This journey started last summer at the end of June (2008) when my husband and I went hiking at Crested Butte Ski area (above). Like a few other times of straining an elbow or back muscles, I thought it would pass after a few days of rest, though it definitely was more painful and visibly swollen more than anything I had experienced before. So it was a couple weeks of nursing it and not getting any results that finally made me go to the ER on the weekend. What a mistake. They were useless and it was foolish of me to go there. They told me to go to my regular doctor and charged me hundreds of dollars for a tylenol prescription.
The next week I got into my doctor which by then was mid July. She sent me for a x-ray which told her I needed to go in for a MRI. Another week and half later I had an MRI, a very expensive diagnostic. Just glad we have good insurance. From the results of the MRI, my doctor referred me to a orthopedic surgeon. She also referred me to a physical therapist which, next to the actual surgery, was the most important ingredient to my recovery. His manipulation of the knee immediately helped relieve some of the pain and the stretches and exercises he had me do started getting me ready for surgery. I learned the muscles that connect in the knee have to be strengthened before and after surgery to recover well. The PT started me on daily stretches and exercises for this.
Once in the surgeon hands, things clarified. From the MRI, he showed me that I had several things going on in my knee (meniscus tears and cartilage injury) that would need arthroscopic surgery to clean up. August was spent preparing for the surgery which was scheduled for the first of September. As you can read on my other posts, the surgery went perfectly. I elected to stay awake during it which was great. I didn’t have the possible after effects of going under full anethesia but had a longer wait in post op, about 3 hours for the feeling to come back into my legs, which was absolutely worth it. And I got to observe what the surgeon did in my knee on a monitor over my head. It was a little strange because the spinal block disconnected me from any feeling in my legs so it was more like watching TV and seeing him work on someone else’s knee. After surgery, I spent the afternoon in the recovery area and was released around 4pm to go home. The worst pain of the whole ordeal was later that night which was to be expected. I took the prescription pain killers that night but am glad to say I didn’t have to take anymore of those after that one night. I did have to keep taking tylenol or motrin for sometime for some pain and to help reduce the swelling.
The surgeon told me the following for a recovery timeline: a few days to a week back walking on my own; 3 months well into recovery; 6 months back to normal with full motion, no pain, as good as new. I’ve covered the importance of physical therapy for recovery as essential in my other posts on this topic, so I’ll finish up here with the following. It’s been over six months now since the surgery. About a month ago, I started going to the Rec Center to start getting some aerobic exercise, stationary upright bike and a little time on an eliptical trainer and doing circuit weight training. After a few weeks, the only tightness and pain in the knee which I felt when walking down stair steps stopped. It was like everything finally got back into place and all pain and other affects vanished just as the surgeon’s time table predicted. The knee is as good as new.
So we’re back here at Crested Butte for an early spring vacation in Colorado’s beautiful high country and I thought a perfect time to wrap up of the knee ordeal. Hope it helps others facing this experience. 
There’s just one more thing.
Pray.
This healing appears to have come through surgery and physical therapy, but I know that the final outcome would not have been possible without healing prayer. After all, “He bore away all my infirmities and carried away all my diseases and by His stripes I was healed.”
Jesus is the real Healer and I thank Him for mine!
KNEE SURGERY RECOVERY PHYSICAL THERAPY STRETCHES AND EXERCISES
As I promised before, the following are the stretches and exercises I was given for my routine by my PT’s at ProActive Physical Therapy. Please check with your doctor or physical therapist before using these:
1) Hamstring stretch – Sit on a flat surface with legs stretched out in front of you, like the side of bed. Leave the surgery knee stretched out in front of you and let the other leg hang off the side. Bend your body as close to your knee as possible, keep foot relaxed and knee flat as possible. You should feel the stretch in the back side of your thigh and into the upper part of the knee. Hold for 30 count. Do 3 x
2) Calf stretch – Stand arm’s length from wall or chair back leaning or holding on it, while stretching recovering leg by stepping it back about 18 inches behind the good leg, with straightline from foot to neck and holding for a 30 count. 3x’s
3) Quad strengthening. Sit on a flat surface with legs stretched out in front of you. Tighten the quad (muscle on top of thigh running up from the knee) as much as possible and hold for 3-5 count. Do 20 tightenings. Rest it, then do 20 more.
4) Leg Raises: Lay on your back on a flat surface. Bend the knee of your uninvolved leg (the one that wasn’t operated on) to a 90-degree angle with your foot flat on the surface. Keep your involved leg straight without the knee bent. Slowly lift the involved leg six inches off the floor. (by contracting the front thigh muscles). Hold for five seconds. Slowly lower your leg to the floor. Relax and repeat 10 more times. (The knee of the raised leg should remain straight throughout this exercise. Focus on lifting by using the muscles on the front of your hip joint.)
5) Side Leg Raises: Lay on your side on a flat surface with uninvolved leg bent on bottom and recovering leg straight on top. Lift recovering leg about a foot and lower but to about 3 inches above the other leg. Lift slowly and lower 10x’s do 3 sets.
6)Floor Slides: sitting on the floor – tile or smooth surface is better – with back against a wall or stationary furniture. Starting with both legs lying flat out in front of you, slide the foot of the recovering knee back toward your seat, bending the knee as much as is comfortable. May need to grab ankle to move knee back. Then straighten it back out again flat. Do 20 then rest a minute and do another set of 20.
7) Crab Walk – Using an elastic band around ankles tied so it is taut with about a shoulder width between feet. Bend knees slightly and if feet pointed straight, slide step 15 paces to one side and back again. Do three sets.
8) Medicine Ball Wall Slides – place the ball between you and the wall, leaning against the ball, move feet out a few inches in front of you. Bend knees only as far as is comfortable and not so low that you can’t see your toes or the knees are out in front of your toes, (not to 45 degree angle). Do 30 times.
