Two weeks post

Everything in the world of surgery, as far as I can tell, is measured in how much time has passed.
Tomorrow morning, I'll officially be two weeks post :)

Things, thus far, have seemed to progress at about the rate I've expected, judging things on what I've read and what I've been told.

My estimation for ditching the crutches was around now. I've heard lots of "before two weeks" stories and even some "days post" stories, but that either seemed a bit like they were rushing things or had a different procedure. Some techniques include manually draining the swelling caused by surgery. This allows for far quicker mobility. I don't think they do that with arthroscopic surgery. Slower mobility, but far lower risk of infection. That's not why they make that choice, but that is one of the end results.

For me, the marker was feeling well enough to start using less to little pressure on my crutches. My physio reckons I could go faster about it, but I just haven't felt that good about it. I'm in no rush. I've been through this before.

I remember the first time I was asked to take a "weight bearing" step after I had broken my femur. I know I gave the doc a distinct "are you sure?" look. I think I may have even asked that.

There is a definitely different mentality when you're feeling "fragile".
It's quite the contrast to the "push hard!" society we live in. There's a time for that. This just isn't it.

The first week is all RICE.
Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation
Week two is the awkward inbetween phase. You need to move more, but only so much. And you can only take so much. Swelling pooling in your ankle sucks ass.

Now I'm beginning to be able to stand for longer periods of time. I can take more weight on my leg. I can walk fully upright with little weight through the crutches. It's getting there.

I'm also holding to the muscle building mentality. Rather than doing muscle building exercises every day, I do them every other day. Routine is a lovely thing. I actually wouldn't mind a bit of that. But I also know that to build muscle, there is a technique to it. You workout "to failure" and then rest a day. Your body builds back up on the rest day. If you interrupt it with an other workout session, you reset the clock. Oh, "to failure" just means that you lift (push/whatever) till you physically can't. You want to make it 1/2 way through a motion and not be able to complete it. This actually tears muscle, which is what you're trying to do. When that heals, it heals stronger.

Tomorrow is my workout day.
We'll see how it goes.
Jim