3 weeks post-op

 

Nick is now 3 weeks post-op. Most of his day is still spent lying on the floor, interspersed with stretches (3 x day) and walks (3 x day) but overall this is where he is at....

• Slight pain in his calf. He's not sure whether this is sciatic or not and he is struggling to describe it. Not causing him a lot of concern though, and we are hoping it is just the nerve recovering.
• Tight muscle ache in his thigh - describes it as like a very tight muscle being slightly stretched
• Bending - may have been able to touch his knees today. Not checking regularly so not too sure. He feels there is some improvement.
• Walking - managing approx one mile (1.6 km) three times a day. Walks slightly stiffly but still hugely better than before the op. Getting rather board of the local area so occasionally we drive a few minutes to a different park.
• Sitting - can manage 35 minutes at a time but can feel himself tightening up and it might be inducing the calf pain. Has to concentrate on sitting straight. He is practicing sitting up at a table because he has exams to sit in a weeks time, and a return to school in three weeks time.
• Car journeys - has managed a couple of long journeys (about 2 hours) but each caused a fair amount of pain and/or stiffness so we wouldn't recommend car journeys at this stage.
• Sleeping - generally sleeping OK but sometimes feels too alert to sleep.
• Concentrating - difficulties concentrating for long, school work taking a lot longer than normal.
• No problems with the surgery wound but sometimes feels the need for some ice as it feels like it's bruised (no visible sign of bruising). Massaging vitamin E oil into it twice a day.
• Painkillers - not needing any at the moment.
• Hamstrings and glutes - still feel tight, not much change
• Physio/stretches - doing three sets a day. Feels ready for further physio and current stretches take less time to complete now.
• Emotionally - 'not worried but don't feel everything is fantastic yet'. Starting to talk about when and how he will be able to return to playing tennis.

 

 

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