K+29 days
2 hours on spin bike for ROM
First day of formal physical therapy and it went pretty good. Good is a relative term as it was painful and hard but this can be good as well. The only bad news is that the PT does not want me to come off the crutches until the 6 week mark. He prefers me to do the partial weight bearing simulated walking for two weeks first. He wants the muscle strength in my quad to return before I try and walk with full weight on the knee. So my metal friends will remain with me for a couple more weeks.
On a good note he was very happy and surprised with my range of motion at only 4 weeks after surgery. Before he measured my range of motion he said our goal would be to get me to at least 140 degrees. A normal athlete prior to surgery would be in the 150-160 degree range and returning to at least 140 degrees is a minimum goal. When he measured my range of motion it was already at 136 degrees. He usually only sees about 120 degrees at this point so I am doing good as far as range of motion is concerned. He had me do a bunch of different exercises to see where my quad stength is at and to start to rebuild a little as well. I was there for two hours so what little muscle I do have left in the quad is wiped out right now. As far as quad strength it was pretty sad. I essentially have almost no inner quad left. It is extremely difficult and painful to just lift my left leg in the fully straight position off of the floor while sitting. Took everything I had to get it off the floor. It was a pretty sad site but he said this is normal. I did much better at the other exercises so it is primarily the inner quad that has completely lost all strength.
So overall a tough but good day. I will be going to PT three times a week for the next couple months. So I am on my way back one step and one rehab exercise at a time. | 