*Insert Corn-KNEE Joke About Physical Therapy Here*

I got to my physical therapy appointment 15 minutes early. As I was sitting there in pain because I didn't have a way to elevate my leg one of my friend's from the admissions department stopped to chat. He had his ACL surgery back in March so he was coming from his physical therapy appointment. He told me about his recovery and all the things he has been able to do post surgery. It gave me so much hope for my own recovery process. 

I was dumb and wore short shorts under a skirt. I thought that would be fine, but the skirt was too long. So I kept having to lift it up for the exercises. It was super annoying and I will not be making that mistake again. I was a little self conscious because my dawgs (toes) were out on my left foot because I couldn't reach my toes. I apologized to my physical therapist, because free dawgs are kind of gross. (I have an aversion to feet) Little did I know, that would not be the grossest thing in the appointment. My pre-op paper work said to not shave the operation area for a week or two before surgery. I reminded the nurse that my leg needed to be shaved, but they forgot. When my physical therapist unwrapped my ace bandage I was horrified to find the sutures stuck to the longest leg hairs I've ever grown. I was mortified. 

Anyway, I learned some exercises to do to regain mobility. Some of the exercises were painful, and the ice sleeve was almost unbearable. Before I left, he adjusted my brace to fit better, which felt great because the brace is tricky to adjust correctly.  

I took a whole week off of work, so I spent time reading and sleeping from Thursday-Thursday. I started working from home on Friday May 19th. Working from home has been really nice. I am able to keep my knee elevated most of the day and ice whenever I need to. I should be doing my exercises three times a day, but I approached it like a workout. I did all the sessions at once. When I went back to physical therapy on Thursday (May 25) and told my therapist that he was not happy. Sooooo working from home is great because I can do my exercises throughout the day.

I saw the surgeon on Wednesday (May 24) and he did the Lachman Test again. When he touched the side of my knee I just about cried. He said that my knee felt right and I likely did not tear anything when I put weight on it during the shower fiasco. His nurse showed me how to walk with 50% weight bearing on the crutches, ripped the sutures out of my leg (I cried again), and then took the stiches out. It took her a while to take the far left stich out, she had to really dig to find the end of it. I also found out that they glued a part of my leg back together. That was fun. 

My second physical therapy appointment was a hoot. First, I was too scared to put any weight on my leg. So I was fully on my right leg hopping my way to the appointment. I got so winded and sweaty. It felt like it took forever to finally get to the rehabilitation center. I ended up getting there a few minutes before my appointment. I made friends with a bunch of old ladies in the lobby. 

I was in the middle of chatting when my PT walked out made eye contact and said "you. come on". I told him about my weight dilemma, and he showed me how to do it. Then he made me walk around until I was confident with walking with 50% weight on my left leg. I am two days into slight weight bearing and my knee feels so sore and stiff by the end of the day. I did a few new exercises, argued about the history channel, got totally stumped by a riddle, and frustrated my PT because I lack riddle solving skills. At one point he laid on one of the the other tables and put his head in his hands and just groaned. In my defense, I was using a lot of brain power to complete the exercises... haha. 

I was super freaking sweaty throughout the whole session from my long journey from the car to the PT office. At one point in the session he said, "How much caffeine did you have today? You're so jittery." First of all, I don't really ever drink caffeine, and I haven't had any since the surgery. I think I was just shaking because I was socializing with people. I don't think I ever realized how much I need socialization. Interacting with my family is not the same as connecting with people in public. I was housebound from Monday May 15 until Wednesday May 24th, so maybe it was also the change of scenery that had me so hype. 

I have not had a full night of sleep since surgery. I wake up multiple times through the night because I can't get comfortable. I am naturally a super restless person. I move around a lot in my sleep, but the brace has made it so my movement has to be limited. It has been super annoying. The last few nights I've woken up at 3am and can't go back to sleep. That's why I started writing again. I can't sleep, social media is boring, and I spend time during the day reading books so I don't want to do that super early in the morning. 

I had lots of family visitors while bedridden. 

I've been sitting outside everyday. It has been beautiful. It's so nice to get out of bed and into the sun for a bit. The only downside was that I have to come prepared. The walk from my room to the front porch is exhausting. I have to pack water, snacks, a charged phone, and books to keep me entertained. Making multiple trips back and forth is NOT an option. 

 Proof that this darn cat is a bully. 

Riddle: I travel the world but I stay in a corner.