So its been just over 2 weeks since my surgery. I had my 2 week follow up a couple days ago and had my stitches taken out. For the most part it didn't hurt but of course there were the 2 or 3 that decided to be stubborn and take the extra tug, which stung a wee bit. Steri-strips were placed over the wounds. I asked the Physician's Assistant (PA) why Dr. Birmingham wanted his patients on crutches for 4 weeks, as opposed to 2 weeks like some others. He said that was a good question and the purpose was to avoid (or try to avoid) tendinitis, by keeping it only weight bearing 20% flat foot. I was satisfied with the answer.
However, knowing that some only have crutches for 2 weeks, and I"m stuck at four, I found myself cheating a little bit at home, mostly when preparing meals for my daughter and I, as its hard to maneuver around the kitchen on crutches with food or constantly moving around with my hands full. The walker helps moving food, but not preparing. Because I did this, I made sure that all my other movements around the house were on crutches. Is this good or bad, who knows, but sometimes you have to deviate a little. Do I advise it, of course not. I did notice my knee a little sore from full weight bearing, but it didn't last too long.
My new PT exercises are not as boring so I'm finding them easier to do. They are starting to focus on muscle building, as opposed to flexibility. I was the master of the stair climber before surgery (self appointed master of course) so I had a lot of thigh and calf muscle to begin with. I started using the stair climber as my only cardio after my original injury because the hip motion is the most minimal. If you think the stair stepper is a child's workout, try setting it at one of the highest levels, keep your body (and the stairs) up, as opposed to middle or lower in height, and do that for 40 minutes.... its a B####. I've seen people use it on a low setting, reading a magazine.... not the same. I am usually moving so much that I don't think I'd even be able to read. But it served its purpose and kept my injury "as is" without damaging further, at least that's what I think, because it never hurt worse. I just figured if extensive hip motion (spinning) damaged it, then I need to do the opposite, minimal movement.
I have been off pain meds for over a week now and drove yesterday for the first time to take my daughter (and my father, in case she decided to bolt on me) to her first ever Easter egg hunt. She loved it, and I did too because it lasted all of 10 minutes. I felt fine driving. It actually felt pretty normal, other than the brace on my leg. I had pretty much mastered getting in and out of the passenger side, but the steering wheel served as a new obstacle. I had to use exterior range of movement in order to get in, which i'm not supposed to be doing yet, so I'll keep driving to a minimum, only when needed.
As you can probably tell, I'll start doing updates less frequent, because at this stage, every day isn't going to differ much, especially not like the first week. The post op has been going good so far and I don't yet regret surgery. Still to this day, being my first surgery, everything has gone better than I expected. If I ever have other surgeries, I hope recovery is this good. Of course its early on still, and the PA told me that I'm going to get a lot stiffer as time goes on, as the scar tissue starts to form, so I don't look forward to that, but one step at a time. I can't wait to be off crutches officially, so I can get back to playing outside with my daughter and just being able to move around freely. The crutches have got to be the worse part by far. It wasn't so bad when I "needed" them, but knowing I am able to walk without them, makes it that much harder to use them. But I need to keep up with the doctor's orders to make sure i'm a successful case, so I will continue to do as I'm told :)
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