6 weeks post-op

The hamstring is still very tender. I did manage to go two days in a row before pulling it yet again reaching casually to pat the dog one afternoon. In fact, it's gotten bad enough that I have a nasty looking bruise on the back of my leg that I didn't even notice until my PT session yesterday.

So now I'm working with a new PT on my knee: John P. He had me sit on the floor with a 4 foot long piece of 4 inch plastic pipe under my involved leg and then showed me how to roll the pipe against my sore hamstring to break up the scar tissue and help stretch it out. This hurt like hell, but I could feel it doing the job. The big lump I had on the back of my thigh was nearly gone after this session. He said I need to do this 2x/day. So, in one session, my new PT, John, is already giving me a way to deal with the hamstring that didn't occur to the PTs at Fallon.

The other thing I like about this PT shop is that while I'm booked for 30 minutes, I sometimes spend 90 minutes there, a lot of the time doing exercises that John tells me to do, or sets up for me. He might be treating three people at once, but I never feel neglected. The atmosphere in the big therapy room is collegial, funny, and supportive. We were all commiserating with a woman who was having an intense and clearly painful massage session on her hip by one of the senior PTs. Pain is basically a way of life for everyone there, either from a treatment perspective or as a patient dealing with its effects every day. They seem to get that, appreciate it, and moreover, accept it, which makes it easier for all to deal with it. We acknowledge it, work on it, and in the end accept that it's a part of our lives at this point. For a lot of people, it's a constant presence or force in their lives. I have it easy compared to a lot of these folks.