Two weeks post-surgery

Only two weeks out from surgery and I now have ZERO pain. In all honesty I am amazed at how fast my body is healing. 

Last week, about 10 days after surgery, I started my PT exercises at home. The current PT focus is on hip abductor and gluteus medius exercises with a Theraband. I have also been working on strengthening my abs with boat pose and bicycle crunches and my upper body with modified push-ups. The first day I tried my PT exercises I was pretty exhausted after 30 minutes but it did feel really good to move my body again!

Over the weekend I also started going to the gym again which was a massive win. Using my knee scooter to get around, I was able to do upper body exercises on several of the machines and also tried some quad raises with less weight than I typically do. While it felt good to get back into the swing of resistance training, I also found that I needed a nap afterwards. I also made sure to have a large protein shake as soon as I got home.

A game changer in terms of regaining some independence at home this week has been the iWalk 2.0 hands free crutch. Although the name and branding are a bit over the top, I have found this mobility device to be indispensable around the house. Being able to make my own coffee or a simple meal the past few days has meant not only my husband gets a break from caretaking, but I also get to use my surgical leg in a quasi-walking manner. Due to some expected atrophy of my right leg, using the iWalk the first time was definitely challenging. Over the past few days I have tried using it a little more each day to the point I was able to fix myself a meal yesterday, and even clean up the kitchen afterwards!

Just four more weeks to go of non-weightbearing - I can do this!