It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off television topic trip through the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken. If you're looking for the latest Big Brother 13 news, check out the post before this one. Nothing earth-shattering has happened since I posted that -- I still don't really know what Daniele will do.
Sigh. This has not been a good week with the knee replacement recovery. I had recovered (I thought) from straining the quad muscle a couple of weeks ago. Maybe not so much.
In physical therapy on Tuesday, while doing a balance exercise and having had the best day ever in PT ... it happened. My new knee actually bent backwards with a loud pop and I crumbled to the floor. The pain was the most intense pain I've ever had in my life. I was sure, at the least, that my leg was broken.
After getting caught in torrential thunderstorms on the way home, the knee swelled almost double. I could put weight on it, but it was very unstable. It kept feeling like it was going to go backwards again.
With both crutches (sigh), I went to my orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday. He did the tendon tests to make sure they were okay and put me through a series of x-rays. I was very scared that where the femur was drilled and the spike for the implant was might have broken as the pain is mostly above the knee and in the thigh. But the x-rays were negative, good!
He told me to ice, elevate, don't go to PT and to return on Monday. He also put the leg in an immobilizer for stability. He thinks that I had a patella subluxation -- which is roughly a partial dislocation of the kneecap. When I looked it up online, the first article scared me to death -- saying it was the most common cause for a failed knee replacement. GAH!
But, while my doctor seemed very concerned, he seemed to be just as sure that with time and rest, the knee will be back to normal. And, in reading more sites, it sounds like repeated subluxation is the failure cause. I guess I'll see. I walked to the local bodega with one crutch and no immobilizer yesterday. The knee is still acting unstable, but I was very slow and careful.
With the additional pain, I started taking more pain meds. So now my stomach is all whacky once again. It really hasn't been a good week. Yet I did get some decent photos! Clicking on an image will open it larger in a new window ...
When it pours
I no sooner left PT in agony on Tuesday and a tremendous thunderstorm hit with torrential street flooding rainfall. I took shelter in the gazebo for a while. Scotch Plains.
Bored in the rain
Rainy day cleaners
Park Avenue, Scotch Plains
Flying mice!
I swear these carpenter bees were the size of flying mice! Bound Brook.
HUGE mushroom
This was also on Maple Street in Bound Brook on Wednesday as I went to the doctor's office.
Huge mushroom next to my huge foot
Another bee on Maple Street
Maple Street moth
Excuse me, could you turn around?
Um. Okay. Stop looking at me!
Could you give me a hand?
Same moth?
Waiting on NJ Transit
Watchung Avenue, Plainfield.
Vincent is floored!
He's not quite sure what to make of the immobilizer. I told him it's NOT a cat scratching post!
