Day 17

So I fired my physical therapist today. I've been working at my exercises at home everyday and when I was looking at the protocol, I realized that we aren't really where we are supposed to be. She got pretty irritated when I confronted her this afternoon. She and I do not click personality-wise and I feel like I'm capable of what is listed for this week. I called Dr. Shenton's office and got a referal for one of the PTs at the clinic that Ortho Montana owns, so I will start with them a week from today. In the meantime I will continue with the exercises for this week.

Day 13

I haven't written the last few days because not much has changed. The last of the tape fell off today and I don't have any stitches....They must have glued the incisions? I have physical therapy tomorrow. I can't wait until I can burn this freaking post-op brace. I hate it....it slides down and it's uncomfortable and it sucks to try to wear it with anything but sweats, which will make going back to work interesting. I need to remember to ask tomorrow how long I will do pt for. I also need to try to schedule it first thing in the morning from here out. I need to find out when I can start using my functional brace instead of that wretched piece of crap.

Day 9

Today I had my second round of PT. She now has the correct protocol, so everybody is on the same page. I did some of the same exercises....The leg raises and such. There were also some new ones added. I can do baby squats to about 60 degrees and no weight. I am doing very well, by all accounts, but I wish things would move a little faster. I know it's to protect my leg that I can't, but it seems to be slow.

Day 7

I went to Walmart and a movie with a friend. Everything still seems like so much work. Putting my shoes on is quite and undertaking. I'm doing my PT exercises daily. Even if I"m not sure I'm doing exactly what Dr. Shenton would like, at least it's something and probably something on the more conservative side, which, on the one hand, prevents me from having to worry about causing damage, but on the other makes it so that I'm not sure my progress will be as quick as I would like. Ultimately though, it really only would set me back three days.

Day 6--Post-op Appointment and Physical Therapy

I had my first day of physical therapy today. Essentially she had me doing the same things that Dr. Shenton gave me to do post-op. She was surprised that I was walking on my knee and that the brace wasn't locked out straight. The doctor had the brace unlocked to 60 degrees when I left the hospital and told me that I should be "weight bearing as tolerated." Before the session was over, she had okayed me to use on crutch when outside of my house and walk unassisted in my house. She also unwrapped my leg from the three layers of dressing and two elastic bandages that I've been wearing since Tuesday. I have seven small incisions, two are bigger than the others. I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them...tonight I'm kinda beat.

After that appointment I had my post-op appointment with Dr. Shenton. I let him know that the PT was unclear on the protocol for a PCL reconstruction and he gave me the information to pass along to her. He said that he doesn't want me to talk to the PCL reconstruction that he's doing tomorrow because at this point, I'm making it look too easy. They took some X-rays and he did a posterior drawer test which he was really happy with. Whe he did that I could already feel a difference in the stability of my knee. It hurt though....he had to bend my knee closer to 90 degrees, which is far further than it's bent to this point. He also had me hang my feet over the edge of the table to look at the x-ray with him, which I was unsure about but he assured me that it would be ok and showed me how he wanted it done. He even had me walk down the hall to x-ray without the brace on. I am still pretty swollen and he offered to drain it, but left it up to me since it is something I can probably aleviate with ice. I declined. I am to leave the steri-strips alone until they come off on their own.

Bottom line? I can bend my knee to 60 degrees and I am supposed to work on establishing a normal gait. I can shower without use of a garbage bag and plastic wrap. I am set to go back to work around the 8th of February.

Day 5

Today my friend Jennifer took me to church. It was nice to be out of the house, although church wasn't my first choice, to be honest. I was tired when I got home, so I took a pretty long nap and iced my knee....over and over and over.

Tonight I went to mom and dad's house for a turkey dinner. My neice, who is almost two, was there. She is incredibly busy. She doesn't really understand that I can't get down and play with her like normal. I played blocks with her and watched Barney, though while my mom was cooking and cleaning up. She is so sweet. She wears me out under normal circumstances, so tonight I am so beat.

Tomorrow is both my first round of PT and my post-op appointment. I am a little apprehensive about PT, although I can bend my knee to 60 degrees and straighten it completely. I'm excited about post-op. I'm ready to have some of these dressings off. I want to see what my knee looks like. I think I'll get up in the morning and take a shower before my appointments. I know I won't have the energy when I get home and I so need one. My dad is still planning on taking me tomorrow but he is convinced that the appointment is a half hour later than it actually is so I need to not forget to call him and remind him...

Day 4

Today was a slow day. Since I did so much yesterday, I opted to stay home today. I've been a little more sore today. I have had my leg propped in the air with ice most of the day. I showered again this morning and it was wonderful. Mom and I played Wii for a while when she came to see me and then I napped for quiet a while. Tonight my friend Heather came over and lent me some Wii games, ate pizza (thanks Julie) with me and hung out for a while. It's nice to have company.

