[Tbear]

Five weeks - The knee continues to heal without complications. No more cane; walking normally now with no discernable limp or abnormal gait. Scar looks very good; blending in with the skin nicely. I'm putting Maderma on it once a day and also massaging it with cocoa butter.

The main surprise, was that when I began with my new out of house therapist, he has continued my treatment with a totally different approach moving forward.

First of all, no more tear jerking yanks of my knee to see how much flexion we can squeak out. He feels that I have plenty of flexion for 5 weeks and over the coming months as the swelling continues to subside I will get more flexion as the result. Instead, he is concentrating on stretching my hamstring.

He explained to me that the hamstring is the key to flexion of the knee and we would work on improving that for awhile.

A typical session consists of a few minutes of ultrasonic treatment of the knee followed by a targeted massage of specific areas of the knee to continue to break up scar tissue. He then stretches my hamstring in a controlled fashion by laying out the leg straight and while pulling in my toe, compresses the knee. I can feel the stretch, but this is far less uncomfortable than when my previous therapist pulled my knee towards my butt.

I am ending the session now with 10 minutes on a type of machine where you sit and push pedals first with one foot than the other. Its call a stepper, but not the kind you stand and climb on. I've never been one to use machines so most of you probably know what I am talking about more than I do.

He is suggesting that I take 20 minute walks - in a pool every other day! I'm already taking 2 twenty minute walks around the neighborhood every day.

Although I feel like I can be more active, he explained that the bone is re-modeling ( growing into ) the serrations on the surface of the implant. That together with strengthening my muscles is what needs to happen before I get back to sporting activities. The doctor said I can chip and putt at six weeks; play doubles pickleball at 12 weeks.

I really feel the worst is behind me and I just have to put in my time and follow the advice of the doctor and therapist and things should be fine...

Tbear