Monday, December 19, 2005

I met with the doctor this past Friday. The frustrating part of the cartilage replacement is that there is no way to tell how well it is going until I get to the point where I can really try it out. The only thing I can tell is if there is something going very wrong, thankfully that is not the case.

The doctor felt my knee and listened while I bent it to see if there were any crunchy sounds/feelings. There were not, on the occasion I still get that feeling but not very often. There is still swelling around the knee but that is normal for the procedure. I asked when the swelling should dissipate and I’m still looking at a couple of months before that happens. I then asked about the achy feeling and that will go away once the swelling does. I also asked if I was past the point of damaging the procedure and unless I do something foolish (like play basketball) or have a bad fall I am out of the woods.

The next thing the doctor checked was the ligament. He was very pleased with the graft and thinks that portion of the procedure went very well. At least I can know how one portion of the procedure went.

My last question for him was about a brace and they don’t start looking into that until I reach the six month area. That is when I can start doing more active things. The type of brace I would be fitted for is one that would take some of the load bearing off of the outside (where I had the cartilage replaced) of my knee.

At this point I am for the most part on my own. I don’t have another PT appointment until the mid of January and not another doctor’s appointment until the mid of February.