Copier Knee, Part II

In the past week after my surgery, I've been trying to exercise the way Dr. Music requested.  His number one exercise for my knee is a stationary bike, second, walking.  The day after surgery, Charlene, who is always the greatest Nurse (for the worst patient-me), searched Craig's List and found a wonderful bike for a hundred bucks, mint condition.  We picked it up the next day and I have been doing 2-3 miles a day ever since.  My knee is still somewhat swollen but lessens by the day.  All the muscles on my calf and thigh are very sore - I mean very sore.  Back of my knee (is that the 'nape of my knee'?) is black and blue and I don't know why.  Bending hurts.  Just plain hurts.  I have to force myself to move my right leg correctly when I walk.  The pain just takes over and I walk funny, stiff legged if I don't think about it.  Strange how something like walking can be forgotten so quickly in response to pain.  As the days go by, I can bend it a little more, tolerate a little more pain and constantly force myself to think about how my leg is supposed to work when I walk.  If I give in to the pain, I walk funny, stiff-legged, lean funny and in trying to favor my right leg, screw up my back.  My back?  Yea, you remember in 2009 when I started this blog - it was because I was bored recovering from back surgery.  Yea, that back.  So, my walking is half reflex, half thought-controlled if I don't want a sore knee and back.  When I realize I'm walking with a stiff right leg, I think how my left leg takes a step and apply that motion to my right leg.  Kind of a drag.  I just can't go from here to there without pausing, remember to 'walk' the right leg and slowly get there.  I haven't learned how to do it faster than 'slow' but I keep trying.

Today, 8 days after surgery, I went to see Dr. Music.  His nurse took out my stitches - 4 on one side of my knee, 1 on the other.  Dr. Music came in shortly thereafter, shook my hand and examined my knee.  He made me bend and extend and was pleased with my progress.  I told him that Charlene had gotten a recumbent stationary bike and was doing 2-3 miles a day and he was happy about that.  He had warned me that one of the incisions would be bigger than the other but he kept having to make one bigger as he tried to get the giant boulder out (the huge one in the x-ray, previous blog post).  He kind of laughed and did a replay of the operation with him struggling to get it out of the too small opening.  A funny scene. He told me that the soreness of my thigh and calf is due to the fact that during the operation, they 'pressurize' the joint with water, swelling it up and stretching everything.  It will slowly fade. Then, he got serious.  Uh-oh.....

He told me that my knee was pretty bad and that if I treated it kindly, it would last another 6-10 years before requiring a knee-replacement operation.  Then he ask, "Do you want that operation"? to which I replied, "NO!".  "Do you want to know how to keep your knee?", he ask.  "Well, Yeah", I said.

"Treat it gently.  No jogging.  No jumping.  No sudden impacts to the joint.  Low impact exercise - one hour a day - for the rest of your life. The stationary bike is an excellent low impact exercise and you need to use it every day.  The gentle motion will help 'polish' the bone surfaces and keep them smooth and arthritic buildup to a minimum.""

And with that, he shook my hand and left.  Bummer.  I thought I was superman and this operation would have me up and running around like the hyper-active moron I've been for decades.  But, Noooooo!  I have to slow down and act my age, or should I say 'act my body condition'.  Gross!  Old age just plain Sucks!