ACI Recover........Week 5

Week 5.......I know I keep saying this but WOW.........I cannot believe I have made it 5 weeks.
This week I started physical therapy and while it was exciting to get out of the house......I think I have an anxiety attack every time I start therapy. I am scared to death at how much it will hurt.....and of course it did hurt pretty bad! The dr. gave me a new pain killer prescription, but its a new type and my insurance wont cover it. I survived therapy with just ibuprofen but during my next dr appt Im going to get something else. The therapist was pretty gently on day 1.....Im pretty sure Im going to need pain killers for the next couple weeks. For whatever reason I always develop a lot of scar tissue and this time appears no different.
In regards to exercise I am now able to ride the exercise bike at zero resistance. I rode in therapy the other day then rode at home on my own yesterday. I rode for over an hour and a little more than a mile. Funny, I used to ride 18 mile an hour and now Im riding 1 mile an hour......a lot of work to do to get back to my pre-surgery shape! We also discussed shifting my weight while Im standing on my crutches to get the muscles in my leg firing.......this of course hurts more than you would think.....but Ive been practicing. The therapist also told me to really work on straightening my leg as much as possible and doing straight leg raises. I was blown away, I could not even do 1 straight leg raise. I had to keep leaning back and enlarging the angle before I could even lift my leg.....crazy.
Also, after working on the CPM for 5 weeks it was picked up this morning....I was sad to see it go! lol!
The first day of therapy I could get my leg to 5% straight and 90% flexed on my own. Didnt sound too bad considering how much work had been done!!
Have a good thanksgiving......looking forward to week 6!

I Keep Forgetting to Mention........

Hi All
There is one important piece of information I keep forgetting to mention. The information I received from Carticel described the surgery and recovery. The last couple post-op visits the dr has let me know that the information from Carticel was necessary for the procedure to be FDA approved. Basically, things move a little quicker than the information suggests. Since the procedure is nearing 10 years old or so, recovery is faster than initially expected.
I was thinking I'd be out of commission for 12-18 months where the actual will probably be 8-12 months. Overall, I thought this was pretty good news!! :)

ACI Recovery......Week 3 and 4

WOW.......I simply cant believe its been 4 weeks since the day of surgery. I didnt post last week because there wasnt too much to report. I just had my 4 week doctors appointment and they think Im doing pretty well. 
I am not able to start trying to walk on my crutches putting 50% pressure on my foot/knee. Any idea how hard it is to judge 50% pressure? lol! Anyway, I am making attempts today and it is pretty scary. Of course, I'll keep after it but not being able to walk for 4 weeks does a number on you!
I have been at 90 degrees on the CPM for a week now and the doctor recommended I keep it for another 10 to 14 days. I explained that I feel it helps to keep my knee from getting so stiff and he understood and agreed. He said to keep increasing and I can go all the way up to 125 degrees. He also suggested I keep working on pushing my knee straight.....interesting because you begin to feel that the flexion is the most important until the dr tells you that you will have to have another surgery if you dont work on keeping it straight......I got that point today!
Also, more good news.... the dr recommended I start PT this week. Yes, I realize how utterly painful  therapy is however I am concerned about the amount of muscle I have lost and getting out of the house can only make me feel better. The last visit the dr gave me a new pain killer perscription (for people who get sick on all the others) and suggested this morning that I make sure to get that filled because I will need it to survive PT.......ugh......a little nervous!! :)
The bad news for the week......I have felt so good moving around the house that I thought I would be able to go to the grocery store with my husband over the weekend. Seriously, I dont know who I was kidding but that was a painful experience. My shoulders and hands were so sore the next day. My foot was incredibly swollen, in fact was still swollen the next day. Ive learned my lesson and the dr said something this morning about not trying to go 0 to 100 all at once.......lol....was quite the learning experience! :)
I will make sure to post again in week 5 to update how PT starts!!