Post-op Day 5

Welcome POD5!!!

I’ve been waiting for you for 5 days!!!

“Why?” you ask...

because I was allowed to shower today! 

And yes, I woke up as early as it was reasonable (6:30am) to get the process started.

It took a long time, and I had to remind myself to take it slow and be very intentional about every move. The big reason is that showering happens without my brace...so if I fall with no brace on, I could very easily injure myself, and the reconstruction they did. 

Fear of injury and pain kept me focused and slow, and it took 1.5 hours from turning the shower on to crutching out of the bathroom dressed and make-up’d. But my oh my was it worth the time. 

It might have been the best shower I’ve ever had, in terms of how good I felt comparing before and after. Prior to this it was my first shower after my c-section with Aaron. I think this one still wins. I’m not necessarily “high-maintenance” and can deal with washcloth showers and minimal wardrobe changes...but not shaving is where I lose it. I NEED prefer to have my underarms and legs shaved daily. It’s really my Achilles heel, so to speak. So showered, shaved, lotioned, and dressed, and I feel like a whole new person.

The other exciting(?) part of this morning, was being able to take the bandages off of my knee for the first time (kinda necessary for showering).  I was nervous to see it (because it’s my body) but there was also a morbid curiosity because I like seeing surgeries and medical procedures. So rather than the one extra-big incision down the middle that gets closed with staples, he made one big and one medium incision on the medial side (inside) and three smaller incisions on the outside. All closed with sutures. The steri-strips are still in place and will fall off over time. Sutures will come out on 11/15 when I go for my first post-op appointment. 

There’s some bruising and A LOT of swelling, which will get better now that I can ice the area. Before this, the bandage padding was too thick and I couldn’t feel any cold through it. I am SO grateful to not have staples. That was one of the things I was scared of related to the surgery. 

Dr.Z warned me that he might have to disrupt the saphenous nerve to do the work he needs to do. As you can see in the picture below (of a R leg), the nerve runs all through the muscles on the medial side of each leg. So it was lying exactly where most of the surgery was for me. 

He said it won’t affect function but I would have numbness, or loss of sensation, on the lateral (outer) side as a result. It will improve over time (many years). There’s a chance some of it may be permanent. Totally not a big deal in my mind. And I do have a large area of numbness. Curious to see how it changes over time. 

 

I’ve put on some of my (formerly for running) compression socks to keep swelling in my feet down, and to add some color to my otherwise not-so-colorful after-surgery wardrobe. 

I’m up to 60 degrees flexion in the CPM machine which is the max for week 1. So that goal is met. I did about 10 total straight leg raises out of the brace yesterday...these are really hard!!! I also did quad squeezes and some passive ROM with my knee. I was wiped last night! Today I can add patellar mobilization (using my hand to move my knee cap back and forth so it stays loose) since I have the dressings out of the way. The ace bandage stays on most times except for icing and showering to keep swelling down and protect the incisions. The brace stays on essentially all the time (locked at straight), except for CPM, showering, icing, and exercises while I’m laying down. 

I was getting stressed because moving around on my Don-Joy rebound crutches (my doc recommended them for easier distance mobility after surgery) was taking so much effort and was really hard. I decided to try the regular crutches I had from my scope surgery, and they are lighter and easier and create less strain on my chest muscles. I think I need to build up more upper body strength before the rebound crutches will work for me. This is where I kick myself for not working on my upper body more, prior to surgery. This is also where I tell myself how great I’m doing just 5 days out from the biggest surgery I’ve ever had. 

Accomplishments this morning before 9am:

*got up 2 flights of stairs

*showered, shaved, dressed, makeup on

*came down a flight of stairs

*fed dogs

*down a flight of stairs to let the dogs out

*up a flight of stairs

*made the kids’ breakfasts

*CPM time

Then I had a visit with the sweetest little girl and her mamma!  

Holding a sleeping baby might be the best thing ever, in the world. 

It was so good to catch up with my friend (she also brought me a great care package which is totally unnecessary but SO appreciated)!  Her having just had a baby, and me being mostly couch bound has provided a nice chance to catch up since we can’t run together anymore. 

My mom was amazing enough to take my kids (who have off from school) to the aquarium, so it wasn’t a day of sitting around for them! 

 If I haven’t mentioned already, my mom has been an incredible help through all of this and I would be completely screwed without her!

Then I voted!

I crutched a few doors down and voted at the YMCA, and crutched home. 

Holy crap it felt good to get outside!

And now I’m on my ass icing my knee, which really doesn’t hurt too bad considering. 

All before 1pm. 

If you had told me yesterday that I would feel this good today, I wouldn’t have believed you at all. 

I am extremely grateful to be at POD5!