Setbacks are all a part of it, right?
I have had a really good day, for the most part. Great mobility, almost no pain, and I was able to forgo the Norco pills. I even managed to drive Jessica to school this morning with only mild discomfort, but not really pain. Like I was having to get used to how my knee is arranged now as far as its position in space, and how it extends itself to push the clutch in. I can say this: getting in and out of the car is SO much easier than it was before the surgery. I no longer have to boost myself up and lean all over the passenger side to put my left leg out now. I think I actually got a little dewy cheeked over that.
And then, I tripped over my own feet on the way to the bathroom and though I didn't fall, I managed to "plant" my left leg and twist my knee in a way it isn't supposed to twist. I didn't just cry because it hurt so bad, which it did, but because I was mad at myself for thinking I was in the clear for walking aids.
I now know that until I get to the occupational part of the physical therapy where I relearn how to walk without a limp, I will need the walker to keep a steady gait. It just seems so silly to use it since I don't need it for support. I am seriously just pushing it in front of me like a grocery cart. Sometimes, I don't even need to let it touch the ground. The simple act of carrying it in front of me keeps my gait steady. I don't understand how that works, and I guess I don't really need to understand it for it to work.
Meanwhile, I have taken a Norco, iced my leg, and sat the hell down again. I am going stir crazy being glued to this couch and not doing stuff.
addendum--
Carl just now helped me do my home exercises. The hardest ones require me to completely straighten my knee and try to press the back of my knee into the bed, and the worst one of all requires me to bend my knee as far as I can, then with a towel, bend it even further. I actually screamed like a little bitch while we did that one. It didn't hurt only when I bent my knee, but when I unbent it to bend it again. I could actually feel my knee cap grinding on my femur and shin bones, and sometimes getting stuck in the groove. I can tell you that I am convinced that there is absolutely no cartilage left behind my knee cap or where the knee is supposed to glide over the leg bones. It felt like sandpaper being ground into the tendon holding the knee cap in place and seriously, that exercise can straight up eat a bag of dicks (though I'll keep on doing it until I can bend that knee all the way again.)
And then, I tripped over my own feet on the way to the bathroom and though I didn't fall, I managed to "plant" my left leg and twist my knee in a way it isn't supposed to twist. I didn't just cry because it hurt so bad, which it did, but because I was mad at myself for thinking I was in the clear for walking aids.
I now know that until I get to the occupational part of the physical therapy where I relearn how to walk without a limp, I will need the walker to keep a steady gait. It just seems so silly to use it since I don't need it for support. I am seriously just pushing it in front of me like a grocery cart. Sometimes, I don't even need to let it touch the ground. The simple act of carrying it in front of me keeps my gait steady. I don't understand how that works, and I guess I don't really need to understand it for it to work.
Meanwhile, I have taken a Norco, iced my leg, and sat the hell down again. I am going stir crazy being glued to this couch and not doing stuff.
addendum--
Carl just now helped me do my home exercises. The hardest ones require me to completely straighten my knee and try to press the back of my knee into the bed, and the worst one of all requires me to bend my knee as far as I can, then with a towel, bend it even further. I actually screamed like a little bitch while we did that one. It didn't hurt only when I bent my knee, but when I unbent it to bend it again. I could actually feel my knee cap grinding on my femur and shin bones, and sometimes getting stuck in the groove. I can tell you that I am convinced that there is absolutely no cartilage left behind my knee cap or where the knee is supposed to glide over the leg bones. It felt like sandpaper being ground into the tendon holding the knee cap in place and seriously, that exercise can straight up eat a bag of dicks (though I'll keep on doing it until I can bend that knee all the way again.)