Progress Report: 5 Weeks

So far, so good. The thing with cartilage repair is that activity advances soooo slowly, particularly in the early weeks, that it's hard to gauge your progress. The primary goal is to protect the graft site and regain some ROM. There are some real wins here though:

1. Minimal pain. My incision feels very tender. I have a little stiffness and achiness in the morning and at night, but true pain? None. Overall, my pain has been very manageable throughout this process. 
2. Hello VMO! I'm allowed to do a few quad sets in full extension. I've heard that a lot of folks can't get their VMO to fire for months. I was doing my mini quad sets last week and lo and behold, that little bugger fired!
3. Incision. My surgeon made an awfully big incision. It's about 5 inches, but they did close it cosmetically. It's long, but it healed up great and is a very fine (albeit purple) line. It's really a blessing that I've had no complications in that arena. I've started using a scar product called Bio-corneum. Like Mederma, it's silicone based, but it contains sunscreen. It's crazy expensive. I'll let you know how it goes. 
4. Purple leg. There's this crazy thing that happens when you stop bearing weight...your leg forgets how to send blood back to your heart. Normally, your calf muscle contracts when you walk and helps pump blood back to your heart. Since you're not using your calf much, the blood pools in that leg and it turns a delightful shade of Barney. And it hurts. No fun. The good news? This means you've done a GREAT job of staying off that leg and protecting your graft! If your doctor allows, calf/ankle pumps help a lot. Massaging your foot and calf also helps. I'm told this gets better when you advance to full WB status. 
5. Partial weight-bearing. In full extension only. This is going well. I started at 2 weeks. This also really helps with the "purple leg syndrome". One more week until I advance to full WB. Woohoo!
6. Pool. Ok, this isn't fair to pretty much anyone who lives north of Miami, but it's November and I can get in the pool. Oh joy! It feels so darned good. A surgeon I spoke with in Virginia recommended gentle pool exercises. That's going great. 
7. CPM. Still doing about 6 hours of CPM/day. I reached 90 degrees a week ago and I'm not allowed to advance for another week. So I'm just getting real comfortable at 90 for now. Wondering how the next 30 degrees will feel. Stay tuned. 
8. Sleep. This is still a little tough. It's hard to get comfortable and I find myself tossing and turning a bit. Started sleeping without the brace at 4 weeks. Follow your doctor's recommendations, but I wouldn't sleep without it for at least 4 weeks.