I'm treating recovery from surgery as a training block of its own. I'll be setting goals and logging progress in any measurable ways I can. I'm not sure what specific goals to set beyond reducing the swelling and growing comfort when walking and that sort of thing at this point. I should know more about the recovery timeline when I meet the doc on Wednesday and have the sutures removed. Then I'll be able to set goals for strength, flexibility and so forth.
My goals for week 1 were really just to get the swelling down. Since Tuesday afternoon, I spent 99% of my time lying down with foot raised or reclining on the couch with my foot raised. I spent hours upon hours icing and measured the passing of days by meals and new doses of anti-inflammatory meds.
So after one full week, the swelling in my knee reduced from looking like a cantaloupe to more of a grapefruit. I couldn't bend the knee in the first couple days but by now I've been able to bend it with gravity's help past 90 degrees. The swelling is far worse when standing and it feels really awkward to walk but I'm able to move around pretty well on crutches.
Last night I got antsy and my brother took me to the grocery store. Walking around leaning on a shopping cart for a few minutes felt like freedom!! But, by the end of the trip I was exhausted and and the swelling in my knee had gotten to the point where I needed to lie down. It was the test I needed to know for sure I'm at. It was also good to get out the house!!
Goals for next week:
1) start walking without crutches
2) limited pain in ribs. Ideally none!
3) get off anti-inflammatories by week's end.
4) begin leg lifts
5) begin yoga/ mobility stuff
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