This morning was not great. While my block hadn't completely worn off, I definitely could feel more sensation in my knee than yesterday. The sensation was not good.
My first task of the day was to remove my surgical dressings. I got my first look at my knee, post op. It's kind of gruesome. there are a couple of small arthroscopic holes, with a single stitch in each. The incision where they removed the donor tendon is just over 2 inches long, and has a bunch of stitches and steri-strips across it. I'll post a picture later.
As I didn't sleep well last night, I spent this morning napping and playing online intermittently. My friend Meghan stopped by, which was a high spot. She brought me sunflowers, which are such happy, optimistic flowers. They give me a little lift to look at.
Then, the day took a serious turn. At 4:00, a man from Lenox Hill brought over my new toy, a CPM machine. CPM stands for continuous passive motion. My leg gets strapped into this machine, and then it slowly bends and straightens my leg. I am supposed to sit in this machine for 4-6 hours.
When he set up the machine initially, my doctor's instructions were to set the machine at 60°. That means that my leg goes from straight to a 60° bend. I strapped in, and started up the machine. Somewhere around 35°, it began to feel tight. 40° was uncomfortable. 60° brought tears to my eyes. I stuck in at 60° for a couple of minutes, and had to set the machine back down to 40°, because I simply could not bear the higher setting.
Make no mistake, the 40° bend is terribly uncomfortable. I'm now about halfway thru my 5th hour, and it's not getting any easier. It's painful. Really painful. I'm struggling with it.
The thing that is most difficult about the machine is that is seems like a marker of the difficulties I have ahead. I never thought it would be easy to get through this rehab, but I don't think I was really aware of how painful it would really be. I have a LOT of work ahead of me, and I am not going to enjoy much of it.
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