Back to Work

Yesterday was "back to work" day! Starting a phased return over a month. 50% for 2 weeks, 60% for 1 week, 80% for 1 week, then back to full time. I had been looking forward to it until I had a particularly bad day with pain in my knee the day before, so this did put me off a bit. Although I'd been hoping to take just the one crutch to work, I decided to take 2 because of the pain the day before.

My colleague gave me a lift in, because I still haven't attempted to drive yet (hoping to work towards this over the next few weeks). Walking outside was the worst bit as I hate using the two crutches anyway. I'm so nervous of falling again! It took me quite a while to get from the car park into the building, which was a bit embarassing with people around wondering why on earth I was going so slowly! Once in my office I found that my computer chair was much more comfortable than I'd expected. I just had to make sure I wedged it in the corner of my desk before sitting down as its on wheels and I didn't fancy ending up on my butt on the floor! The chair was just the right height for me to keep my leg down comfortably all day and I surprisingly didn't feel the need to put my leg up at all. I just used the one crutch around the office and when I went out at lunch time, although I did link arms with my friend for a bit of added security then. My job is mostly sitting down, so once installed at my desk it there wasn't a problem getting on with it.

It was great to see everyone, even though I got the impression they were all wondering why I'm still so immobile. I found myself explaining to them all that "its not the break that the problem, its the rehab ... and my confidence" and I also kept pointing out that its a 12-18 months rehab at that. The 6-weeks-to-heal-a-broken-bone theory brings with it false expectations for recovery duration, I am struggling to accept it myself so no wonder other people find it confusing.

I'd thought a bit about physio arrangements whilst I'm at work, not sure how much I can manage to do and fit in whilst I'm there. So I just did some quads exercises before I left in the morning and then worked through my regime when I got home. I've read about people who push their PT hard to make up for time missed whilst at work and this just causes more problems, so I've decided to just do what I can on the days I'm working and carry on with the regime on my days off.

Overall, it was good to be back. Don't like being so dependent on colleagues and found it a bit embarassing getting around but I guess I'll have to just get over that. Hoping that being back at work will do my confidence some good and help me get over this silly fear of walking that I have developed.

MUA Cancelled, Hardware Removal Postponed

Well the jury is out on the MUA and my doctor has decided that it doesn't need to go ahead. He feels that although my Range of Movement progress is slow (70-90 in two weeks), it is nevertheless steady and the strength in my quads is building (also slowly) so he doesn't want to disrupt that. 

The sudden pain that started last week, just above my patella is apparently a shifted pin, digging into the ligament there. It only occurs when engaging my quads when my leg gets to about 20 degrees. Before 20 degrees, no pain - past 20 degrees, no pain hence the feeling that its a shifted pin causing it. He felt that the hardware should probably be removed, but because the skin over my knee is quite tender and shiny, indicating possible scar tissue/nerve healing problems, he doesn't want to go ahead and cut it open again just yet. So I have to wait a little while longer for that, and basically keep doing what I'm doing with PT for now.

He also suggested that I need to move onto using just the one crutch now and agreed that I can arrange a date to return to work. Driving may be a bit more of an issue, so I'll need to find a way around that for now, but the doc said that as soon as I feel confident enough to have a go at it I can go ahead and try.

So all good I guess ... not sure my Physio Therapist will see it that way when I see him tomorrow, he was quite keen to have me get the MUA done! To save him some work maybe ......?