Today

So this time I started 'cruising' around the furniture a little earlier, meaning if I have something to hold on to, I feel pretty good about not having the walker, at least in my bedroom, where the bookshelves are three feet from the bedrail or desk, for example. I am being careful otherwise, particularly of the dog gates. I wouldn't go across the kitchen or living room in the more open areas. But the house is fairly small, so there aren't spacious areas, anyway. The bathroom is too narrow for the walker, so I keep my normal collapsible cane there as it is light and won't hurt the tile if it knocks over. It easily fits between the sinks, which fit together and are on pedestals, not with vanities. The steel cane is reserved for the stairs, which I'm taking it easy on as I've switched 'good' vs. 'bad' legs and muscle memory changes hard, but so far, so good.

I'm doing pretty well. The pain with the nerve block hasn't been over a 4, maybe a 5, for a minute or two.. My flexion is down from what it was right after surgery, but that's because of swelling, although there is nowhere near the swelling there was last time. The extension is 1° [they want 0°] and flexion 74° [90° at 3 weeks, so not bad] (both a little better than the same time with the left knee). While I've always considered my left knee my 'worst' knee, and yes, it was, Dr. Talwalkar said that with the exception of the grooved patella they had to put the button behind, both were in terrible shape, and the right was about as bad. The surgery was definitely needed. if not overdue.

The only issue I'm having is with the nerve block. I didn't have any issue before, but this one may have been tugged slightly and bled. With me being on aspirin, it probably looks worse than it is. It may have mixed with some fluid that wasn't absorbed by the nerve, so we've shut the machine off for an hour to see if that'll give it a chance to take up the bolus of rhindrocaine. I've only got a few hours left, maybe 10? of the solution, I'd like to not have to take it out, as it's really helpful, especially in terms of moving around and doing the ROMTech bike, or for that matter this afternoon I straightened up my room on my own, which gave me the feeling of a little independence and gave my roommate a little break. After all the stuff going around the surgery, etc., and taking care of me, I think he needs and deserves one.

I'm not up to doing chores yet, probably, but I can get my own water (I have a cupholder on the bag on my walker) or ice. And the dogs seem to be doing pretty well. I had to go outside my room without notifying him, and they were fine, so we tested them at dinner, and they did well. They just have to be reminded to not sniff me or get too near occasionally, but generally, they leave me alone, and they're very wary of the walker, so I mainly keep my leg surrounded by that. It seems to be working. They'd pretty much been trained to stay off me with the left leg already. But I'm still keeping track of where they are at all times, just in case.