PT... i'm behind on the updates. - week 6.

sept. 20 (tues):
bike - still can't go all the way around. stretching. i love stretching. exercises - quad sets (10) and straight leg raises (10 for each of the 3 directions) with 4 lbs and the biofeedback device instead of e-stim. terminal knee extensions (tkes). patellar mobility stuff. scar stuff. i've noticed that with the scar directly medial from the patellar tendon incision... when i move it around, i feel tingling on the lateral side. silly nerves. what's going on with them?
we did trigger point release stuff today. chris found very localized points on my adductors, quads, and other crazy muscles in my legs where there was the most tightness/pain. she'd press and hold there and have me flex until the pain went away. it was pretty cool. i learned that trigger points develop within a few days of surgery. and that releasing them is supposed to help with range of motion since the muscles become more able to relax. chris measured my flexion angle (laying on my back, allowing my muscles to do the flexing) before and after, and both were about 75 degrees... but everything felt a lot better after.
hydrotrack - with all the water. forwards about 1.3 mph, backwards about 0.8 mph, squats and calf raises.
prone flexion stretch - i hovered around 80 degrees w/o too much discomfort. chris pushed me to 95 degrees with much discomfort. i think i officially turned into a puddle after.

sept. 22 (thurs): today is 6 weeks post-op = start to weight-bear. woohoo.
bike - i got all the way around backwards with some cheating (lifting my ass off the seat). stretching. moving my patella around. my scars seem to be getting looser. we then measured what 1/4 of my weight (about 34 lbs) feels like by putting a book under my left foot and a scale under the right. then i walked around the room (with crutches of course) trying to normalize my gait and putting about 1/4 of my weight on the right leg.
exercises - quad sets and straight leg raises w/ 4 lbs and biofeedback. tkes.
hydrotrack - i used less of my arms to hold me up - mostly just for balance. just to test the waters, if you will. forward, backward, squats, calf raises.
more manual trigger point stuff today. fun. there were some bruises from last time.
flexion - my favorite. i hung out at about 90, i kept pulling to about 95. chris did a bunch of stuff to help keep my hamstrings from guarding. it seemed to help. i stopped for a bit to relax, then pulled some more... i think i felt some scar tissue give... weird feeling. i got to 100 degrees, though, so that's good. it helps to push against the rope with my hamstring, relax, and then tug on the rope some more.