Once the pain killers wear off, you realize that you can’t even get up and walk to the bathroom without finding your crutches. It is a little depressing. I hear that is a common reaction. Well, I’m not almost 2 weeks into my 6 weeks of crutch time. I don’t love it, but it has passed fairly quickly.
- The first 5 days were pretty easy, but I had this pain in my calf
- Days 5-7 were crazy with the blood clot and emergency room
- Finally, on Friday (Day 9), my calf was starting to feel better along with my spirits.
- The weekend (days 10 and 11) were actually good. We got out and enjoyed ourselves a little.
- Now I am back at work and it is getting better
There have been some rocky times with the blood clots, but most of the time has been pretty boring. Ultimately, I am just sitting on my back using the CPM machine. I’ve read a fair amount, slept some, tinkered with the web site a lot and had a chance to do nothing.
One of my personal fears for this whole endeavor was how the girls would take it. They are young, full of energy and like to do things together. Going out of commission means I won’t be doing as much. During the first few days after the emergency room, they were bouncing off the walls. We did not pay enough attention to them. My wife was paying attention to me and trying to catch up. It was hard for everyone.
Once I finally managed to get up and out, we had some fun. We got to the park where the girls had a blast. They needed it too. We also made it to “Fish Island” (Paradise Point resort) where they girls like to look at the fish and we enjoy the sensation of being on vacation.
Now I am focused on the flexibility in my leg/knee and maintaining some sort of base muscle set. The flexibility is key, and maintaining muscles will help prevent any future problems during the rehab.
I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel again.
First, good luck to you. There will be good and bad days, so patients is my main advise.
As for the weight bearing time, I think there is flexibility. X-rays won’t show anything, but an MRI will (and will likely not be approved by insurance). So, it is hard to tell if it is healed. Time is the old standby, and bones are in the 6-8 week range historically.
In going back to work, I basically have a desk job, so it was easy for me to go back. As you get back on your feet, really building up the supporting muscles and rehab are important. As I’ve gotten more active, the knee pains have gone away.
Yes, the DVT thing is scary. Mentally, it will take a while. Physically, one the medications, you should not be at risk of a clot. You are at risk of more bruising and bleeding. Double check with your doctor, but there are a lot of elderly people on blood thinners full time leading normal lives.
First off, thank you for posting all this, I’ve spent many hours online researching and you have one of the most informative blogs I’ve found.
I am 7 days post op from microfracture surgery in my left knee that was expected to be a simple clean out and be off crutches in 3-4 days since I’ve had that done 3 times to my right knee during and following my collegiate volleyball career. I was not a happy camper when I came to and found out I’d be on crutches for 6 weeks.
By day 3 I wasn’t in bad pain until I got out of bed and then it was awful so I called the on call doc and was told me not to worry about. Since this was on a Saturday I went about my business. By Monday the pain was so unbearable I called my surgeons office and after 8 hours of me calling numerous times they finally found me a person to talk to and then just like you on day 5 I found myself in the ER ruling out a DVT that I also assumed would be negative and could go home and get some rest, but I in fact have a popliteal DVT. Next thing I know the nurse is coming in giving me an injection in my stomach like a rabies patient (which didn’t actually hurt) But the amount of pain I had experienced the previous 3 days was so unbearable the pain meds didn’t even take the edge off so I at least knew that there was a solution and some hope in sight. I followed up with my doc the next morning but was still in so much pain (I’m not a nice human when in pain) so I couldn’t ask many questions but thankfully my husband pleaded with the doc that there had to be different pain meds to help and my doc agreed. Although still painful it’s substantially better (I’m not 7 days post op).
Was your doc at all willing to move the 6 weeks NWB at all? I’ve done a lot of research via medical journals and newer evidence is showing that people have the same outcome even when beginning weight bearing with crutches as soon as 2-3 weeks depending on size and location of the microfractures. Did you have any post op X-rays to show the healing at all? And at what point did you really feel you were able to return to work? I am able to get around and drive so long as I’m not on meds but the thought of driving on blood thinners and with a DVT is pretty scary to me but I just need to get back to normal as soon as possible for my mental wellbeing.
Finally, do you have any advice looking back at your surgery and recovery? Thanks in advance and my apologies for such a long comment.