Known Knowns

I just put my crutches back in the garage where they belong! I have been getting along quite well without them since yesterday. There’s still a lot of stiffness but I am regaining my flexion and I can get to about 90 degrees without much of a problem at all. Woot! Mornings are better and by the evening I’m pretty stiff again, but I’m definitely noticing progress everyday. I think this is the way arthroscopic surgery is supposed to be.

Although I haven’t been noticing any pain, I started taking Tramadol again. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I paid for the prescription to be filled, so I might as well used it. (Same goes for the darvocet.) The second is that apparently I am not a very good judge of my own pain, because after I take 2 tramadol, I feel better even though if you’d asked me before, I probably would have said I wasn’t in any pain. How very odd.  It also doesn’t make me sleepy so everything is good. I can be more mobile because it hurts less, even though I wouldn’t have thought it hurt to begin with. I can’t explain this but oh well. I’ll take the pills, anyway.

On the other hand, I took two darvocet (narcotics) last night on the same principal as above, and also thinking it would help me sleep since the swelling and heat tends to be worse in the evening. Strangely enough, I slept worse than I’ve slept since the day I had the surgery. I had a hard time falling asleep, I had a hard time staying asleep. It was really odd.

So in the meantime, I’ve been spending lots of time on the couch, watching way too much TV. I’ve been watching lectures and getting ahead of the game for my pediatric clinical, so that’s good. I also have a few blog posts I want to write, a few sewing projects I need to finish, and I think I’m going to work (desk job) a few days this week, too. I am really trying to enjoy my forced downtime because as much as I want to get going again, I will be sorry to get off the couch when the time actually comes.

I’ve been incredibly impressed at Roland’s consistantly good, patient behavior. He did not once get under foot while I was on crutches and he stays nice and clear of my knee. His girlfriend, Lena, has been over to the house to play twice, and that seems to wear him out sufficiently. She is also a German Shepherd, and I think it’s really good for him to play with another one because they play exactly the same way, they don’t have to figure each other out, and they have a ton of fun wrestling and chasing each other and playing “shepherd” games that other dogs don’t get or don’t like. It’s awesome to watch. Also, Lena’s owner helps me with his training. We’ve been working on long down-stays and also playing a game called “Find It” where I hide a treat somewhere in the house and Roland, well, finds it. He’s getting the hang of it really quickly.

No pictures today because the knee looks basically the same as yesterday with just a little bit of very light, additional bruising that’s developed.

Are you tired of hearing about this yet?