I have just had my second physio appointment which was delayed (because of a bad UTI) and rescheduled closer to home. It was a revelation because I learnt that I had been concentrating almost entirely on the gold standard of a 90 degree knee bend. Instead I should have been building up my thigh muscle (quad) which, some four and a half weeks post surgery, has lost most of its function. If this muscle doesn’t work the knee will not bend properly. I now have just over a week to achieve a straight leg raise off the bed before I see my surgeon. A tough ask.
The hospital physio (who didn’t even give me any exercise sheets) never mentioned this and I feel very let down. The first six weeks post op are crucial from the physio point of view because the scar tissue formation will also affect the future movement of the knee and, from the surgeon’s point of view, the op’s success.
It’s a hard enough op to endure but not to have the right information to recuperate successfully makes this even harder. The relentless pain has sent me into some very dark places.
I have spent hours researching information online to get me through this. Someone needs to write a short guide to recovering well and it needs to be both realistic and idealistic.