trampoline jumps and hopping…so much!

The status report from the physio is all positive. He said to have the range of movement I currently have in my knee at this stage is fantastic. I’ve now gotten my leg completely straight, and it’s a matter of working on my hyper extension now – being able to contract my thigh to lift my shin and foot off the ground. Everyone can do this – it’s not anything new. I just need to work at getting my leg right up to the same level as my good leg. I’m able to bend my knee a fair distance as well, he was impressed.

At the moment I’m doing my exercises roughly 2-3 times a day, although some days I haven’t done them at all if I’ve been busy (but it’s rare that I miss it altogether). He keeps emphasising to me that all the hard work I’m putting in now will be worth it – my rehabilitation will be so much faster when I have had the surgery. But in the meantime, if I keep this up and lose some weight, I could have really hot legs (though I would still be wearing jeans – it’s my only addiction).

Thank god for health insurance and huge discounts on physiotherapy!!