On Bended Knee

At exactly 4 weeks I traveled back down to SF, this time by myself, to see Dr. Stone for my 4 week follow up. Why exactly 4 weeks? Because I wanted to have my brace unlocked and start walking.

Dr. Stone checked my knee, and it was healing very well. He put my knee through a very gentle series of tests and it moved smoothly for the first time in 8 years. Gone was the grinding and popping that had plagued my knee for so long. I asked Dr. Stone about the numbness below my knee, and he told me it was related to swelling and the sutures holding my new meniscus in place. The numbness was pretty severe, but if that was to be my worst side effect, I could live with hit. However, this issue would get much worse the next day.

I was given the clearance to start walking on the knee with crutches and my brace unlocked. I had another torture session with Trish, and this one was very tough. My knee was already at the 90 degree point, but Trish wanted more. She pushed pretty hard and we started the process of breaking down the inevitable scar tissue in my knee. I was allowed to sit on the exercise bike and pedal without resistance.  I made it all the way around with no resistance and at a snail's pace, but I was riding again!  I was quite happy to have a 10 minute session...I finally felt like I was starting my true rehab. My rehab sessions would be very tough from here for the next few months. I was overjoyed to "walk" out of the Stone Clinic on my crutches with my knee bending (still in the brace).

The ride home was pretty brutal since I had some serious soreness from my PT session with Trish. As soon as I got home I iced and took a pain med. I was allowed to sleep without the brace (which would come off as soon as I felt confident with my gait), but side-sleeping would prove to be quite uncomfortable due to the incision sites on my inner knee. I had a lot of pain when my knees met since it was right on the incision line. I solved this problem by wearing a heavy sleeve the Stone Clinic gave me after my surgery.

Thank God I was out of the brace for sleep!!!  Above is the brace and a picture of the swelling at about 4 weeks.  Note the swelling on the inside of my knee...that's the side where the sewed in the new meniscus.  I kept my compression stocking on most of the time during the first 6 weeks because it kept the swelling down at work.  It looked aweful, but made a big difference in reducing my swelling and pain.