Physical Therapy Really Begins ...

Greetings Everyone!

Ernie is moving along - slowly, but determined.  Tomorrow will be one week since his surgery -  hard to believe.  He still has pain and sleeps a lot.  When he's awake - he is either on the passive motion machines, walking, doing bed exercises or on the 'ice man'/ice packs. 

As you can imagine, his appetite is simple - no big dinners or pizza at this time - just soups, eggs, oatmeal, jello, Popsicles,cottage cheese, fruits, yogurts, and lots of water and juices.

Above is the 'ice man' - the electrical ice pack machine which Ernie uses throughout the day.  Those flat looking pads have little plastic bubbles that the ice water flows through - via the blue hose.  Chipped ice and water go into a cooler  - and recycled through the hoses into the bubble pads. It's a pretty nifty machine. However, we use a lot of ice - so I'm glad its cold out - because I can stash bags of crushed frozen ice outside in a cooler.

The thing in the back ground is one of Ernie's passive motion machines - each one weighs 40 lbs - and Ernie has two -- real fun to lift and place under Ernie's knees throughout the day.

This is what the 'ice man' looks like when its hooked up. Ernie has his legs propped up on pillows - the pillows offer a different position - while Ernie is bed he has to lay on his back or in a siting position - with his legs stretched out - so the pillows offer a bit more comfort.

Today, Ernie had his first in-home physical therapy (PT) session.  In the above photo Ernie is lifting his legs with a bed sheet - leg lifts. He also worked on bending his knees - and ouch!! Although it hurts for him to bend his knees - he MUST - so that he can regain a normal walking gate. 

The therapist, Sondra measured Ernie's knees for the 'degree of bend' so that he will know what to work towards - the goal is to have a 60 degree bend - right now he has a 30 degree bend. The degree of bend will increase throughout therapy - but at two weeks - post surgery - Ernie should work towards a 60 degree bend.

Ernie is scheduled for in-home PT three times a week for two weeks - then, out-patient PT for six weeks. Although the road to recovery will be challenging - Ernie is determined to reach his physical therapy goals so that he can walk without pain.

Again, our heartfelt thanks to our followers for your words of encouragement and support!