Yesterday I returned my Continuous Passive Motion machine. (CPM) It's a nifty machine that sits on your bed and bends your knee slowly and for the most part without pain. I began at around a 75 degree bend and gradually increased it every day. Yesterday I had reached 110-115 degrees on the left knee and 125 on the right. The amount of bend with the machine measures about 15 degrees less when bending on your own, but still, it feels great to see the progress. I was supposed to spend 4 hours in the machine with each leg. That's a lot of time on your back watching TV! I am a bit apprehensive knowing that now all the bending is up to me. Today the PT worked on my knees, tugging on them and bending them for me, and I felt better that it was probably not all up to me after all. After her stretching and tugging, I measured 107 on the left and 117 on the right!
I'm thinking I'm going to spend some of my new found time doing some walking now. The notes I got from the St. Francis class said by 5 weeks I should be walking 8 blocks--not even close!! One half block, maybe? I also plan to use the walking path at church since I am a bit leary of twigs and leaves and pine cones and other such items that could cause me to end up on the ground. Besides the pain that would cause, I truly don't think I could get up!
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