Yesterday! Hey Temp, it is not so bad, take note!!! LOL!!!

Yesterday was my big day, my six week checkup with my knee surgeon. It was a long day, 2 ½ hours up to Eugene, a quick shopping spree at Trader Joes, and then off to the doctors office. They first had to take x-rays and then he was running late so a long wait to see the doctor. Two hours at the doctors office and then the return trip home. We didnt get home until 7pm. It was exhausting but I am a happy camper.

My surgeon says that I am in the top 5% of his recovery patients at the 6 week point. He was thrilled with my progress and the x-rays show my knee is perfect. He seemed very impressed with how much progress I had made and after we finished stroking each other for our accomplishments, he said that really 50% of the battle is in the head of the patient! He has authorized 16 more physical therapy sessions but said to play it by ear and do them only until I feel I have done as much as is productive. He actually seemed happy that if I made no further progress I would be fine but my knee is far too stiff to stop now, I want more mobility! I was on cloud nine because I had heard stories of how it sometimes takes over 6 MONTHS to get to this point.

I have been working really hard on my therapy, and it is painful. But I am in no pain when just walking or climbing stairs. I have found that when one can control when they feel pain, like when doing the exercises, it is a lot easier to endure more pain, and then it can be controlled with ice packs until it calms down. He said I was doing everything right and to just keep it up. I take a pain pill before therapy so that my knee can be pushed to the limit and then ice it right after. I really believe that I have been able to progress so quickly is because of my exercise bike. I have a special routine that I do that gives me very quick results and I can almost see improvement daily. I have a really amazing physical therapist and without him, I could never have done this well. I really lucked out!




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