One Month Update

February 1st. For most people, yesterday was notable because of the Super Bowl. That was true at our house as well. We loaded up on chips, salsa and beer. I expected my 7-year old to switch allegiances between the Steelers and Cardinals as deftly as a politician changes his position to suit his immediate needs. The over/under for flip-flops was 3, but to his credit my son stuck with Arizona throughout the game. By the way, great game. But I’m still shocked they didn’t review Warner’s fumble to end the game. I’ve seen a dozen replays, and I’m still not sure if it was a fumble or incomplete pass. Think how cool it would’ve been if the Super Bowl ended on a Hail Mary…

Anyway, yesterday also marked the 1-month anniversary of my surgery. I think now’s a good time to “commemorate” this passing of time, noting how much things have changed, and how much more work I still have ahead of me.

On a scale of 1-to-10, with 1 being “no worries” and 10 being “life sucks,” the first week after surgery was an 8. Week 2 was probably a 6 or 7, with weeks 3 and 4 drifting into a manageable 3 or 4. After spending my first 7-10 days almost exclusively in bed, peeing into plastic bottles and not showering, my life today is like a Southwest Airlines commercial – I’m free to move about the cabin. I’m still in the locked knee brace, but I’m capable of crutching around the house, even heading out to dinner and to attend my son’s sporting events. I’ve even begun scooting around with just one crutch; this is like the young person’s cane. Using one crutch is supposed to help with my gait. I’m not sure if it does, but as a practical matter, it frees up my right hand to carry stuff. I no longer have to beg Christina to do everything for me, which means I’m only indebted to her for, like, 4 years now. I shower every day, though I still need Christina’s help, and I shower at night like a little kid. I’m not 100% clean, but I’m no longer the stinky kid in class.

My knee remains somewhat swollen, though I’ve luckily avoided bruising. I have no clue what it’s supposed to look like at this point, but I’ve been told it’s healing just fine. The scar no longer looks gruesome, which is really shocking. I always thought it would be my third eye. Once my leg hair grows back – right now my knee cap has some peachfuzz stubble, just like Bruce Willis’s haircut – the scar will blend in enough such that only those staring at my knee will notice it.

I hit my first minor PT roadbump today. Judy didn’t measure my flexion, but noted it was no better, and perhaps slightly worse, than it was last week. Normally I use the CPM machine before my PT session, but not this time. It looks like I need the CPM to warm up my knee enough to hit my flexion goals.

My knee’s not the only body part that’s changed significantly. After shaving my head the night before the surgery, my hair has finally grown back. People won’t mistake me for a Gulf War veteran anymore. I’m 5-10 pounds lighter, down to 152 pounds, but that’s not really a good thing. I lost most of the muscle tone earned through exercise and dedicated dieting over the 4 months before surgery. Luckily, muscles have great memory, and some of my definition has returned after I began some light dumbbell lifting. But it’ll be awhile before my body’s normal again.

I plan on returning to the office on Tuesday, 5 weeks after my last appearance. I have been working part-time from home, burning through weeks of sick and vacation leave when I’m either too tired or too lazy to actually work. I still can’t drive, so I’m relying on a co-worker to chauffeur me to the office. Thankfully, I’m now able to squeeze my leg into the front seat. I really didn’t want to pull a Driving Miss Daisy and spend 45 minutes sprawled across my colleague’s back seat. If I make through the day without incident, I’ll probably head into the office twice/week on my non-PT days.

One month down. A long way to go. But the hardest part (hopefully) is behind me.