Another Follow-Up

I had a short, but good follow-up with Dr. Dye about two weeks ago. Why haven't I written about it since? Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I can honestly say I haven't felt like blogging much lately. I've realized my recovery is slow and some days there is not much to say.

So my appointment with Dr. Dye on May 4 was good. He was happy to hear I was feeling better an that it seemed like the stronger anti-inflammatory he prescribed was helping me get back to normal daily activity. Dr. Dye said the next few months of my recovery can be dangerous. I said, "Why, because I may think I can do more than my knee will allow?" He said, "Yes, please don't go for a hike." I laughed. OK, got it. I'll stick to swimming for a while longer.

At the moment, while I'm feeling better, a few times a week my knee either gives out on me, or I take an odd step and pain shoots through my knee. The pain usually happens when my foot plants not quite level and some weight is shifted forward to my knee. It always happens quickly, even when I am being careful. The pain dissipates in a minute or two, but tends to upset me and I worry. I asked Dr. Dye about these experiences and he said painless giving way of my knee is due to lack of muscle strength and should improve with my continued PT. The painful episodes are most likely synovial tissue impingement events analogous to biting the inside of my cheek. These episodes are examples of loading "Out of Envelope of Load Acceptance". Of course Dr. Dye said it's important to avoid these as best as I can, naturally. When they do occur, I'm to get off my feet as I can and cool the knee. I'm hoping these episodes happen few and far between.