Angry Leg and Amnesia

Yesterday, I had a good day. My knee and subsequently my leg were feeling better than they had before. For the past few days, I've been waking up and not feeling the immediate need to ice and elevate my leg. I've been using my tiny knee pillows in my brace and was sleeping better, too. My energy was back. I was not feeling happy just to lounge on the couch. During the day, I hopped about the house without my crutches. I sat at my desk and took care of some household paper work. I did my PT exercises and did the laundry. I worked on a few quilting projects. I beat the game 2048 by Gabriele Cirulli.

My friend Kim stopped over with a broccoli and cheese quiche for dinner from Whole Foods. She has had ACLs repaired in each of her knees 18 years a part, the most recent one done just under a year ago. While she has decent memory about her recovery process, she suffers from mild amnesia about it. She reminds me that I am healing and should rest. She told me how she would lie on the couch, watch lots of television, and nap frequently. I can see napping, but I can't see watching television.  After Claire Adele was born, I would watch television after lunch, catching up on reruns of Remington Steele (yay!) and The Nanny (why was I watching this?). Watching daytime tv made me feel slightly suicidal. I'd think Surely there has to be some better way for me to spending my time?

Kim told me that at my six week post-surgical appointment that the doc would x-ray my knee to see that my screws were in place. She was fuzzy on other stuff, like how long exactly did she have to wear the brace. Not remembering the boredom, agony and hassle of recovery from surgery must be part of Mother Nature's way of helping us heal, just like with childbirth. Many people have more than one kid even though no one would otherwise volunteer to go through childbirth if there wasn't the outcome of a child at the other end.

After Kim left, I made dinner. Jack had a late work meeting, so I thought I'd get food on the table. Clare Adele doesn't eat quiche and the Boy doesn't like broccoli, so I made them pesto pasta. This was not an advanced or complicated meal. It involved popping a quiche in the oven and boiling water. At the end of it, I was exhausted. It takes ten times the energy for me to move around, so getting the pot out, filling it with water, and putting the pot on the cooktop are work for me. Walking to the oven and turning it on, covering the quiche with foil and popping it in the oven required more effort than I am used to for that activity.

After dinner, I plopped on the couch. My leg was not happy. My knee was furious and was holding the rest of my leg hostage. I wanted to rest but my leg was twitching. The next morning, I took a shower and my calf was yellow, and not from the leftover surgical cleaning solution they used on my leg that won't come off.

I went to Dr. Tex today to get my stitches out. He was in a good mood, and seemed happy with the progress of my leg. It wasn't too swollen, it was straight and I was getting my quad strength back. When i asked when I could get out of the brace, he gave me his usual reply, "You've got to earn your way out!" This time when he said it, he had a twinkle in his eye, and smiled.

I asked Dr. Tex about my yellow leg.

"That is the fluid draining out of the knee," he said. "It goes where gravity tells it to go, so it is draining down into your calf."

I see. Yesterday, I felt fine so I didn't elevate my leg, and its ecosystem got out of whack. As soon as I got back from Dr. Tex, I thought of my conversation with Kim. I sat on the couch, cry-cuffed my knee, and watched found a rerun of Green Acres,* a show I hadn't watched since my childhood. Instead of feeling suicidal, I felt better. All was right with the world.

* In fairness, I only watched the last ten minutes. Three's Company was on next, but I couldn't watch it. I do have the theme song stuck in my head. It is amazing how much television content is out there to be replayed. Wow.