Recovery- week 6

Wednesday 29th Mar 2006

Currently listening to: King of Fools by Delerious?

[I've already written this entry once - the PC crashed and I lost it!]

I've decided to write knee related news weekly as the recovery is less dramatic and ties in with my physio/consultant appointments. I'm now seeing the physio's at the Crystal Palace Sports Injuries clinic, which is where I've been going to the gym and where I've had physio previously. This is mainly a convenience thing, as well as the fact that they always seem to know what's going on and the ladies on reception have learnt my name! I had my 4th outpatient physio last Saturday. It went quite well; I'm onto the leg press and have got exercises to work on involving the trampoline and throwing a football against the wall in order to improve stability.

I managed to make it to the gym on Monday and Tuesday morning before work and have got to the stage on the bike where I can feel myself needing to take deeper breaths, so at least there's a little aerobic exercise creeping in too.

On Wednesday I had my 6 week check up and the consultant was pleased with the strength in the knee. Although he did tell me that the graft is still in the process of getting a blood supply and doesn't heal until this is all reconnected. This usually occurs after 3 months, so the 6-12 week period is a dangerous one as the knee gets more movement and you push it more, but it isn't too strong yet; caution is therefore in order. He told me that I was allowed to drive and that I could ditch the crutch and the brace. This is great news and I've spent the rest of the week with neither! Feels very odd though as I can feel the instability in the knee a lot more than I thought I would. There is more strain at the front of the knee going up and, particularly, down stairs and ramps. The main thing I've noticed is that people don't get out of your way when you don't have a crutch! It was about time I got rid of it; I left it at a til the other day and it wasn't until I noticed people weren't giving me the space I'd become accustomed to, that I realised I'd left it somewhere!

So, all in all a good week knee wise, although there is a lot of physio to be done. It's getting more tempting to kick a ball the easier it is to move around, but I know that's not going to be allowed until Christmas, so I've got to control these legs even more!