Progress! Finally.

The last three days have finally brought a sense of progress. My energy is returning more quickly than I had dared to hope. The first day of "normalcy" was pretty slow, as I discovered as few as 20 minutes would require an hour to recover. 

The next day (Thursday), I met with my new physical therapist. I don't know yet if I am going to be happy with her or not. So far in this process, I have felt that all the therapists are too focused on my glutes, and not enough focused on my knee. It frustrates me that they do not give me specific exercises and goals to work on. So I have decided to take the bull by the horns, and write my own fitness program.

Taking control this way gives me a sense of purpose and progress. So I am back to walking on my street, and have started a specific exercise program focusing on flexion/extension in fluid movements, even pacing when I walk, good posture, and strength for all the leg muscles. 

I had a client a few years ago who had total knee replacement of both knees. I was his rehab person after the first 3 weeks. He did great! So I suppose I can take care of me as well as anyone. 

And meanwhile, the therapist can look to my future. Both of the therapists I have worked with since my surgery have focused on the glute activation which current studies indicate will protect the knees and hips in the long run. So I learn what I can from them, and take care of myself at the same time. Win-Win.

Friday showed marked improvement. I discovered that as long as I take it very slow and mindfully, I can actually navigate the staircase in our house using my new knee to lift or lower my body on a step. This is a BIG step for me! 

For the last two weeks I have gone down the stairs backward, (carefully and holding both rails), and up the stairs by leaning way forward and placing my hands on the steps, so kind of crouching/crawling my way up the stairs. In each case my focus has been to lift and lower myself with glute power, and not knees. This little technique comes from years of teaching step class students to lift with their glutes and not their knees. It's a good thing.

Thinking about the connection between step exercise and my apparently useless glutes makes me wonder...how much of what these therapists are seeing is a result of the past three years of deterioration? Makes me want to go back to step class!!

So this is looking good. Today is a day of rest, and then tomorrow I get back to working my knee. Oh, and finally yesterday, the little infection spot looks a little better, and didn't hurt every time I touched it. Perhaps the castor oil bandage is helping? I don't know. But it's nice to see some indication of healing, finally!