Moonshine Therapy

 

Got your attention, huh. I have progress news to share, but first the moonshine therapy. Actually I’ve never tried moonshine and never intend to, but someone did suggest that it might help me “limber up” while Drew works on my range of motion. Then he wouldn’t have to keep saying, “Relax that muscle” (as if I can while my knee is being squeezed in a vice grip), “Let that leg fall into my shoulder,” “You’re still tightening up. Loosen that muscle.” I wonder if moonshine really would work.

I’m almost at the 3-month mark. On the recumbent  bike in  PT I’ve been pedaling forward as far as I can and then backward as far as I can. Well…today I got down on the mats and rolled the front and sides of my thigh on the hard foam roller to loosen the muscles. Then I tried the recumbent.

I was soooo surprised and excited to be able to pedal forward in complete  revolutions! Yippee!  Drew eyed my leg as  I pedaled and said it was at least 100 degrees. Then we measured my range of motion. Was 112 (with pain). So it’s getting there slowly but surely, but that’s fine with me.  The slow but surely part.

Am taking occasional Tylenol now … before PT and on an as needed  basis. Works effectively. Dreaming of spring . . . .

I believe that we were meant to live as social creatures, to reach out and bless each other’s lives. – Author Richard Paul Evans

Back to the Office!

 

Glad I took two months off work for R&R. But this past Monday I was equally glad to return to the office. Drew helped me with a program that will fit with my work schedule. I've allotted 30 minutes in the morning and most evenings for flexibility and motion exercises. Once a day 3/4x per week I additionally do strengthening. I like the side stepping down the hall ‘cause a side benefit is that it seems to help with my lower back. Have other exercises I throw in here and there, like leg raises, leg balances, heel raises…

Still going to outpatient PT 2x per week through the end of January. Even the “torture chamber” where Drew bends my knee is ok ‘cause I know it’s helping in the long run. Did I mention that I yelled at him one day to STOP! And he did.

Oh, we practiced getting down on the floor and back up. Now I’m ready to garden for sure.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Bump in the Road

 

On the road to recovery I’ve encountered a bump in the road. Drew said that most folks who return to PT after the initial knee replacement therapy come because of secondary problems. Perhaps with the  back or other knee – areas that get a bit “out of whack” compensating as the body adjusts. I identify. Especially at night it’s uncomfortable turning over because of pain in a spot in lower left back. I have a couple stretching exercises, along with massaging, that will hopefully help.

In my last post remember I said I would continue with exercises at home over the holidays when I couldn’t get to PT. Well . . . that has mostly not happened. Being on the go, a house filled with people, activities, etc., put a damper on taking time out for exercises. Getting back into the swing of things today I noticed that the bend is not quite where it was last PT session.  I have two days to get prepared for Monday’s PT session.

New Year’s Eve (2 days past the 2 month mark) hanging out at Pullen Park with my honey, granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law. My mantra: Every day is going to be a little better. I’m gonna make progress today.

Thinking of my friend Brenda who had knee replacement yesterday, January 2, and wishing her well.

Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. Ecclesiastes 3:1