Follow Up #3

I had my third follow up appointment today, and finally met with the Dr. Kaeding! I haven't seen him since the surgery. He says that everything looks good and is going well. Hooray!! 

My right (non surgery) knee has been really sore, so sore yesterday that I couldn't bend it to get up from any seated position without it giving out. He says it's probably just extra strained and to ice it and take it easy. I was freaking out a bit since I really need the right to be strong for the left at the moment, and the type of pain I felt yesterday was totally different than any normal soreness that I've ever had in my right knee. It's never been so painful that it gives out, and that's exactly how the left one started, so you can imagine the anxiety I was feeling worrying if I had done something to it. Luckily, it feels mostly back to it's normal soreness today and the sharp pain is becoming less severe.

I think I over-did it this past weekend. It was a super busy weekend. They're always super busy, yet I somehow manage to be surprised by it every time. On Thursday, we went to a game night with Kevin's coworkers. We played Mafia and Cards Against Humanity, which was absolutely hilarious. Then we went to Kroger to get Amy's Mac & Cheese (a super delicious lactose-free kind) and chocolate, which are clearly calcium-filled essentials in a post bone surgery life. It was my first time in a store since surgery, so that was exciting! I felt like we were going through a total construction zone though because of how much they are redoing Kroger right now. 

We should've brought some hard hats. 

On a random note, I was waking up with 4-5 bug bites for a few mornings in a row this past week. A friend's friend's girlfriend has bedbugs right now, and the boyfriend was at Kevin's apartment last weekend (although he assured everyone that he absolutely did not bring any and that his girlfriend had her apartment gassed and quarantined all her stuff), so of course I immediately jump to the conclusion that I had brought bedbugs to Dublin. Luckily, since we washed the sheets the bites have now subsided. I'm 95% sure they aren't bedbugs now, but they looked like this and it totally freaked me out. I had probably 15 of them at one point. 

Gross, incredibly itchy bug bites all over my arms and legs.

Anyway, on Friday morning, I helped Kevin clean his whole apartment since he had the day off (I am sure he was thrilled to be spending his day off cleaning-he went disc golfing after, though!). I am one of those weirdos who finds cleaning to be an excellent stress reliever, and I've been stressed about all the knee stuff and annoyed that I haven't been able to clean so I was actually excited to be cleaning. The rest of the day I took it easy, and we spent the evening watching Game of Thrones. 

On Saturday, we ran to Target to pick up a birthday present for my nephew John. He turned two last weekend, and had his party this passt Saturday. I was initially going to wait to get him a gift because of my knee, but I felt good that morning. So off to Target we went in search of ONE gift and ONE card and left with a gift, a card, 2 sundresses, a gift for John's cousin Gwen so she wouldn't feel left out at the party, flip flops, and a neck pillow for when John falls asleep while he's swinging at our house. I swear that happens every single time I'm in Target. The party was awesome, and after I went to a graduation party for one of my sister's friends who lives in our neighborhood since it was close by. I was mistaken for a high schooler there, which was pretty amusing. Nathan was dog-sitting this cute little puppy all weekend too. He kept attacking my brace though.

Sweet Little Oliver
(with his super sharp teeth and claws)

After that and an hour of ice and rest, we went to the Verizon store because my phone has gone totally nuts and doesn't work at all right now. It continually restarts itself and dies, so I'm getting a new one, but it won't be here until Wednesday. It feels weird to not have a phone, yet kind of freeing, too. I've been using the good old house phone. I'm glad my parents didn't get rid of it like they keep planning to. After the Verizon store, we relaxed here and hung out on the deck with Kylie and Nathan until it started raining, then came in and played cards. The significant others had a comeback from a 9-4 game and beat the Votinos at euchre, then Kevin destroyed us all at Up and Down the River. 

Sunday I relaxed all day because my knees were pretty sore by this point, which brings us back to the follow up appointment today. 

Dr. Kaeding said that although my left quad is atrophying, it looks like normal atrophy to him. He said I'm doing a great job with the physical therapy exercises, and to keep up the good work. He also doesn't think I'll need the e-stim machine because my quad should start to get better and better once I can walk without the brace. The hard work of PT is finally paying off! 

PT is way more fun when a cute baby does it with you

Quad presses with Jamesy-baby

I get to (sort of) take my brace off next Wednesday. Yay!!! It's not exactly what I was expecting though. He said start off with just taking it off around the house, and maybe to walk to the car now and then without it if I'm going out. I have to wear it out in public for the most part in the beginning, and can eventually take it off to sit and eat in restaurants. I have to have it on any time I'm in a crowded area or anywhere that people could bump it. I thought I'd be finished with it at 6 weeks, but it looks like my brace will continue to be my BFF and we'll be inseparable for the next month to month and a half. 

Amanda, I can hear you laughing at my mad photo editing skillz all the way from Boston! 

I'm supposed to just listen to my body, and do enough walking around to strengthen it and move my knee enough when I'm sitting to keep the joint happy, but not over-do it. I'm glad I got the OK to be off of the couch though. Phase 2 of therapy (the next 6 weeks after next Wednesday) involves just walking around the house without the brace and going for short walks with the brace. I also got the OK to work on increasing the ROM as much as I can without pushing it too far. The scars look okay, too.

The scabs are mostly off now, although the scars are still pretty red.

I'm probably allowed to go with my family to Myrtle Beach, but the doctor said that me walking in sand at only 8 weeks post-op makes him really nervous. He said if I'm incredibly careful and maybe wear the brace and don't go in the water at all, it'd probably be okay. So we'll see. He's also not too sure about starting to work in August like they initially thought. He said if it were a sitting job it'd be different, but in a big hospital where you're on your feet all day, he said he'd rather me be sitting at least half the day or working part time. So we'll see about that, too. There are lots of "ifs" right now and I'm not a big fan of uncertainty, but I'm trying to just go with the flow and trust that it'll all work out how it's supposed to.