Monday, October 16: This represented one full week after surgery.  It was my daughter’s birthday so I got dressed in clothes that did not include sweat pants and went out to a steakhouse in New Jersey (about an hour drive.  My wife drove, course.  When I leave the house I take my crutches.  As my previous post showed, I am able to walk without any assistive devices but crutches still feel more stable- they also keep people from bumping into me on the street!  I was tired at the end of the night but it was great to enter the mainstream.

The knee still somewhat still.  My range-of-motion in my first physical therapy session was about 5° to 100°.  I was not at full extension at physical therapy but I worked on it during the day by resting my ankle up stretching the back of my knee.  Here is a picture of the exercise from my SwiftPath online manual:

Tuesday October 17, the knee was a bit sore from probably a combination of the physical therapy and going out on the town but with my Tylenol and Aleve regimen plus gel cooling the pain was no more than a 3 at only a few times during the day today.

One of the biggest problems I have been having is pain in bed at night.  I am not sure if it is the body’s reaction to an entire day of activity or simply keeping the knee in one position for a too long of a time.  I find myself tossing and turning to try to get comfortable and after the first 4 hours of sleep.

In the end I feel that I am progressing a bit faster than the last time.

Wednesday October 18:  I actually went to work today.  I didn’t really “work” though.  I visited the clinic and some people in the hospital and conducted an interview.  It was good to get out.  I used my crutches but also walked in safe, non-public areas without my crutches.