Week 6, day 4: We may be hurtin', but we kickin ass!

Slept better than before, but still had to do a middle-of-the-night ibuprofen "shot". Leg felt less painful in the morning, though still not as painless as in the beginning of week 3.

THE BRACE IS GONE! OK, I am getting ahead of myself.

I had a followup appointment with my orthopedic surgeon today. The summary is that I am kicking ass and ahead of schedule. He said the pain levels will go up and down (good weeks and bad weeks) and this is just a part of the healing process.

I asked about the pain just above the incision site and he said that it's near where the screw enters. He said there are three things involved there: hamstring graft, screw and the tunnel. Any of these things could be hurting.

My knee looks good and the wounds look good. My flexion is great and he confirmed the full extension. He felt my quads (put your dirty mind away!) and said they were good.

The Dr suggested I massage the hamstring graft incision site with some cream. I need to find out what kind of cream to use.

He said that he can't test the graft at this point (too early). I asked about my concern with the CPM machine causing anterior translation of my tibia because my butt sank lower than the base of the CPM machine (during the first two weeks). He said that it wouldn't mess anything up, so not to worry.

The brace is off! Yay!!! The Dr did not allow me to burn it in a ritualistic fashion, in case I still need to wear it (if I'm feeling sore and need a gradual weaning off).

I asked about the knee buckling a little bit in the morning until I get out of the shower or walk around some more. He said that it's no big deal at all and reminded me that I just had major knee surgery.

I am now cleared for non-impact cardio, but I still have to wait until 11/14 (8 weeks post-surgery) before I can start hamstring strength.

When asked about using stairs, the Dr indicated that I can use them, but I should ramp them in (and all the other cardio) gradually. So don't do five flights of stairs on the way out. I will be incorporating some steps in gradually (though I may wait until my Monday PT appointment before I start playing with the stairs or other cardio).

I scheduled a followup for just after the return to running date (Dec 10). So this pushes my return to running date by a few days, but that's OK.

SO HELLS YEAH!

I did remember to get on the stationary bike for 15 minutes today before I left work. Did my stretches before bed.