Yes, today was already the 17th time I've gone to physio. The days add up pretty fast when you're going 5 days a week. Both my physiotherapist and I thought it would be quite some time before I had any significant accomplishments or made any noticeable progress, however, we've been pleasantly surprised with how things are going. I'm not ready to ditch my crutches just yet or anything as big as that but I'm on my way.
It was less than a week into physio when I tried riding the stationary bike. It was a bit of a challenge at first. I'd struggle to get the pedals all the way around on each rotation and my right knee/leg would fall over, either to the left or right, if it wasn't held up. With the help of my physiotherapist supporting the knee, often having to sit or squat in an awkward position, I was able to pedal successfully. After about a week I was able to pedal without her help but the leg still wasn't completely stable. It would occasionally fall over or I'd stabilize it a bit with my own hand. Now 3 weeks into physio, I'm able to ride the bike without the need for any support or guidance on the right side. If you were to see me using the bike now you may not even be aware I have any physical limitations. Potentially the most measurable success I've had on the bike has to do with turning it on. If you've ever used any cardio equipment with an electronic display, you know you have to pedal or run for a bit before the machine will turn on and you can make your program selections. At the beginning I would pedal but the bike would remain off. After roughly a week of using the bike I had the display light flickering on and off with about every other rotation. Yesterday I managed to make the display turn on! That was actually really exciting. And I was able to keep it on long enough that we could select a program.
At the beginning of this week we discovered I could use the Elliptical / cross-trainer. Because I'm still only partial weight bearing on the right side I have to support myself using my arms. Although, in order to get the foot pedals to go around, I do need to put a reasonable amount of weight into the leg. As an added bonus, the nature of the equipment helps my leg go through the motions of walking. At the moment I find it easier to "run" backwards than forward, but so far I've only used it 3 times. It can only get easier with more time and practice. I can barely make the display light flicker on and off, so like the bike, we'll know I've made progress when I get it to stay on.
The other noticeable improvement I've made is in controlling the placement of my foot. I spend a lot of time walking forward, backwards, sideways, and stepping over objects. I've had considerable improvement in my ability to place my right foot in a specific spot and control my foot and leg while doing it. I can now take much larger steps to the side, originally barely being able to move my leg at all to the left or right. When lifting my foot over objects, both forward/backward and side to side, we've increased the level of difficult but using objects that are taller. With all of these actions there is visible improvement in my control as well as spatial awareness of the leg/foot. Anything else I've done or have been working on would probably make very little sense if I tried to explain it in words. Definitely more of a visual explanation needed.
I'm not scheduled for a check up with my surgeon for another 10 weeks. This gives me approximately 50 more days at physio (if I continue to go daily) before he sees me. There's no way to predict how far along I'll be in my recovery at that time but if things continue to progress the way they have, I'm sure I'll have something impressive to show him. I'm not sure what he'll be expecting but I would love to surprise him by being further ahead than what he's anticipating.
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