"If you're not singing an opera, I'm not bending your knee enough"-courtesy of my therapist while I was begging him to stop. Apparently, if I was able to talk and curse at him (accidentally, I really didn't mean to call him those nasty names) then he really could bend further. It was only when I wasn't able to talk clearly that he took it far enough.
At least he's good natured enough to not take offense when I drop a few f-bombs on him, he knows I don't really mean it. They actually hung up an article that says that if you feel the need to curse, it's better to let it out because it apparently releases endorphins which makes you more able to deal with the pain. So I suppose you can say that it might even be encouraged. But it's only when the patient starts singing an opera that he decides that the knee has bent far enough.
Tomorrow, I go back to see my surgeon. Hopefully I will have some good news and be cleared to do more fun stuff at PT. I have a very nice progress note from the PT, my first day, I only had 60 of flexion, yesterday was 120. It's kind of nice to see that progress. I'm hoping I go see the surgeon tomorrow, and he lets me get rid of robobrace, get rid of the crutches, and start driving.
And as a thought of the day... why don't they make heated crutches? They could attach a solar power thing onto the crutches maybe so that when they're outside, the metal doesn't become freezing cold. I hate it when I'm walking outside in the freezing temperatures, and then go inside, take the gloves off, and I can barely hold onto the crutches because they're so cold. Guess that's the downside of aluminum crutches.
Hi Susan, really interesting to see your blog! I had PCL and post corner reconstruction after dislocating it playing rugby. I had my op 4 weeks ago and can only get 65% flexion at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, I am ready to get rid of the Robocop brace and crutches. My surgeon said to keep the crutches until I don't limp or walk really slowly.
I also know what you mean about people asking about what you have done, no one has heard of the PCL and they don't understand how rare an injury is to it.
I have given up and just say I have had knee surgery! I am now back at work and everyone wants to see the scar, I will put a few pics on my blog if you want to see.
What is PT? Must be an American Phrase? How long did your surgeon say it would take till you can cycle? I can’t wait to be back running!
Anyway keep up the recovery, great you can flex to 120%!
Cheers
Tim
Hi Tim, welcome to my blog. I was lucky in that my PLC was fine, I know that the rehab takes longer when the PLC is reconstructed with the PCL as well. The brace is definitely annoying, and finding pants to fit over it is very annoying. When I interview for residencies, and I tell them that I tore the PCL, they tell me "Wow, you're a rarity!"
ReplyDeletePT is either physical therapy or physical therapist, depending if I am talking about the actual therapy, or the person. So if I say "I'm going to PT", that means "I'm going to physical therapy", or if I say "I hate my PT because he tortures me," then that means "I hate my physical therapist because he tortures me". I don't know what they call therapy in England, it's the rehab that you do post op.
Woops, sorry, I forgot that you asked about cycling. I started the stationary bike at about 3 weeks post op I think, but it wasn't easy. I had to kind of warm up before I could get all the way around, and now I go around easily all the way around. In 2 months time, I go back to him, and at that time, I will hopefully be cleared to start slowly with more exercise, like running and skating again. I'm looking forward to it, and being able to do more muscle building. Right now, my right leg jiggles like an old lady's arms, the hamstring has wasted away, the quads have a lot of atrophy, but it's the hamstring atrophy that bugs me. At least I can work the quads, but I can't work the hamstrings, so it just jiggles.
ReplyDelete