6 Week Follow-Up

It's been a little while since I have posted, sorry about that.

Things have been moving very very slowly.  My physical therapy hasn't gone as well as I was hoping it would.  My therapist had me focusing on strengthening my quad, meanwhile my ROM has consistently sucked.  I should have asked more questions and done more ROM exercises on my own, however, I am not the specialist.  I have been busting these exercises out as much as I can the last few days and I am seeing some progress.  I can now flex over 90 degrees with minimal pain.  It's not much (especially at 6 weeks post-op)--but it is better than nothing, right?

Today was my 6 week followup appointment with my Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. O'Daniel.  He examined my incisions (all 4) and they are all looking good.  He also reminded me that they will be hypersensitive to sun for awhile so be careful when I am out in the sun.  He has nothing to worry about because my legs remain consistently pale no matter how much time I spend in the sun.

Dr. O'Daniel was not at all pleased with my ROM and asked me what was going on in PT.  After I explained how difficult of a time I have had with the office, he calmed down a little.  He gave me a couple of additional exercises to start doing at home.  He was also concerned with the amount of swelling that is still present (no matter how uncomfortable/painful it is, my PT keeps telling me it is normal).  He prescribed some anti-inflammatory medication to hopefully provide me with some relief.  I like to think I have a pretty high pain tolerance but I am hoping that as the swelling decreases, so will the discomfort.

I managed to get a little more information on what all he saw during the surgery.  I have 2 holes in my cartilage (I cannot remember the exact measurements off of the top of my head).  The one that was addressed was on my medial patella facet.  At my very first ortho appt. I mentioned how the majority of my pain was on the inside of my knee, I guess this explains it.  As I mentioned before, this defect was uncontained which means that the likelihood of the "superscab" staying in place (if it manages to form at all) is very low.  The second (and larger) area of concern is on my lateral femoral condyle.  This particular hole was too big to address with Microfracture so my surgeon left it alone.

Hence, my referral to the Sports Medicine Specialists at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The next few weeks are going to be crazy busy.  I have been upped to 3 PT sessions a week, thank goodness!  I have begun to schedule these as far in advance as possible to ensure that I do not get overlooked again.  Also, the week after next (Wednesday the 23rd) is my appt. at the Medical College of Wisconsin... Hooray!  I am super anxious to get some answers.  I need to start writing my questions down because I ALWAYS forget to ask the important ones.

OH! And I also have permission to ditch my locked brace starting next week (the 7 week mark).  I am so excited to get that thing off and start walking normal, I can hardly think about it without getting all giddy.  It's the little things.  :)