Week 3 Rehab

Rehab protocol for an ACI patient is the same as the advice given by Mr. Turtle.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Speaking of races (bad segue I know, I’m on Demerol today people so give me a break!) part of the pitch doctors use to get suckers (oops I mean patients) to agree to an ACI is that you will be able to run a marathon because your knee will feel so much better.  I say forget the marathon, I’ll take their word for it that my knee could survive one, and I’ll be happy with walking up the stairs with no pain!  Anyways I digress, back to rehab with Mr. Chris at my doctor’s office.  (I told him I was going to write about him!)

Chris (also known as my “Kind Torturer” because he really is a nice guy, but he did make me cry a bit during yesterday’s session) starts off my rehab with what is called dangling, where I literally hang my leg off the table at a 90 degree angle.  This exercise is to help with my flexion and as a bonus makes my new forming scar stretch and feel funny.  FYI the areas around the scar are numb, which they say is normal, but it feels (or doesn’t feel) really weird.  We then move on to the stair exercise, in which today I raised my foot off the ground and up to the 18” step….that’s really good because last week I was only on the 6” step.  Baby steps right?!  I then do a weight machine to help with…well I’m not sure what it exactly helps, but I’m taking Chris’s word that it does.  Then we begin the real torture….recording my flexion.  A process that requires Chris to push back on my knee while in the dangling position as far as I can bear it and then takes the measurement.  Today I was at 115 yay go me.  Next my quad muscle gets electrocuted, which is not a fun feeling but quite fun to say.  It’s to help my poor hibernated quad to come out and play, something it does not want to do after 3 surgeries in the last 6 months.  Next we ice, which is one of my favorite parts…ok ok it’s my only actual favorite part -  the rest is mandatory and much needed to get me back to running my marathons right?  I do love talking to all the PTs and other patients...that scar and tell thing is addicting!