March 25th - PT is supposed to hurt

Had another good day today back at work.  I spent most of the day with the brace off but I did wear it while I was walking around at the track meet this afternoon.  I had a really good 35 minute ride this morning and I am thinking of jumping up to 40 minutes tomorrow.  PT went well today.  She told me to expect the swelling that I still have to stick around for up to 6 weeks.  I got a couple of new exercises today as well.  Instead of just standing on one foot to brush my teeth I have to now do 20 calf raises on one foot while I brush my teeth.  And I have to work up to 20 in a row without falling over.  I couldn't do that BEFORE the surgery.  I also have to work on bending my knee to match the amount of bend in the left one.

One exercise that we found out I'm not quite ready for is raising from a lunge position to a standing position.  I can do the movement without a problem, but I can't really put any pressure on the front of my kneecap in the kneeling position.  I had 2 pads under the knee but it was still pretty rough.  The swelling behind the kneecap is preventing that at the moment.

On a good note, Dr. Karyn said I can pretty much ditch the brace altogether unless I am in a crowd (like a hallway full of middle schoolers) or on rough terrain.  I did go ahead and order a different brace that I may need when I start running again and when I start playing soccer again.  She didn't think it was necessary to spend hundreds of dollars on a brace so this is the one she suggested: The Breg Shortrunner

Positive number 2 is that after spring break (next week) I will be able to start riding on the road (still using flat pedals though, no clipping in yet) and I will be able to get back in the pool and start swimming with a pull buoy. 

Today was a rest day aside from the bike, so no push-ups, pull-ups or core work today.  Tomorrow I will try working out without the brace and see how that goes.