So last week, I shared how my first 8 days went. You can find the post {HERE}. I will say that this week was much better in both terms of my recovery and how I spent my days. I really am not one to lay around and do nothing. It drives me crazy which, in turn, drives my family crazy. I can't not do things. True, I've been making great progress on my colorful cow, but there's only so much cross-stitch that I can do before I go all blurry-eyed. Pulling out the computer is ok, but I really need to be active. I miss my endorphins! Luckily, these last 6 days have found me actually working up a sweat while doing my daily PT exercises.
So my last update was right after my first PT visit since then I've had 2 more visits and they've added more exercises to my repertoire! Squee!
First things first, however, Thursday was my first day doing my exercises at home. It was painful for everyone in the house. However, before I woke the hubs so we could do the exercises, I went downstairs and made myself coffee, well two cups of coffee. By myself! Who knew that making yourself a morning cup of coffee would be so liberating? After enjoying both cups of coffee, I went back upstairs to get the real work done. I decided that I wouldn't eat breakfast until my exercises were done. We went through the exercises the way that my PT told me to do. Hubs was super awesome and did his spotter job admirably. The leg lifts were difficult, the knee bends were agonizing, but the quad sets weren't bad until the kids asked my right leg wasn't doing as much as the left leg. It's working children! You just can't see it. The left leg doesn't have to work as hard. There were definitely tears involved. There wasn't pain, but the effort and the newness of moving the leg took its toll. I don't know if I mentioned in my last post, but the ice therapy machine that I got is worth at least 4 times it's water-weight in gold. The ice machine after my exercises is one of my favorite parts of the day.
Friday was day 2 of PT and my therapist was on vacation, so I had a substitute therapist. She was quite nice and competent if a little hesitant to adjust my brace. I was disappointed that my brace wasn't adjusted, but there was improvement during my leg lifts and the addition of side leg lifts was fun. She barely had to help me get my heel off the table during both exercises, which was exciting because that is what I struggled with during those same exercises on Wednesday and Thursday. Also, I discovered that I can walk down the stairs without my crutch. I'm still holding onto the railing, but I managed those stairs by myself!
So I woke up early both Thursday and Friday but didn't think much of it. Then it happened again on Saturday. I mean I didn't have an alarm set, but 6:14 came and my eyeballs were open. Weird, but maybe my internal clock was just resetting itself, but this is 3 days in a row where I've awoken between 6:12 and 6:14. It's just curious. So anyways, I'm awake which means coffee! I walked all the way downstairs, made my coffee, and then enjoyed it without touching my crutch once! Woot! That was pretty amazing. The house woke up fairly early, and we got my exercises done. I didn't need help with any of the leg lifts, and the hubs was duly impressed. It was nice to show off a bit. Afterward, the hubs went downstairs to start working on the garage, and I had the Big Guy bring up the new shower shelves so I could get them built. Building those shelves was a little job, but it was big for me.
Sunday found me waking up early again, and as has become my habit, I wander downstairs for coffee and me-time. The early morning routine has become one of my favorite moments. Its just me, usually, and I can get myself prepped for the day. I write in my journal and organize my bullet journal. I work on little crafts with Baby Girl. I sip my coffee and just enjoy myself. We pick up Small Fry from camp, and then after we get home he gets to see how much I've improved. He's a pretty good cheerleader. We then moved me out of our bedroom and back down into the family room. No more convalescing in the bedroom! The afternoon found me going to my parents' house and visiting with them and my grandparents. It was a lovely day.
6:12 and my eyeballs are open. Hello Monday. Why do I even bother setting an alarm at this point? I make my coffee, and spend some time with the Big Guy. We head to PT just before 8. I get to warm-up on the recumbent bike. I was supposed to be on there for 10 minutes, but somehow it ended up being 12. Oops. Not sorry. I also kept asking for resistance, because it was easy. The knee felt good and wasn't fighting the movements at all. My therapist was fussing at me for pushing more, but it was easy. She almost threw my protocol at me, well not really, but she did bring it over and told me we were following it and not going to deviate. She then told her assistant that I was going to have to be reigned in. I don't know which is worse in the world of PT, having a patient that doesn't want to do or having one that wants to do too much. Both probably have their own sets of headaches. After the time on the bike, I got to walk across the area to the barre. It was scary, and they had to fetch me a cane. Then we had to keep lengthening the cane because of tall people problems. I make it to the barre, and I didn't fall. I got to do mini squats, only bending the knees to about 30° and then it was on to calf raises. Love calf raises! So after that, it was onto wearing the brace again and all the leg lifts. We upped my reps to 30. I was working up a definite sweat during this visit, and it felt marvelous. The ice compression machine felt amazing. I took the kids to the pool and let them play for about 90 minutes. The heat took a toll on me, and after we got home I took a shower. My knee felt unstable in the shower after trying to pick the soap up off the floor. That was not very fun, so after I got out of the shower I laid on the couch and proceeded to take a nap.
Today has started just like the last 5 days. 6:12 and I'm awake. I take my time over my coffee this morning though. Baby Girl and I made a perler bead cupcake, and then I head back upstairs to do my exercises. The hubs was nervous for my exercises today because of the addition of the squats and lifts, but it was all good. The knee aches a bit today, probably from all the use and abuse and I've put it through, but it's not terrible.
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| SQUATS! SQUATS! SQUATS! |
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
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