Since I last posted, I have given up my walker entirely (after nine days) and switched to a cane. Not just any cane but the actual cane my father used for 30-plus years of his life.I am realizing I was taller than my father as the cane just doesn't fit right. But then again, even after using the cane for just a few days, I rarely use it at all unless I am going outdoors and need some more stability.
I have had a follow-up with my doctor and a PT sessions since my last post. Doctor said the surgery went great and my incision looks excellent. I was warned that there is a shelf life in this knee and if I return to running I will wear that shelf-life down. Somewhere in the 5-10 year period perhaps. I am not using this a fodder for the "I will show them!" crowd or those lame stories that will "the doctor said I would never walk again but look at me now!" but rather just to manage my expectations and hopefully still surpass them. Perhaps that is all I can get out of this knee and will need to have further surgery. If so, in the year 2035 (how is that freaking possible that that is just ten years away) when Trump is either in jail or has died, I will have to get another surgery. I understand that each surgery increases the risk of infection but I hope that we can make sure that doesn't happen one third of the way through this 21st century.
My PT session was a good one with me being able to crank my knee to about 106 degrees of flexion and also past 0 degrees to straighten. It hurts to do so, but that's fine. I need to work through the scar tissue and make this knee work for me again. My at home PT is going decent as well as I continue to strengthen the quad muscles and bend and bend and bend the knee.
I am down to 210.8 pounds which isn't too bad since that is almost entirely by diet alone. My pre-surgery physical and day of blood draw showed that I have elevated bilirubin (which I always knew) but also some higher than I would like sugar an cholesterol levels. However, as I gained 50 lbs I know that will come down in the near future. Looking to get another physical some time in maybe July to see how those numbers have improved.
The past week I have implemented doing a short 20 minute set of chest, shoulders, back, and biceps once or twice a day to strengthen my upper body and burn some calories. I was told that in 4 weeks I can begin swimming again which was a really nice surprise. I truly think that once I return to running, I will likely bring my miles back down to pre-pandemic levels. I averaged roughly 2500 miles a year before COVID. After, with less races and more time spent at home, I was over 3,000. I can see making my lies count much more than counting my miles in the future, supplementing with a return to swimming and maybe (yuck) some cycling as well.
All told, the weight is down, the knee is bending, and things are looking good so far. I have been told that a full knee replacement often has a constant trajectory of healing whereas partial seems to have ebbs and flows. So I am ready for that if it is the case.
Thanks for following along! Another report in likely a week.
No comments:
Post a Comment