Post #8 CPM machine

Not a whole lot new with the leg.  My main issue is bending.  The other day at PT i was able to bend it to 70 degree with a lot of work and pain.  My physical therapist says i should be able to bend it a lot better by this point.  She suggested a CPM machine for home.  CPM stands for: continuous passive movement.  It is a machine that bends my knee for me.  Because it's passive, it's a lot less strain on that joint.  There are mixed studies about the effectiveness of this machine, but since I'm not able to bend the knee far enough myself, I'm willing to try anything at this point.  The machine was delivered yesterday and the guy who brought it suggested I use it 3 times a day for 2 hours each time.

This is what the machine looks like.  It slowly continuously bends and straightens my knee.  I'm currently using it right now while i write this blog.

We will see how well it works.  I hope it does the trick though, because I'm sick of forcing it at PT.  It's sooo painful!

Besides the bending, my quad muscles are firing a lot easier now.  Which is great!  I was finally able to unlock my brace the other day and get around on my crutches with no problem.  Usually my quad has a hard time firing so i'm not able to move my leg forward while I'm walking around on crutches.  If i lock the brace I'm able to swing that leg forward by moving my hip.  Because I can fire my quad now I don't need to swing my hip as much.  It's awesome, plus it feels a lot looser being able to bend it a little bit while i walk.

I am desperately trying to get off my pain pills.  I'm still taking percocet every six hours.  The other day I actually forgot a dose and didn't realize it till two hours later.  The pain i felt was tolerable.  AWESOME...maybe i can come off my pills!  Nope, i was wrong.  The next day (a full 24 hours off pills) the pain became more intense.  I just kept feeling sharp shooting pains on the inside of my knee.  And for no reason; I wasn't bending it or even moving.  I was just sitting on the couch.  So i decided to take some meds again, and it took a full day for the pain to finally go away.  It's annoying that once i feel pain, it doesn't go away right away- it takes a good 12 to 24 hours if I find myself past a tolerable pain level. 

So I'm back on percocet.  Yesterday evening i decided to cut down to half a percocet every six hours.  SO far i'm doing ok.  BUT it hasn't been a full 24 hours yet.  I may get pretty painful later.  We will see.  I'm crossing my fingers for the best though, because I WANT TO GET OFF THESE PILLS!  :-)