Knee Surgery: Week 5 Recap

Hey guys! Happy Friday!

It’s crazy to me that I’m already recapping my 5th week after my knee surgery. It seems like such a short time ago that I was deciding to have the surgery… and then changing my mind… and changing my mind again. Haha.

So after a horrendous week 4, this past week has been pretty good. I’m feeling much more like a normal person- sleeping better, walking fairly normally and making it through the day at work. Heck, I even lived on the wild side and decided to shave my knee. It’s getting crazy around here.

Cold Therapy Unit: I mentioned last week that I finally bit the bullet and purchased a cold therapy unit. It’s basically a little cooler filled with icy water that circulates the icy water into a wrap/pad.

This thing has been a game changer at work. I fill it up with ice/water when I get to the office and just pop the brace around my knee when I want to ice. I was having such a hard time keeping my ice packs cold because I was using them so much, and the cold therapy unit has been a lifesaver!

Beamer appreciates the cold therapy unit as well. Takes up much less space.

Work: Being up on my feet has been easier on me this week. I think no matter when I went back that I would have had a tough time at first, but I’m in a pretty good groove with icing and am not feeling so worn out by the end of the day.

I’ve had to completely change my routine with seeing patients. Prior to surgery, I would purposely space them out to get more physical activity- I’d go see a few, come back and chart, go to see a few more, and continue to do that all day. Now I am looking up all of the patients at once, going on the floor once, and then charting all afternoon. Of course I end up going back up to the floor one or two more times when I miss something but overall it’s a lot less walking. Kind of strange to be in a different routine but it has worked a lot better for me this week.

Pain/Swelling: My pain has definitely improved since last week. Last week was the worst. I’m still having that nagging pain that I was having before my surgery but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it progresses as I continue to recover. The swelling is pretty much the same as has been, though, and I think it’s going to take a while to completely go away.

Mobility: My walking is pretty much back to normal now. I mean, I’m not going to be running a marathon anytime soon but I don’t think you’d be able to tell I had knee surgery if you passed me in the hallway. And I’m still avoiding stairs. Okay, maybe I’m taking the stairs every now and then… waiting for the elevator kills me!

I’m wearing my Fitbit everyday and trying to limit my steps to 4,000 when I’m work. My normal day prior to surgery was usually ~7,500 steps so I think cutting that in almost half is a good baseline for me right now.

Physical Therapy: I am finishing up my 3rd week of PT today and then I’ll have 5 weeks left. I had some measurements taken on Tuesday and my range of motion and strength have definitely improved. I start my appointment off on the bike for 10 minutes and then go through a series of stretching and strengthening exercises.

I started working on a balance board this week and that been interesting! I haven’t busted my face yet so that is promising.

High of the week: Like I said earlier, it has been great to feel more like a normal person. I’m sleeping better and don’t feel completely exhausted by the end of the day. The strength in my leg has improved so much since I started PT 3 weeks ago, and it’s cool to see that progress.

Low of the week: Still feeling that same knee pain… praying it is just the inflammation still and will get better in the next few weeks!

Here are all of my surgery updates so far:

Day of Surgery

Surgery Recap

Week 1 Recap

Week 2 Recap

First Day of PT

Week 3 Recap

Week 4 Recap