July 25th - Recovery Day 7

One week since the operation and the recovery seems to be going to plan. I have about 90 degrees range of motion on my own and the full range of motion that the CPM offers (-10 to 120 degrees) when I'm using it. I had physio again this morning. I think I was a bit more prepared this time - I got the bus there and taxi back and I've been taking my Ibruprofen and Oxycodone every 4 hours (2 Oxy tablets) to try and stay ahead of the pain. 

The physio confirmed that the pain was just a reaction to the therapy and over-exertion and as she put it 'It's going to get worse before it gets better'. She said it looked like it was improving - the colour has faded a bit to be fair. It feels good today - I can bear nearly all my weight on it. She put me through the same routine today: Ultrasound, Laser and Stimulus. 

Around 4pm it started to get sore but now at 8pm the pain has eased off quite a bit. 

Rob Kramer showed me how I should bandage up my leg. He said the best way to do it was have it elevated and iced for a while and then bandage it - that way the blood is cooled and not flowing into the knee. Then starting down at my ankle wrap it around in crosses - essentially wrap up the leg, then in the same direction go back down, then go up further etc. The further you go up the looser the bandage should get. This also aids blood flow - he said you don't want it too tight around the knee, you don't want blood to get trapped there. So it should be tightest down near the ankle - but also not too tight that it restricts blood flow to the foot - swelling will occur if it's too tight. 

Here's an example of the bandaging:

You can see the crossing as the bandage goes up the leg. 

Today:

Range of motion in CPM: -10 - 120. Pain level: 3/10. 2 x 3 hour sessions

Range of motion on own: 5 - 90. Pain level 5/10. 4 x 45 min sessions