14 Days out
Had PT in the morning, helped to loosen up how "tight" things felt and the left knee felt pretty good. A couple of exercises, I could tell it was "stretching out" the muscles/ligaments pretty good and they reached the wince face level. But overall it felt pretty good. The PT guy was getting me ready to graduate to the cane soon.
Got home and then I could tell it had worn me out somewhat and iced down the knee for a bit. Couldn't rest too long cuz I had an appt to get the staples out and it's a 30 mile drive to the Doc's office.
Got to my appt to see the Ortho Doc, gal had a special set of pliers that pop the staples out in nothing flat. I hardly felt a thing, which I was happy about! Those staples were starting to bug me and I was glad to get them out. Put a bunch of SteriStrips over the incision and I was set.
The Ortho doc came in and seemed happy with how things looked. The knee is still swollen a bit and looks huge compared to my right knee. But he seemed very pleased with my range of motion: 111 degrees of knee bend and a slight 3 degree bend when trying to straighten it out.
I asked him about the "noise" the joint made when walking and he explained that there is a bit of play or slop with the artificial joint - much like a natural joint has. It's just that in the artificial joint, it is a bit more noticeable and that it would settle down a bit as time went on. I had been concerned that something was not right perhaps and he assured me that the knee is very stable cause it is "hammered" into place! Nothing is gonna come loose! Good to know. To be sure, I gave him a decent situation - no serious bone damage yet.
So, I'll see him in about a month for a check to see how things are going. He said I was okay for driving again. Hoorah! :clapping: (If it had been a right knee replacement, they usually like to give it about 6 weeks before clearing you for driving.)
I'm getting better at walking "normally" without a limp and should lose the Blue Racer soon. It depends how secure I feel with just the cane and how tired the knee gets. But I can definitely tell it's getting stronger. The PT definitely is helping and a person would be foolish to not do it!
Not my knee, but similar situation: