Wednesday

Today I went to see my surgeon, Dr. Skunda, hoping for a little peace of mind about my progress.  I got that and so much more!

I'd heard my physical therapist say that we needed to "break up all the scar tissue" and I was worried that I'd be one of those who has to go back and have the knee stretched to a 120 bend under anesthesia.  And while I like my therapist, the slow-forced bends have been excruciating, leaving me unable to do much for the rest of the day. 

Dr. Skunda explained that there are two different ways of doing knee surgery.  One takes longer to heal but when it does heal, the knee feels more like a real knee.  The other one heals more quickly--thus the better performance of some patients than others.  

"You're going great!" he said.  I haven't reached 120 yet, but I'm at 112 and he promises that with "gentler exercises" I'd make 120 soon. The dreaded going back to the hospital for a painful manipulation is rarely done and only for patients who can't move beyond 90!

So I came home very happy and the doc is going to call the therapist and tell him that the rigorous exercises are unnecessary from now on! "Pain can actually backfire and slow your progress," he said. 

When I got home, precious Nathan and Elena were here. We went to Osaka for dinner, then went to Learning Express to buy a few small toys they wanted.  It was a wonderful night!