Yesterday Amaya went to school for the fist time. It went well, but she was exhausted and sore! She didn't sleep well and woke up feeling pretty terrible (tired and in pain). We opted for her to stay home and rest since we knew she would have a lengthy physical therapy evaluation later in the day. She had some Cocoa Puffs today as a nice treat (her aunt Patty and uncle Marty would have it for us when we would visit. It's obviously a sweet memory and brought her some comfort).
Today we had Amaya's physical therapy evaluation. This is where they asses where she's at and what she can do, make a treatment plan, assign her homework and schedule her upcoming sessions. As we reviewed her PFFD, past surgeries, this surgery and the future it was pretty amazing! It's been quite a journey! The therapist said that Amaya tends to be pretty flexible, which will help her. We've heard this in the past and its made PT a bit "easier" for her. They were pretty happy with how well she's doing, just two weeks after surgery.
Here's some of the measurements from today, in flexion (knee bent) she got her knee to 57 degrees and with some work and through pain she was able to get it to 65 degrees. That's a bit better than I expected. In extension (straightening leg) she was 7 degrees short of being at 0. Her hyperextension (lifting the foot to overextend the knee) lifting her foot was 3 degrees. For comparison her right leg is 14 degrees.
They taught her several exercises to work on straightening and bending the knee and a couple to strengthen the ankle (so that its stable and will help her once she is able to bear weight again). They gave her some homework that has to be done twice a day every day. We'll be going three times this week and then twice a week for the next month. The therapist reminded us that we have a "window of opportunity" to regain range of motion (ROM) in the knee. She added that the sooner you gain it back the better. So even though Amaya was in pain and tired we still need to prioritize and do her physical therapy. Wish her luck. They also watched her walk with crutches, taught her how to use them safely and so she isn't too sore.
Amaya was sore heading into today's appointment but did really well and never gave up! She pushed herself and didn't want to complain about pain, but the therapist reminded her to do it slowly and not overexert or hurt herself. It's a hard balance of knowing what's "good pain" and how much is enough.
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