Day 7 post surgery
Physio.
I woke up with an alarm for the first time in what seems like a long time. I had breakfast and was then quickly driven off by my dad to the hospital. I needed to find the bathroom first, and after that I got lost a bit. When I was healthy, getting lost in a place like a hospital wasn't much of a problem, because I could walk so fast, but now that I was walking at one step at a time, it seemed like going in the wrong direction could be a matter of life and death.
I ended up choosing the right direction and found the physio section. There was a girl talking to the lady at the desk. I presumed she worked there because they were talking about what music they had in their computers. When she left I approached. Turns out the lady was Tina, the same lady who called me to make the appointment.
I took a seat and waited. I secretly hoped that there would be some patients there for physio who also had ACL surgery, but it was just a guy in a suit and a lady, both with no observable overt problems. I also secretly hoped that my physio would be that Karen girl who taught me how to use crutches when I was in hospital, but alas, Tina had already written the name 'Jonathan' on my card.
Jonathan turned out to be a tall black dude. With a shaved head, he looked younger than he was. I observed the balding pattern and figured he was quite aged. It made me feel good because it meant he had experience, and he also reminded me of my basketball coach in the clinic back when I was in high school.
When he asked me to follow him, I started limping off without using my crutches (like I had done when exploring the hospital earlier). He said I might want to use them, so I did. I said I thought it was best the sooner I got off the crutches, and he said it was best the sooner I got off the crutches and could walk properly.
It annoyed me a bit that he walked so far ahead of me as I limped slowly behind. But oh well. He led me to a large room with a lot of beds with curtains around them. He led me to one and closed the curtains and asked me to take a seat on the chair.
He started off by asking me some background questions, like when did I injure myself, when my surgery was and all that.
Have you had surgery before? No.
Do you have any heart conditions? No.
Do you have any other medical illnesses? No.
Do you have diabetes? No.
Am I a gambling addict? Yes.
He said he was missing the 'protocol', which apparently was the surgeon's rules to follow during recovery.
After all that I got onto the bed and showed me some exercises to do. They were similar to the ones Karen had showed me which I had been doing, but the only difference was I had to hold it for 10 seconds, and to do 20 reps.
He told me a bit about the overall rehabbing process. He basically said to forget about those people (ala AFL players) who come back after a few weeks, because: 1) their clubs pay them so they want them back on the field asap without care for their future; and 2) what you don't see is a few years down the track and how it's ruined their long term prospects. That made me think about Brandon Roy and what he had down to his future (although I note his wasn't ACL).
Then he got a machine and stuck some suckers with wet sponges on them onto my knee area. He said it would reduce the swelling in my knee. It was good to listen to him to learn about my knee, like how there was fluid inside and fluid could not be compressed, the only way out is osmosis which takes time. I also asked him about the lack of feeling in my leg, and he said that was because the nerves had been cut off, but they would grow back.
We made an appointment for next Thursday at 8:45am, and on the way out I think I heard Karen with another patient.
I limped my way out of the hospital on two crutches, even though he said I could only use one from now on. I bumped into my mom on the way to the bus stop, and then caught the bus home.
As the bus was nearing my stop, I tried to get up as it was slowing down. Bad mistake. I tumbled forward a bit and nearly hit my knee against the seat. That would've really hurt.
I went home, glad that I got to go outdoors and exercise my knee a bit. I pretty much stayed at home for the rest of the day playing GTA 3 and surfing the net.
I woke up with an alarm for the first time in what seems like a long time. I had breakfast and was then quickly driven off by my dad to the hospital. I needed to find the bathroom first, and after that I got lost a bit. When I was healthy, getting lost in a place like a hospital wasn't much of a problem, because I could walk so fast, but now that I was walking at one step at a time, it seemed like going in the wrong direction could be a matter of life and death.
I ended up choosing the right direction and found the physio section. There was a girl talking to the lady at the desk. I presumed she worked there because they were talking about what music they had in their computers. When she left I approached. Turns out the lady was Tina, the same lady who called me to make the appointment.
I took a seat and waited. I secretly hoped that there would be some patients there for physio who also had ACL surgery, but it was just a guy in a suit and a lady, both with no observable overt problems. I also secretly hoped that my physio would be that Karen girl who taught me how to use crutches when I was in hospital, but alas, Tina had already written the name 'Jonathan' on my card.
Jonathan turned out to be a tall black dude. With a shaved head, he looked younger than he was. I observed the balding pattern and figured he was quite aged. It made me feel good because it meant he had experience, and he also reminded me of my basketball coach in the clinic back when I was in high school.
When he asked me to follow him, I started limping off without using my crutches (like I had done when exploring the hospital earlier). He said I might want to use them, so I did. I said I thought it was best the sooner I got off the crutches, and he said it was best the sooner I got off the crutches and could walk properly.
It annoyed me a bit that he walked so far ahead of me as I limped slowly behind. But oh well. He led me to a large room with a lot of beds with curtains around them. He led me to one and closed the curtains and asked me to take a seat on the chair.
He started off by asking me some background questions, like when did I injure myself, when my surgery was and all that.
Have you had surgery before? No.
Do you have any heart conditions? No.
Do you have any other medical illnesses? No.
Do you have diabetes? No.
Am I a gambling addict? Yes.
He said he was missing the 'protocol', which apparently was the surgeon's rules to follow during recovery.
After all that I got onto the bed and showed me some exercises to do. They were similar to the ones Karen had showed me which I had been doing, but the only difference was I had to hold it for 10 seconds, and to do 20 reps.
He told me a bit about the overall rehabbing process. He basically said to forget about those people (ala AFL players) who come back after a few weeks, because: 1) their clubs pay them so they want them back on the field asap without care for their future; and 2) what you don't see is a few years down the track and how it's ruined their long term prospects. That made me think about Brandon Roy and what he had down to his future (although I note his wasn't ACL).
Then he got a machine and stuck some suckers with wet sponges on them onto my knee area. He said it would reduce the swelling in my knee. It was good to listen to him to learn about my knee, like how there was fluid inside and fluid could not be compressed, the only way out is osmosis which takes time. I also asked him about the lack of feeling in my leg, and he said that was because the nerves had been cut off, but they would grow back.
We made an appointment for next Thursday at 8:45am, and on the way out I think I heard Karen with another patient.
I limped my way out of the hospital on two crutches, even though he said I could only use one from now on. I bumped into my mom on the way to the bus stop, and then caught the bus home.
As the bus was nearing my stop, I tried to get up as it was slowing down. Bad mistake. I tumbled forward a bit and nearly hit my knee against the seat. That would've really hurt.
I went home, glad that I got to go outdoors and exercise my knee a bit. I pretty much stayed at home for the rest of the day playing GTA 3 and surfing the net.
posted by toey | 09:47
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