I've noticed I'm going up stairs normally. I still can't come down them normally.

I've had a pins and needles/tingling/numb sensation on my shin since the operation. It's lessened over the weeks and is over a smaller area. Where it's still tingling is very odd. I experimented with it by getting my partner to touch around my knee without me looking. There are a few areas where I can't feel pressure. He then gently scratched one of the numb areas and I yelped and nearly hit the ceiling as it was very painful. I'm hoping this will go away with time but if not I can live with it. Just don't scratch below my knee.

The swelling has gone down a fair bit over the last few days and my patella is more visible. The scars have almost healed, just a few scabs over the incisions. I'm hoping the purple colour will fade fairly quickly.

My first solo outing

My knee was feeling pretty good today so I ventured out to my local knitting shop. I'm friends with one of the staff so she was expecting me. I took one crutch with me which I half used, mainly to get stupid people out of my way - it doesn't work with North London yummy mummies, their children are far too precious to look where they are going. I did find the crutch useful to take some of the weight off my knee.

I made it to the shop OK although it was surprisingly busy when I arrived and had two precocious little girls who were very bright but spatially gormless, just like their mother. One of them backed into my crutch twice, I asked her to be careful and the mother noticed but didn't bat an eyelid. The shop is quite small, my fried got me a stool to sit on but I felt I was in the way so I went and sat on a chair outside til the rush died down. It was worth the wait. I had a lovely chat with the staff, who gave me a cup of tea and a comfy chair. I'd taken my icepack with me so iced my knee while reading knitting magazines.

I got home OK although my leg was feeling a little sore. I iced it again. The trip out did me a world of good and I even had enough energy to cook tea. Although I didn't do the washing up.

Distance walked: 1.5km

Patience

I see a pattern appearing. Push knee exercises, next day feel swollen and sore, rest, feel better the day after.

I made it to the local shop today, it's only two minutes walk away so we added in a small stroll/hobble around the nearby garden square.

Distance walked approx 500m.
The physio exercises are getting easier. I've got my next session in a weeks time so hopefully I'll be finding them too easy and I'll get some harder ones. I do need to work on my range of movement. It is gradually improving but still a way off normal.

Angry knee

My knee has been feeling angry today, probably due to the over ambitious hamstring curl I tried yesterday. I skipped the squats as they sent a sharp pain down my leg. I've tried to rest my leg more than I had been doing over the last few days,iced and massaged it alot and did several calf stretches.

3 weeks post op

This evening I tried gently bending my knee slightly further by pulling on it while doing prone hamstring curls. It felt OK when I was doing it, only a slight ache and I only pulled my knee in a couple of centimetres more than usual. When I stood up I got a searing pain through my calf and it felt painful and angry for the rest of the evening.

There's a 3cm difference in leg circumference taken around my knee crease between my good leg and bad which is bothersome. I still have swelling above my patella but this is slowly going down.

Ice ice baby

Well it seems the endless leg elevation and icing have paid off any my knee feels loads better today. I made it to our local farmers market which is a whopping 500m return trip. I took my crutches with me although I think I'm better off just using one.

Despite being on crutches a few people thought their children took priority on the pavement. It's not as if their speshul snowflakes would have to walk in traffic, just step out of my way so I wouldn't have to manoeuvre sideways. Luckily they were in the minority and most people were kind and gave me space to get past.

The weather was glorious so I spent the afternoon tinkering in the garden. I tried going up the stairs bad leg first but I'm not quite ready for that. I can do it but it hurts.

My exercises are getting easier although my mind wandered while balancing on one leg while cleaning my teeth and I nearly toppled sideways in the style of Mrs Doyle. Luckily I caught the sink in time so disaster was averted. The bruise from the hamstring harvest has almost disappeared and I realised I haven't had the weird scratchy feeling behind my knee for several days. I'm still getting calf pain when I do isometric hamstring curls but I can usually work through it. Calf stretches seems to help with this exercise. Knee flexion is gradually improving. I'm comparing my progress against my good knee flexion and can bend my bad knee as far as the big toe joint on my good leg. I still have pins and needles in my shin although this has lessened.

A short outing

A couple of friends were down from Newcastle for the bank holiday and came by to see how I was doing. We ventured out to our local South American restaurant which usually a two minute walk away. I've been following my physio's advice and have been trying to get the swelling down in my knee so have spent the last few days doing my exercises, elevating and icing my knee and only walking in the flat.

It was nice to get outside beyond the garden but I took my crutches with me, mainly to get other people out of my way. It turned out I needed them. I took my time walking slowly to the restaurant and my knee was aching by the time we arrived. I found a spare chair and managed to have my leg raised for most of the meal. On the way back I found I needed the crutches to take some pressure off my healing knee and coming into our street I found me knee was jarring. I've spent the rest of the day with icepacks and am currently lying with my leg up at 45 degrees on the lilo and duvet leg rest we improvised. The swelling is coming down slowly but surely.

I have to say I am very bored at the moment. I was hoping my leg would have been a bit tougher and ready for walking by now. I have to remind myself I'm not even 3 weeks post surgery.