Post #14 Four months post-surgery

WOW someone has been neglecting their blog. Let me back pedal a bit. Last time I wrote I had only returned to working via two days of work. I have now done ten full days at work. Writing down "ten whole days" makes me sound like a baby!! Most people would of done more than fifteen days by this point; but I work twelve hour days, that's where the difference comes in.

So yes I have officially finished 10 twelve hour days! WOOHOO, I'm using my brain again! It's funny how staying home for three months made me feel like my brain was going to mush. Anyway, back to my knees and how they felt. Well as I said the first two nights went great, but the third night was rough. The patient load I had that night was very busy. I was on my feet pretty much all night not able to take a break; running from one patient to the next. As exciting as it was, my knees sure were feeling it. I was limping pretty bad by the end of the night. Not so much in pain, but just exhaustion. A couple times throughout the night my knee "gave out". Meaning I'd be standing or walking and my knee would buckle. I never completely fell on the ground but I dipped enough for people to notice and ask if I was OK!

I got through the night and woke up the next day feeling just fine. I was surprised; I'd been nervous the day prior that I might have to call in a sick day. But the fourth night was just fine. Now i call it my third and fourth night cause technically it was; however I really worked two days on, two days off and two days on again. That's just how my schedule worked out. After six days off i started my normal work schedule. Which is four on, two off, two on, six off. If you're not confused by this point let's continue on :-)  My first week of a straight four days came and went. Again i surprised myself and did OK. I was exhausted and by the third and fourth night it was getting painful. But nothing that I couldn't handle. I wore my brace all three nights and gave that up on the fourth. I gave up because I got sick of the brace falling down. When it's in the right position it really helps but it slides down so fast that I am constantly adjusting it. My knee felt weird/slightly weak without the brace but I made it through the night. So now I bring the brace to work but rarely wear it unless I have a patient load where I must walk from one building to the next. Then I'll wear it.

I met with the doctor the other day and he gave me the go to start running. He said I can basically do anything besides sports that would cause me to do a fast twisting movement (ie: tennis, snowboarding, etc). I haven't tried to deliberately run yet; the few times I forgot to be cautious and sprinted (before the doctor gave me the all clear to run) my leg gave out and I'd almost fall. In all honestly I'm a little scared to try. Maybe I'll try soon.

I did go on a fairly hard hike today. Knee was painful and had a few issues but otherwise good.

This is one of my first real hikes since surgery. It felt amazing!!! I've really missed exploring my state. Can't wait for my next hike! :-)

Picture of my scars four months after surgery. one picture with flash, one without

Post #13 Catch-up

6/8/2013: I met with my doctor on the 6th. He is very happy with my progress. We discussed how my leg gave out on me (after my busy weekend), he said that may happen as I build up my muscle. He told me taking off my brace will help in building up my muscle. So he gave me the OK to take it off now. I've had it off for two days now and so far i agree my knee already feels a lot stronger. But I will probably continue to keep it with me until I am completely confident with it off. Also I haven't been doing a lot of strenuous activity with my brace off, so until I do, my brace will be near me. The doctor also says I can't run/jump just yet. Maybe in four to six weeks; but i need to listen to my body.

7/1/2013: I completely forgot about blogging!  Maybe because things have been going so well.  I can't believe its been a month. Well, during this month I've basically just worked on building up muscle. My physical therapist cut out the pool and I am strictly doing land exercises now. SOOO hard. But only after a couple appointments I already feel a lot stronger. I've been keeping my brace off, unless if i know I will be on my feet for a long time. I frequently visit friends who live an hour out of town and we usually make the most of my visit. So there's a lot of walking.

I started work on 6/29/2013.  It went surprisingly well! I also have great coworkers who helped me. I did two 12 hour days in a row. Waking up for my second day of work I was a little sore, but again I did OK with work. Slightly tired, a little bit of pain here and there. Other than that no complaints. I can not believe it went that well! I really thought things would be way worse. I guess I should let you know that I work at a hospital and am on my feet for 12 hours walking from one building to the next. I wore my brace the whole time I worked. I have two days off before I go back to work for another two days. After that I get several days off before I start my normal schedule, which is four days on, two days off, two days on. I'm crossing my fingers that the four days go as well as the first two days went.