Post-Op Day 8

It's official, I've been doing too much. Today I had my first post-op appointment with the doc. The doctor was impressed at how much progress I've made so far but warns I shouldn't push myself too much or else I'll start regressing. I haven't used a crutch since Sunday and he suggests I start using one again. I don't know if I'll take this piece of advice, but I will start wrapping my knee in the ace bandage again. The past two days I have been doing a lot of baking, cooking, and errand running, so I will ease up on that. It's probably better that way and I've known I've been doing too much.

The stitches came out today. Here's a picture. One to close each of the 3 port holes and 4 on the outside where they performed the lateral release. The nurse removed two of them and then I realized I wanted to be in control of the discomfort, so I removed the rest myself. Yes, I'm a weirdo.

Today is the most swollen I've been since two days post-op...likely due to all of the activity I've been doing. It's hard to determine from the picture above if my knee is swollen, but as one of my attendings said, "God was kind enough to give us two of each so we know what's normal." So let's have a little lesson.
The best way to tell if a joint is swollen is to compare it to the other. While looking at both joints, look for the dimples. As you can see, I've circled my dimples on the good knee, but you can't really see them on my left knee. If there is enough fluid in there, you can press on one side of the knee and feel it on the other side. So...I'm keeping my feet up a lot more than I have been for the next couple of days.

Next post...a tour of my knee.