making progress!!

i had a great therapy session today in the pool. i really felt like i made a lot of progress, so i'm pumped. i have been working with an atc from dustin's work, cherie, who really pushes me and challenges me.....i LOVE that. she really loosened my kneecap up last wednesday - it hurt like crazy, but it was worth it. today she worked it again, but it didn't take as much prying. :) and my little VMO (i don't really know what that stands for, but it's the quad muscle on the inside of your leg, right above the kneecap) started firing today like it should. and i could really tell a difference. when it worked, my kneecap wouldn't do the "catching" thing. and it hardly got "caught" at all today! FINALLY, my muscles are starting to wake up!! praise God! my poor little leg is absolutely pitiful.....i can touch my fingers when i put them around my quad. it's so sickening. i don't know if it will ever be the same size as my left leg - if it ever does get there, it will be a LONG time! but i feel encouraged over all. only 2 weeks from thursday til i can start (hopefully) bearing some weight. i'm SO looking forward to that!

underwater treadmill!

well it's nice to be a girl who has cool friends who have cool jobs. one of my friends from growing up, carrie and her husband robb, are athletic trainers at the university of tennessee. carrie said i could come in to use their facilities, including an underwater treadmill. so i went in yesterday and it was awesome. they had me warm up my knee in the hot tub first and then i walked for about 15 minutes or so on the underwater treadmill. my knee didn't do the "catching" thing it had been doing....i think the warming up helped. and as i'm walking, robb says that dr. mathien is there - and then a few minutes later dr. mathien comes out and talks with me about my progress and i get to ask him questions and he can evaluate my gait (the treadmill has glass walls for watching stuff like that).....how cool is that??? i LOVE dr. mathien - he's so real and down to earth. and after walking, i go out to ice and dr. mathien comes by and asks when my next appointment is supposed to be - i told him friday, and he says "well why don't i just evaluate you here and save you a trip?" what?! so awesome!! so he checks my knee out and tells me that he'll make a notation of our "appointment" and i can call to reschedule friday's visit for 2 weeks later. here's the scoop on my progress: dr. mathien seemed pleased with my range of motion and the lack of swelling; he said my gait looked good as well; and he said the "catching" is normal and nothing to worry about - he said that i probably have some adhesions and i just need to work on patella mobs and scar mobs to get it lose; i asked him if i would be able to gradually add weight before 8 weeks, or if it would be after 8 weeks......and he said, "let's talk about the SIZE of your defect - this wasn't a little suzie Q defect, this was a BIG BERTHA defect - and we need to make sure to give it time to really graft in so that it doesn't collapse." my translation: you're crazy if you think you're adding weight before 8 weeks. and actually, he said initially they probably should have said 12 weeks NWB. ugh. but he said we'll x-ray it again in 2 weeks and see how it looks - he said it should look as close to normal as possible. if that looks good and i continue to improve my strength and ROM, then i MIGHT be able to start adding gradual weight with crutches at 8 weeks. so............i'm a little disappointed with that news. i'm completely sick of crutches and being helpless. although i have figured out how to do more with crutches and i'm able to do more around the house and what-not...it just takes about 10X longer. i'm just ready to be on two feet again - but i understand the importance of staying off of it and will just have to suck it up. surely, by august i'll be totally crutch free. :) and until then, i will absolutely be using the facilities at UT again.

almost half way!

here's my knee...the scar looks pretty good. and i don't have any steri strips on any more.

the girls loving on each other at the campsite. precious.

playing with bubbles.

molly on her scooter....she flies on that thing!

adie....cheesin' it up!

well, we are almost half way through my 8 week non-weight bearing time! only 4 weeks, 2 days left until i can walk on two feet again (hopefully). really, the first half has gone by pretty quickly - i'm so thankful for that. i'm hoping the next 4 weeks go even faster.

i forgot, in my last update, to mention how great it was to have my father-in-law come down to help out for about 10 days. he was a super huge blessing to us all......he drove us places, helped with the girls, did odd jobs around the house and even learned how to do laundry! :) thanks so much, pappaw!! we love you!

i had my first therapy session in the pool today with my awesome therapist, julie. it felt really good to walk (the doc said as long as the water was up to my shoulders, i could walk) and to just feel normal again in the water. i'm having some issues with my knee "catching" sometimes when i bend it. julie thinks that since the surface of my joint is not completely smooth where my plugs are (although, she said, it's as smooth as they could get it- she watched my surgery-.....but even a millimeter difference is huge) and that the lateral side isn't quite "unlocking" like it should when i go from straight to bent. she thinks that, in time, as i continue to get stronger and add weight to it, that it will hopefully smooth out. so please pray that is, in deed, the case! after my pool session, julie measured me....i got to 0 degrees extension (with a little help); and 122 degrees flexion. last measurement was 4/118, so i was happy with that improvement. i'm already looking forward to my next pool session.

dustin continues to amaze me. i love him so much and i could not imagine my life without him. he is endlessly patient in his service to me and in his fathering of the girls. i look forward to being able to serve him more and better when i'm on two feet again!!!

on another note....our first camping trip was a success. it was a lot of fun - even though it would have been better without the crutches! the girls played and played, and it was just so fun to be together making memories. plus, we took jack along, and he is, without question, the BEST dog ever. love him. AND...molly has mastered riding her bike without training wheels. she's a better bike rider than i am....those of you who know me, know that i'm not a strong bike rider! but, when i'm off these crutches and we go on another camping trip, i WILL ride again! :)