"Wow... You're Really Moving!!!"

It's been over a week since I've put the crutches in the corner of the garage... whew! So far, so good!

Most people are shocked to see me "moving" along. A girl I work with said, "You look like you're almost normal... you just walk really slow." Ha! I'll take that!

Don't get me wrong... I still have pain. By the end of the day, it's still a little rough. However, each day is a new adventure and a personal challenge: "Get Stronger!"

Speaking of "days," today is my 77th day since I broke my kneecap. What have you done in YOUR 77 days?

Honestly, in my last few weeks, these are the ones where I have seen the quickest improvement.

Oh how far I've come...

Going back in time, I first moved home on Memorial Day weekend. I remember feeling nervous and unsure. Can I do this? Can I get my own meals? I was still on the walker - so I had to learn how to carry things with one hand while balancing on the other. Believe me... it wasn't very fun. But I knew if I could master that, it was just one more step in my recovery.

I didn't even want to go outside. I was very unsteady, and I think I mentioned a few times of how I almost fell. Not good. The brace was still a big part of my life 24-7, so I still showered with trash bags duct taped around it. And that also meant that I slept with it... which, at the time, I was still confined to sleeping on my back. Not very comfortable to say the least!

When I had visitors at my parents house, they were really shocked to see how slow I moved. If I wanted to walk on the walker, I had to wait once I stood up. The pain was so intense as it rushed up from my knee that it was almost breathtaking. Then once I moved, I would move about a foot at a time.

Do you remember when the Physical Therapist came to my parents house to "teach" me how to deal with my new circumstance? It was the week after the surgery, and we "walked" from the the house out to the street with the walker. He showed me how to position myself going up or down hills. I remember when I came back, I was out of breath and covered in sweat. I was also shocked at the loss of my stamina... Two weeks prior I was about to run a Half Marathon!

Speaking of sweat, I remember my first time out of the hospital bed. It was the morning after the surgery, and this girl walked in saying, "Hi... I'm your PT and we need to get you up." I was like, "Are you kidding me?" I was hooked up to an IV and receiving the morphine drip, and I was expected to move around attached to that?

While I know it sounds goofy to say, "It felt like I had steel in my knee," since I had wires and a pin in there... but it really did. More like "steel plates." She put me on the crutches and wrapped a belt around my waist and off we went... at a staggering 5-6 inches at a time. Sweet Lord did that hurt! I almost fell several times, but she held on for dear life to that belt. After 10 minutes, I was feeling light-headed and dripping sweat. When we returned, my other nurse came in and said, "Laaaawwwwd I never seen no one sweat like you do!" Then she wiped me down with a cold wet rag...

So on Day 77, here's where we stand...

I wear the brace whenever I'm out in public. However, when I'm in the safety of my own home, I keep the leg unwrapped. Remember the "Mount Everest Toilet" seat? That hasn't been a part of my life since June 1. However, I still use the shower seat... although I've been standing up more and more in the past several days.

The knee feels "numb" or like it's asleep all of the time. I still can't really lift my leg up without helping it out. I can see and feel the wires - I can only assume they're going to get more and more irritating to have in there.

This week it's been pretty painful without the crutches... but more at the beginning of the week than towards the end... so making progress! I haven't returned to the Hydrochodone, but I have taken several Alleve this week and iced it quite a bit.

On July 27, I return to the doctor for a very "telling" visit. When I last saw him, he said that he expected me to "walk in without your crutches, and walk out without the brace."

So far, half of that equation is correct!