Mon, 24 February 2003

This morning was my first physio therapy session since the operation. Kiron took me there.

First the therapist Evelyn removed the brace, cold pack and bandages. And this was what it looked like:

The therapist told me the swelling wasn't bad -- less than most people apparently. That sounds like good news.

Then with Evelyn's guidance, I did some exercises with the brace removed:

• Lying on my back, bending the knee (see below)
  
  
  
  
• Lying on my good side, bending the knee -- she measured how far I could bend it - 73°.
• Lying on my back, pushing down on a rolled up towel tucked under my knee
• Lying on my back, lifting my leg up to about 35-40° off the table
• Standing on my good leg (no weight at all on the bad leg), lift my leg to the side about 20° off the vertical

She asked Kiron if she would help me do some of those exercises, a couple of times a day.

At the end of the session, she put ice on the knee for 10 minutes then put the bandage and brace back on again. She said the bandage will help control the swelling so its best to leave that on most of the time.

Evelyn said I shouldn't get the wounds wet until Friday.  Until then, if I shower, I should cover the knee with a plastic bag.  That wasn't what the doctor said (he said that I could let water run over them after 3 days), but I didn't argue. I figured that the longer I leave it the better.

My next appointment is Wednesday.

For the rest of the day, I laid on the sofa, with my brace and bandage still on, and did work on the computer. My knee was fairly sore (pain level maybe 6/10) and I took more drugs mid afternoon. Evelyn said I should take drugs enough time before the next session so that they will kick in.