My multi-daily rehab routine

I was surprised when my surgeon told me to see the physical therapist the day after my surgery. But not so surprising, I wasn't able to go. I was still nauseous and dizzy and scared to go down the stairs. Luckily, my PT was able to come to my house, although I still couldn't do much.

Recovery day 2 started very slow:

• Ankle pumps - elevating my leg, then circling and moving my ankle and foot
• Quad sets - flexing and pushing my knee down with my quad for about 5 seconds
• Heel slides - bending at the hip, bringing your leg up while bending at the knee to keep foot down)

I saw her again almost a week later and added one more thing to my routine:

• Straight leg raises with a quad set every time I come back down

Recovery week 2 we added a lot more (in moderation):

• Straight leg raises to the outside, with my injured side facing towards the ceiling
• Straight leg raises to the inside, with my injured side against the floor, and my other leg touching the floor infront of me (inner thigh workout)
• Sitting heel slides - sitting in a chair using your other leg to help push your leg back further
• Ball squeezes - with my knees bent as far as I can sitting, the ball between my knees
• Weight shift - with my brace on, holding a counter, shifting my weight onto my injured side and back off again
• Sitting toe raises - sitting in a chair, bending my knee as much as I can comfortably, and slowly raising up to my toes and sinking back down. 

It's a lot, and both my parents and my physical therapist like to remind me, when I'm not doing anything I should be doing these.. and then icing 20 minutes off, 20 minutes on.

Everything is horribly tough the first few times. But eventually they get easier. When I do my heel slides and bend my knee, it's stiff and sore at first - then I get to a happy middle where it actually feels really good - then I bend it extra further and that's where the pain gets tough.