One week musings

This is my leg one week out of surgery. It's doing ok! No bruising, and the swelling isn't bad. In this pic you can see steri-strips covering all the smaller incisions and band-aids over the biggest one (I think that's where the arthroscope went in?) They're healing well. My range of motion is good too--I'm at 125 degrees now, and 140 is considered "normal". I hate to brag (ok, no I don't) but my PT said this is one of the best looking knees she's seen a week out of surgery :-)

It's still really weak though--I guess it just takes time for the soft tissue to heal, and there's nothing you can do to rush that. I wish there was. I'm sick of crutches. I'm trying to use them the right way (all the weight on your palms, with no pressure on your armpits) but my underarms are still bruised.

I completely stopped taking Oxycodone yesterday, and I've since realized how much I hate that stuff. I didn't realize until it was out of my system how foggy it makes me feel. I've felt so much more lucid and more motivated the last two days! It was hard for me to force myself to do even my simple PT routine two days ago, whereas today I feel so much more energetic and engaged. I guess I shouldn't attribute all that to the Oxycodone--I'm only a week out of surgery, so obviously every day is going to make a big difference at this point.

Good news: I made my first social outing last night! I went out with a couple of friends to go watch bluegrass music at a bar I like. It was fun, but also hard. I take up so much space--I have to keep my leg propped up and fully extended, and even though I was constantly adjusting my padding and brace and it was still very uncomfortable. Plus crutches are the clumsiest things ever. I'm already a very clumsy person by nature, so put me on crutches and I really don't stand a chance. I feel like I make a huge scene everywhere I go, like an elephant walking into a room. Of course within ten minutes of arriving at the bar I'd knocked over a drink :-( Oy. At least everyone's extremely nice to a person on crutches!