Week 7: Bullet points from my first week of out-patient PT

Take the pain meds about 1 hour BEFORE your PT appointment. If you have a good physical therapist, which you MUST, she/he knows what they are doing and you're not going to re-injure yourself. I am pushing through the pain and difficulty of scar tissue, swelling, and stiffness accompanied by muscular atrophy.

Arrive 10 minutes early to get some heat on this part of your body about to be worked on. This gets blood flow to the area and loosens up muscle (what's left), soft tissue, and tendons.

Bring a stick, leather swatch, or as I did, a face cloth to bite down on as you cry and scream at the top of your lungs including many expletives within ear shot of the rest of the physical therapy office.

Make your appointments at least 2 weeks out at a time, and get the days and times you want.

Bring a friend (if you're the type who wants people around during trying times) - someone with a strong stomach who can take seeing you in pain and working hard without offering pity or condolences.

I was at 67.5 degrees at the beginning of my appointment and the physical therapist got me to 90 degrees with a half hour of aggressive assisted flexion. It sucked, but anything is possible!

Massage the area of the injury and the scar as often as possible; break down scar tissue and restore sensation. Make friends with your body; with the painful parts, the numb parts, the skin that feels spongy and weird. If you don't want to massage it, have a trusted friend or massage therapist do it.

Keep pushing yourself at home with all PT exercises, including the range of motion, at least two times per day, as prescribed. Take the pain meds, suck it up, and make progress!

The Constant Passive Movement machine is still in active use. My goal is to increase by 5 degrees every day or so - or at least continue to make steady progress. Sometimes I have hit plateaus, like at 40 degrees and 60, I was there for a few days and that's that. But today (Sunday) I'm at 75 degrees. And by Wednesday, by God, I really hope to be at 90 - feeling the pain but able to keep my left hip down and body relaxed with as little wincing as possible. I've decided to try to do the CPM for a half hour per day at max range of motion a few times per day and then lay off it while I sleep.

Unlock the brace. Let your leg swing, dangle, and move as much as possible.

Trust your physical therapist. Your mind and body might say "Stop! It hurts!". Your PT will say otherwise. Listen to him/her. You want to walk again and do athletic type activities again, right? 

DO THE WORK. DON'T SLACK. ASK FOR HELP TO MEET YOUR GOALS.

TREAT YOURSELF RIGHT. LOVE YOURSELF. REWARD YOURSELF. YOU'RE NOT A BABY OR A WIMP. 

(All of the info above and through out this blog is my experience and interpretation of instructions from my doctors and physical therapists regarding my injuries. Consult your own medical care providers regarding your own specific care and injuries.)

First post-op follow up

On Wednesday Sept 7 (my sister Bridget's birthday - happy birthday!), a lovely orthopedic technician lady took 31 staples out of my leg, and saved them for me in a latex glove with a rubber band holding it shut. I said I'd like them to use in an art project someday. Who knows.

The whole staple-removing process was pleasingly painless. Felt like nothing or tiny little pokes with a pin. My surgeon, Dr. Fulkerson, was on vacation this past week so Dr. Dolbear stepped in to give me my post up check up. Basically, he said the incision looks beautiful, it is healing great. Dr. Fulkerson did an amazing job on the surgery (I saw another x-ray which was even more helpful and interesting in terms of understanding the procedure). I promise I will post pictures soon. It's a matter of compiling them from my and Alon's phones. ...And I am to continue with the Constant Passive Movement (CPM) machine as much as possible night and day, keep icing, and Dr. Dolbear told me at least three times -  ZERO weight bearing! Got it.

I also got a new pain prescription - less tylenol more oxy in each pill. The tylenol was hurting my tummy, and no wonder because I was taking too much. It was a second refill by an on call doc over labor day weekend whose name I will not mention here, but basically gave me the wrong pain Rx. Shame on him.

Water under the bridge. Funny thing...

Funny thing was the new oxy pill with 7.5g (or mg??) of oxycodone and 325mg of tylenol is amazing. So I took two pills every six hours starting Wednesday night at 5pm... it was fine because at that time of day my pain level increases and it also helps my muscles relax and for me to sleep. HOWEVER, I took two pills at 10pm, 5am, then two at 10am again. One hour before my first meeting with my occupational therapist, which was followed by my physical therapist. Big mistake! I basically was slurring my words and my eyelids kept closing. I acknowledged to them my situation and disclosed that I had taken too much of a new pain med for day time hours. And they just kind of shrugged it off. I felt like I was confessing to my parents about underage drinking or something. Anyways... I felt nauseous, tired, and couldn't really form sentences for about 4 hours. Regardless, PT went on and then I slept most of the afternoon. Alon warned me to take just one... he is right like 99.9% of the time... sometimes I still just need to learn it on my own.

Lesson learned.