Post-op Day 168 – Twenty Four Weeks After Patella Re-alignment Operation

♦ April 14, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

Post-op Day 168, twenty four weeks after my patella re-alignment operation (patella stabilisation / vmo advancement / lateral release revision surgery) and I’m still working hard at my exercises.

As usual, when I do a lot of work my knee gets more swollen and painful, but I know that although that in itself isn’t good, it’s a good sign that I’ve been working and demanding things of it. It can be a bit of a dilemma sometimes, whether to work it or not, but generally I have to, to have any chance of recovering my muscle strength. Also, I have to remember that it is sore because I have worked it, not because anything has happened to it. I find that can be a really challenging part of the rehab – my instincts tell me that if my knee hurts I should rest it, but I have to keep overriding my instincts and telling myself that it’s okay and I need to do it.

I am still wearing the leg splint at night, to keep my leg straight so that I can sleep pain-free, and consequently I have been sleeping well recently. A good night’s sleep is definitely an important part of recovery – not only does the body get chance to repair itself, but I think you are much stronger, mentally, if you wake up feeling refreshed.

In my physio sessions, the physio has been doing a lot of deep friction work on my knee (ouch!) to break down scar tissue. By the time he has finished there is a lot of heat in my knee, so it’s certainly warmed up and ready for exercise!

I’ve been doing an hour and a half in the gym and that is going well. My gym exercises are definitely getting easier and I’ll be ready for an increase or a change to the routine very soon I think. I’ll see what the physio says next time.

But this is such a long recovery… I’m almost at the six months point…but not yet… I’m still within the official recovery time, and it’s a real marathon! It seems to be going on forever!

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