The past week of my recovery has gone very smooth compared to the first week. I started to go a bit stir crazy from being in the house and have so far taken almost any opportunity to get out of the house!
Physio has been going well. I'm still on crutches but I'm trying to make a conscious effort to go without when I'm at home. It seems silly, but I have to actually concentrate on walking properly. To walk, I have to stand with even weight in my legs, contract one quad muscle, then take a step with the other. While I am walking, I have to try and keep my legs as straight as possible, which means I walk VERY slowly. Normally I am a very fast walker, so it annoys me that I have to walk so slow!
I am getting closer to getting my range of motion back in my knees. However, they have split personalities right now. My left leg bends really well, but it is very resistant to straightening compared to my right knee. My right leg is the opposite; I almost have it straight, but it is resistant to bending. I've been told to expect to have one leg better than the other at first, then it will eventually switch. I'm doing my best to be patient and work on each knees weaknesses to even them out, but it's a slow process.
I am making it through little milestones, which does make all the Physio worth it. Little things like going on the spin bike and walking around the grocery store (with crutches) have made me feel like I am accomplishing small goals.
I saw the surgeon yesterday for my post-operative recheck. The surgeon that I've been primarily dealing with was not able to see me, so I saw her associate who assisted with my surgery. He said it looks like I am doing well. Of course, I had a bunch of questions for him, half of which I forgot until I got back in the car. I always do that, I really have to write these things down!
It was a rather quick appointment, he answered the questions I had, and removed the sutures from my legs. Now, I've had stitches a couple times, some within the past 6 months in my hand, which I've removed myself. I know it doesn't hurt to have them removed. That being said, for my surgery, they put in what I believe is called a running suture. Meaning that the suture ran under my skin and had ends sticking out of both sides (check out the picture below). So I guess to remove it, they just pull it out of one end, no cutting required. I expected the sutures to be a bit difficult to come out- but I didn't expect it to hurt! Pulling the suture out actually hurt more than me popping both my ACL's the first place! I didn't mean to, but I accidentally swore while he pulled them out. He probably thinks I'm a big baby now. I'm pretty sure he laughed at me after I left- I would have!
I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to be seeing more progress. It's amazing how different things are after just two and a half weeks!
Comparison between day 5 and day 19
My suture that hurt like a bitch to remove!
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