I'm really looking forward to my appointments on Monday. I feel like there is more I should/could be doing and I'm really tired of having my entire leg wrapped from my toes to my thigh. I want to get after this whole healing thing. I know I'm supposed to be really careful for at least three months, but this is bugging me.

Day 3--first day out

Last night I showered. That is a lot of work. It involves a giant garbage bag and some plastic wrap. It felt sooooo good to be clean, but it is so much work! I was about worn out by the time I was dry and dressed again.

Today, my mom took the day off work to hang out with me. She came over and helped me get ready . Then we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things.After that we picked up lunch and went to my sister's store, Chameleon Arts & Ice Cream, to eat lunch with my sister, brother-in-law, and aunt.

After that I was still feeling pretty well, so I decided to work on the plate that I've been painting. I think it's going to turn out pretty well. It was a bit of fiasco though, because my bro-in-law gets on these cleaning kicks and just throws EVERYTHING away. This time that included the plate I was working on. Once it was rescued i did a really cool stensil on it. I'm excited to see it.

In terms of my knee, I may have overdone it a little today. I have had only two doses of pain meds today; once when I got up and just a bit ago when I got home. I was up moving and without ice on my knee for several hours. I felt alright until I stopped moving and now I'm stiff and sore. The only place that really hurts is along the inside of the back of my knee. There are several other places that feel sore sometimes, but that is the only place that I would classify as hurting.

Tomorrow my friend Heather is planning to come hang out for a while I think. She will probably kick my butt all over at Wii. I feel like I'm consistently getting better...stronger... PT starts on Monday, so I'm anxious to hear what they have to stay, although apprehensive as well. I also have my post-op appointment on Monday, and I'm interested to see what my knee looks like. I have a pretty good idea where some of the incisions are but I'm not sure about others.

On to the weekend! Not that it's that different for me at this point.

Day 2

Today I'm feeling a little more human. I seem to be staying awake a little longer at a time so far today. I have three exercises to do until physical therapy starts. The first is ankle pumps, which serves a dual purpose: first, to keep away the dreaded blood clots; and the second: to keep some sort of tone to my calf muscle. Second, there are straight leg raises. These are not a lot of fun and I can only do about 10 before I'm to tired to go anymore. The third are the worst. I'm not sure what to call them so I'll describe them instead. I prop up my heal and let my leg sort of hang unsupported for thirty minutes three times a day. These are the only ones that really hurt.

I'm still a big fan of pain killers. I don't want to chance going off them at this point although I think I will reduce my dose. I'm anxious to see what my knee looks like under all this wrap. I think I may try to talk my mom into helping me take a shower tonight...I can't get my leg wet until after monday, but I feel gross.

Day 1 Post Op

I had PCL reconstruction surgery yesterday. Woke up feeling really good due to the epideral that I was given before surgery. Shortly thereafter I got sick a few times. I got home around 11pm and slept about 2 hours at a time all night long. It is now quarter to 8am and I'm sleepy again.

As far as my leg goes, the front is still numb but the back hurts pretty good. Partly it's from being kept still and straight I think. It is wrapped from the toes to mid-thigh with an elastic bandage, over that is a cryocuff and over that is a brace. The brace allows me motion to 60 degrees, which surprised me given what I've read. It is probably partly because I went with an allograft instead of my patellar tendon or hamstring.

I go to the doctor and start PT on Monay.

I kind of keep dozing off so I'll sign off for now and write more tomorrow

Less than a day left...

I had my preop appointment today. My doctor says that I'll be able to bend my knee a bit before I leave the surgery center tomorrow night. I begin physical therapy and have my postop appointment on Monday. He said I should be on crutches for 10-14 days and out of work for three weeks or so. Not as bad as everything I've been reading so I feel a little better about things. I'm still not excited about any of this and I really think the girl who CAUSED the wreck should have to deal with some of this. I go in tomorrow for surgery, but not until afternoon, so that kind of sucks. Now that it's time, I will try to do updates every day or two.

Anxiety

Surgery is on Tuesday. I'm pretty worried about it. To the point that if I think about it I get sick to my stomach. Maybe I'm making the wrong choice, but I can't see dealing with this forever if I don't have to. The mean time is where my thinking breaks down. I am soooo not excited about not being able to walk for what seems like forever. I am not excited about PT, as I've done it before with my shoulder and it sucks. I really wish all this had never happened.

One week

I have one week left of being able to walk on two feet for a while. I'm beginning to keep myself awake at night thinking too much about things. I'm not excited about surgery. Even less excited about after...