The last couple of days have been great. All I can say is, "NO CPM!"The feeling of adding 6-8 hours of time back into your day is wonderful. I feel like I have so much time to get things done that I couldn't do or was pushed by time to get done. I have been able to do more work from home, talk with the kids more, and even read more (actually I have read 1000 pages in the last three days). I had some catching up to do.
Moving forward...today has been the day I have been anticipating for the last two weeks: Follow-up #2. Before we left for my appointment I was a little nervous. I was afraid that the doctor would be disappointed in my ROM, or the swelling around my knee, or something else that I never thought of doing. With some small butterflies in my stomach we loaded the kids and me into the van like usual; me scooting back on my butt while Melissa slowly holds my leg until I get into place. We first headed over to my in-laws to drop of the kids with their grandmother and then we were off to see the "Wizard."
Fairly quickly after arriving to the doctor's office we were escorted back to our holding tank. While crutching to the back of the office I noticed the office staff all looking at me...to which I responded in my best Mr. T impression..."What you lookin' at fool?" No, not really but I thought about it. Anyways, as I was saying...I was crutching to my holding tank when all of a sudden I got a few comments about how cool my crutches were. I must say they are pretty cool and it is even more impressive to receive such high praise in an orthopedic doctor's office. Incase you missed it...here is a quick reminder of how cool my crutches really are:
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Impressed aren't you???
After sitting in my holding tank just a few minutes Dr. Tarlow made his way into the room. The moment I have been waiting for was finally here. He asked me to remove my gargantuan brace so he could have a quick look. He then proceeded to check my knee cap, feel around the osteotomy, look at my scar, and lastly pick up my leg to check stiffness and ROM. To my amazement he told me everything look great and that he was impressed at how well I was doing...the swelling looked great and my ROM was awesome. One more test...it was time to get an ex-ray to see if the Osteotomy had fully healed. Good news...the bone had healed about 95% The only part left was a small section at the base of the Osteotomy where the bone hadn't filled in. Dr. Tarlow said that this was normal and that he was very pleased with my healing.
What does all that mean? Here is basically what I was told...I no longer have to wear the immobilizer! YEAH! However, I was measured today for an unloader brace and will have to go pick it up next week when it arrives. Secondly, I can bend my leg and drive again. It was nice driving home from the doctor today. The days of sitting in the back of the van facing the side windows are gone. Furthermore, I can start following the PT protocol that is laid out for me in the Carticel book. Doc told me I don't need to pay for PT unless I really want to...I have done a good enough job so far on my own that he trusts me to do what needs to be done. I still have 5.5 week left of using my crutches but it feels nice to have made some major progress in the recovery process. I still have lots to do and a lot of time in rehab...but progress is being made.
Glad things went well today.
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