Life Without a Brace...

"You can go ahead and put that brace in the closet to collect dust..."

Those were the words of my doctor this morning... and you better believe I was freaking excited!!!

So, here is the run-down...

They took X-Rays again... front and side.

Dr. Rutherford put ALL of my X-Rays up on the monitor... "Of course, the first one is the most impressive one," he said. That's the one that shows my leg with 2 kneecaps.

He then had me lay down on my back while he lifted my leg to move my knee back towards my head. There is a point where I stop due to the pain and stiffness. Well, he went several inches beyond that! I just about came off that examine table because it was so painful.

I said, "OK... that's it!" He said he was trying to determine where my pain was originating... and he continued to hold the knee in that position! I pointed but he had more questions - he wanted to make sure it wasn't the wires. I finally pointed to the sides and said, "Right here!" I was gasping for breath and my eyes were watering... man oh man was it killing me!

He finally put my leg down and his assistant came over to pat me on the back. I think she felt bad for what she just witnessed...

He then gave me the news that the brace could go away, and that he believes the limited flexibility is due to scar tissue. I have some exercises I need to do each day to "break through." Uugh...

We then talked about the next surgery. He said he will go through the same scar, but only about 3/4 of the current incision. The surgery will take about an hour, and the recovery will be about 4 hours. If there are no complications, then I can go home that day. Otherwise, I'll have to stay overnight.

When I leave the hospital, I won't be in a brace. The leg will be bandaged and wrapped with an ACE bandage. I'll also be on crutches for about a week, and he'll give me all of my wires and pins to do whatever I want to with them... "Hmm... any suggestions???"

As of now, we're not scheduling the surgery until my next visit... 3 months from today. There is a gap in the kneecap that he is watching... you can see the new growth since the surgery. If everything is "good-to-go" when I see him in October, then we'll try to schedule the surgery for early November. If November doesn't work out, then we'll shoot for December.

So tomorrow I'm going to do something I haven't done since April... put on a pair of pants! Yep, I've been wearing shorts this entire time... to work, to a wedding, etc.

Want to know what I did today? From the office of, "Too Much Information," I showered today for the first time (again, since April) without the aid of a shower seat. Thanks Mel, but it's now waiting in the closet until the next surgery...

How am I feeling? It's very weird... walking without the aid of a brace. I walk slower than I did with the brace, and I'm very nervous... nervous I'm going to lose my balance or the knee will buckle. But, I guess this is just part of the healing process. I was nervous a few weeks ago when I gave up my crutches. Heck, I was nervous when I gave up the walker.

As I was leaving the doctor's office, I ran into Dr. Rutherford in the hallway. He giggled as he saw me coming, "I guess I hurt you enough to cause a limp. Sorry about that."

I said, "No worries... I'm used to it now."

Which, I guess, that's just one of the many lessons I've learned through all of this. It's going to be tough. It's going to hurt. But, you just need to adapt and figure out how you're going to adjust to get through it... and just get ready for the next obstacle... or step...

One step at a time... one obstacle at a time...

And I guess that's what life is all about...