He said I can go without my brace unless I am in a situation where I am walking a lot. That's what I was really hoping for, because it is nice to not have to wear it at work. However, he wants me to wait 3 more months before jogging and 6 more before doing any squats at the gym. He just doesn't think the benefit from squats justifies how hard it is on recovering knees. That's tricky though, because squats are exactly what personal trainers recommend to people who want to strengthen their quads. I guess my trainer will just have to find another way.
There were two other things in the conversation that surprised me. First, when I told Holly (Dr. Trice's surgical nurse) that I had been in contact with another patient who found me through this blog, she said that she also had another one or two who told her that he or she was reading my blog. I have readers! That's pretty shocking. Holly said she was glad because there is only so much detail she can provide on what the surgery and recovery feels like. It's still going to be different for each patient, but I have tried to accurately represent what this one patient felt.
Second, Dr. Trice told me that he specifically remembers me from before the surgery because he could see how much pain I was in. He said he just still remembers my face and how it had "Please just make this stop" written all over it. He's said before that I was worse off than a lot of his patients, but I didn't know how firmly my face had stuck in his mind. I mean, doctors see a lot of patients and I don't think of myself as particularly memorable.
So, here's an update on what I am experiencing.
- I am not in pain, but the knee is weak and I still guard it and protect it. I am also still aware of it most of the time. Let me put it this way: a normal person would sometimes stumble or trip and it's not a big deal. I almost never stumble or trip because I am always paying a great deal of attention to my walking.
- Leg extensions (where I am sitting and straighten the leg in front of me) are very difficult. When I do them, the leg shakes and it takes a lot of effort to control it.
- Also, I still have trouble with stairs, particularly going down.
- In general, the knee pops a lot, but it's not catching or locking. It feels like cracking your knuckles or your back. It actually feels good.
- If I get up from sitting for a little while then I limp, but that goes away after walking for a minute or two and especially if I can get the knee to pop. If I am walking for a while, I have almost no limp.
- Some of the nerves are still dead on the outside of my knee so that area is still slightly numb (like if you sit on your hand for too long kind of tingly numb).
