Roller Coaster of Emotions

I'm up, I'm down, back up again... down... when will it stop?! The last several days proved to be a roller coaster of emotions and you know what? I'm ready to get off the ride! Friday night, my knee hurt. I laid low on Saturday, really just hung out, watched TV or read. My knee felt better by Saturday night and I was determined to finally go to church and see my friends on Sunday. My friend Sarah picked me up and we carpooled the short ride over to City Church. It was a typical service and I was glad the standing up and sitting down ritual was fair and there wasn't too much of either to make my knee hurt. What I've found is that when I stand, I put more weight on my right leg than the left leg with the bad knee. After standing for some time, my right leg gets tired of holding up everything and I have to sit down. Luckily, it was OK this Sunday. After church, Sarah and I decided to enjoy the Bay Area sunshine and skip the crowds of the city. We drove over the majestic Golden Gate Bridge and had lunch at Pacific Catch in Corte Madera. I would have liked to have done some shopping, but trying to use my best judgement against walking around too much, I decided it was best to go home by 3:00 PM. On the way home I snapped a photo of this cute little pooch clearly enjoying the sunshine and warm air as well! Look closely, he's there.

This morning I had an 8:30 AM follow-up appointment with Dr. Dye. At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to say. My knee was definitely feeling better, but I was concerned whether it was normal to have my knee hurt after each PT session. I decided, as usual, I needed to tell him everything. I made sure to tell Dr. Dye that I still cannot do straight leg raises (ouch) and that I still carry my crutches around for back-up. Dr. Dye listened, took all of this in, then repeated how long the recovery process is, 1 to 1.5 years, blah, blah, blah.... He asked what I am taking for pain and I told him I was taking the Advil Liqui-Gels he had requested I start a month ago. He said he wants me to try something stronger so he gave me a prescription for a stronger anti-inflammatory, Proxicam. The really interesting thing was that Dr. Dye wants me to start swimming. He wants me in the pool 3x a week and I'll have to decide how long I can swim. I'll have to see how my knee feels after a short swim and go from there. He would like to see how my knee responds to non-weight bearing exercise and hopes it will improve my range of motion. He's going to monitor me very closely and asked me to come back to see him in 2 weeks. I picked up the new prescription after work today and we'll see how it goes!

Overall, I'm feeling better today, but as stated, am growing weary of the roller coaster. It's hard for me to keep it all together and feel like eventually it's all going to be OK when my health is at stake. Again, patience... hopefully, the highs and lows will all even themselves out soon for a nice, content way of being. No more "E" tickets for me! Ooh, that was a pun in more than one way!