My friend Renée took me to my appointment with Dr. Frush. Sean accompanied us. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say because my knee still hurt and felt unstable. Once we got into the office, I put my leg up on the end table next to the chairs in the waiting room again. Once I was called, Renée came back with me to the exam room.
Casey brought me back and rearranged the chairs so I could sit at the far end of the room, across from the door. She brought another chair over and propped my leg up on it. Renée sat on the exam table. We laughed! Casey unclicked my brace and took it off of my leg so my leg was completely exposed. She asked how my knee felt and I told her that it still hurt and it just felt unsteady to me. The few times that I put weight on it while transferring, it felt wobbly.
She told me she wasn’t sure what Dr. Frush was going to say about that so she didn’t want to say anything. Dr. Frush’s assistant came in, Dr. Sutton, and looked at my knee. He asked about my ACL scar and moved my kneecap around a little bit. I told him about Brad doing it at physical therapy not long after surgery and how it hurt. He said that they have to make sure that the patellar tendon is healing properly.
I told him about my reaction to the pain meds and how my knee feels wobbly and still hurts. He listened thoughtfully to everything I said. He left to concur with Dr. Frush and told me that he would be back. When Dr. Sutton came back with Dr. Frush; Dr. Frush shook mine and Renee’s hands. Because of the rearranged chairs, he had nowhere to sit; so he hopped up on the counter next to the sink.
Once he was seated, I told him that I didn’t believe it was a four-month recovery after surgery but because it still hurts so much, I believe him now. He laughed and said, “Four… Or five months.” WHAT?! That idea really stinks but it is completely believable! He told me that I could be in pain for another two months. WHAT?!
He told me that by now, I should not have my brace anymore. The thought of this scared of me because my knee still hurt and felt unsteady. He examined my knee and pulled it inward to the left ( that HURT) and then pushed it outward to the right which didn’t hurt as badly. He told me that my leg muscles were extremely atrophied and that at my next appointment with him, we would talk about transitioning back to Barwis.
I was really excited when he said this! I have missed Barwis so very much! I made my next appointment for six weeks from now and when we went back to the car, I still sat in the backseat. My knee hurt and it felt better when it was stretched out and I was a little nervous being brace-less and having to bend my knee to sit in the front seat.