It's official. I'm basically healed. My leg can be fully extended straight, I can bend my knee so that my heal gets about 8" away from the back of my thigh. I can stand straight up to walk with hardly any funny feelings of tightness. If only the swelling in my lower leg and ankle would go down permanently I'd be nearly good as new. I did lose my good conditioning from not really exercising for three months, and I have gained 8 lbs, but I'm feeling good.
I've had my 3rd and 4th PT sessions, and in addition to the heat treatment, message, and weights, I've gotten on their exercise bike and done up to 25 minutes of spinning. At one point I had my heart rate up to 150 for a few minutes. I figure if disaster was to strike, I'd rather have it happen while I'm in a supervised situation as opposed to being alone on my trainer in my basement.
There is also a noticeable reduction in the hardness of my incision line. Near the side of my knee, where there is still swelling, my skin would clump up when the knee was in the bent position. It looked pretty grundy. But this week, even though it's nowhere near perfect, it is clumping less. This may be a natural progression of healing, but I'd like to think that my diligent messaging twice a day has also helped.The rest of my scar looks good, especially above my knee. The PT guy pointed out that skin should be able to move in all directions. You realize how important it is to keep working at the skin to make it move. I've been using a firm circular message right on top of the scar line to help free the skin from the scar tissue below. I would circle clockwise, then counter clockwise, then up and down along the line. I think it does a lot of good and I would highly recommend doing it twice a day. I would also recommend searching for videos on YouTube to gather info on how best to treat scars and scar tissue.
The last thing I'll say as my 7th week comes to a close... My goal for next week is to get back on my bicycle and take a nice ez ride out in the fresh air of the open road. Once I accomplish that, my real road back to where I was begins.
Hi Phil, I would like to thank you for your story. whilst I have had to be put back into surgery twice and currently battleling an infection, l do see a similar path occurring with myself. doctors often speak in terms l don't understand and I was starting to think this was not going well. I am not as fit as you due to being run over by a car many years ago and so I started to think that they would remove my leg, a scary thought. I have found your story truly insperatonal as l see similar situations occurring and you have explained some situations that I wasn't understand. l have been in hospital for almost two weeks now and they say l am hopefully going home tomorrow to continue my jurny to reasonable healthough , I hope. I will continue to kick goals on my path to recovery and thank you for your story as this will help me keep a positive attitude towards my recovery. all the best for the future, Richard.
ReplyDeleteHi Phil! Thanks for this very comprehensive blog about your surgery. I am 38 (so again I don’t fit the profile for this disease, moderately fit) and dealing with the same intermittent claudication issues as you. I have read just returned from the specialist and now need to make a decision, if I want to have this surgery or not... As you said, there is almost no information online about this and I feel a bit lost. I would like to ask a favour, what does your scar look like now, two years after the surgery? I would really appreciate if you could post (or email me) a picture. I hope you are totally recovered and living life to the fullest! Here is my email if you would like to contact me: triskins@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for your story and weekly updates. I recently had the bypass surgury on my Femoral artery due to a mtb accident which saw my brake lever puncture and server my Femoral artery.
ReplyDeleteI am up to week 4 and i am chomping at the bit to go riding. I can't wait until my doctor gives me some form of an ok to begin trying.
This surgury is major and out is a worry that i might have to quit the sport i love. Im 41 yo and I'm not ready to just lay on the lounge.
Cheers
Rosso