4.5 weeks postop (posted late)

So the surgery went very well. "Could not have gone better" the ortho said. I had none of the nausea I was so afraid of. They gave me one of those motion sickness patches that go behind your ear for three days and I think it was a great help. While in the recovery room, the anesthesiologist give me a nerve block in my knee using ultrasound guidance. It did not tickle but after it I was completely numb from the knee down for 6 hours. This allowed me to get home and get settled in before it wore off. I was a bit freaked that I could not wiggle my toes but was relieved when around 9 pm I could start to twitch them. So surgery was on a Wednesday and I was pretty sore through the weekend. I did not work. That Monday I was feeling better and worked from home and then went in the next few days par of the day. Knowing I could not live with crutches or a walker for the next 6 weeks I ordered and iWalk 2.0 hands free crutch which arrived on Tuesday. I immediately began using it and loved the freedom I had! My postop cast was only 3 sides so nothing hard on the top. This made the crutch very comfortable. 

  2 weeks post op I was due to have bandages and stitches removed and a hard cast applied for another 4 weeksof total non weight bearing. Due to getting the bandage wet in the shower this was done a couple of days early and with Christmas the next week I opted for green and red candy cane stripes. The new hard cast was not comfortable at all with the crutch. But I was going to figure out how not to be in pain and walk. I took a hand towel and folded it in there for extra padding and also added the toe section of angel shoe insert between my skin and cast. This helped tremendously after much trial and error for the right placement.  2 weeks after the hard cast either the cast shaped or my knee got used to it and I am down to only using the gel pad on the outside of my pants and sometimes doesn't need it alt all. This past week was the first full week I went to work every day and did not work from home. But I am getting so bored with the inactivity. I can feel the muscle loss in my left quad despite walking with the iWalk. I am sure it would be greater if I was just using crutches.