March 1, 2008

Crazy Flexion

I had another post-op appointment with my surgeon yesterday. He came in to the room, shook my hand, took a look at the notes from the PT and started shaking his head. "147 degrees of flexion?" he said incredulously. "That’s not normal," he joked, except he wasn’t joking. He asked me what my good leg gets and when I told him 155, he just laughed. "You’re doing great," he said.

He checked out my knee, answered some questions and then we got down to the karate talk. "When can I go back?" I asked him.

It’s still June. In two months I’ll go back to him. He’ll check out my leg strength and whether or not my leg muscles match. Then, I’ll get a functional brace and keep building strength. He told me I’m still not allowed to do any kicking or pivoting whatsoever. He said for the next month, I still have a weak leg that needs protection and I will always need to do strength training for my legs.

For some reason, I felt like he didn’t trust me when I told him I won’t step back onto the dojo floor until he says I’m ready. I assured him that there is no way in hell I’m going through this again and that I would listen. The good news is this: he said I’m doing exceptionally well and that I can start standing and punching my heavy bag. Just NO pivoting or stressing that knee. He doesn’t want me back in class until at least June because he said that even though he trusts me, he doesn’t want me (or him) to have to be wary of others in the dojo. He said if it starts hurting in the front AT ALL, I’m to immediately stop what I’m doing.

I finished up my appointment and went out to the PT room. I heard my surgeon and PT laughing about something. When I went over to the table, my PT asked me if I had heard what he said about me. Apparently my surgeon is so impressed with my mad flexion skills that he was joking with my PT that I could stand on one leg in the quad stretch position and paint my toenails. My feet have been nothing but neglected for months now so maybe I should give that a shot.

I’m feeling very encouraged and I think I’m officially entering the boredom stage that my surgeon warned me about. I do feel though, that I’ve really rounded a corner lately. Yesterday, I got another degree of flexion back. I’m at 148 now. In two months, I’m hoping I can demonstrate my pedicure skills for the surgeon and get that brace ordered. I’m getting there; I’m really getting there.