23rd January 2009 - 2 days before the Reunion Dinner & 3 days before Chinese New Year.
Its the day for Louis' operation to reconstruct his torn ligaments for his knee.
Some may wonder why he's having an operation just before CNY. It didn't quite matter to us. In fact, we prefer to have it done sooner than later. After all, with or without the op, he would still be on crutches. Mobility has been curtailed very much for him ever since the knee injury. We're not expecting to go visiting or anywhere else for that matter but staying home during the CNY.
The doctor advised that he do as much thigh exercise to build up his quadriceps (the part of the thigh just slightly above the knee) before the surgery so as to reduce the swelling and stiffness post-op.
We met up with the physiotherapist after the doctor's check up so that she could walk through and show Louis which are the exercises that would help strengthen the quad muscles and build greater range for him to be able to bend his left knee.
What used to be reflex for him to bend and straighten his knee now seems an onerous task. He was also told to start to putting about half his body weight on his left knee when he walk with the crutches instead of hopping like before.
My heart hurts to see him straining himself and pushing his limits to try to get as much exercise as he can spread out through the day.
Yet despite all the pain and sweat that its causing him, it is for the better. The new "goal" has give him a greater sense of purpose about what he can do to help himself recover faster after the surgery. Its given him a clear target to work towards and with that, greater optimism about the entire knee injury situation.
This afternoon, as I brought Faith for her twice weekly Mandarin class at JG, I dropped him off at the entrance of the Singapore Botanic Garden. He wanted the wide expanse of the pathways to practice learning how to walk and put partial weight-bearing on his left knee.
Since yesterday's physiotherapy session, he's been practising whenever he can lying down to draw his left knee up to about 90 degrees with his feet resting on the flat surface. Additionally, he's also try to push down as hard as he can with his knee when his leg is straightened. These were all the exercises that the physiotherapist had shown him to do.
Assuming no further complications, he would only need to be hospitalised for 1 night and be discharged the next day. The doctor was very optimistic and confident that Louis would be able to enjoy his reunion dinner and celebrate CNY. We gather he used the word celebrate very loosely to mean that at least he wouldn't need to be in the hospital.
Whatever it is, we're all praying that the surgery would go well, there wouldn't be any further complications post-op and that with hard work, perseverance and care, he would be able to recover swiftly. From all that he's read online, patience appears to be a virtue and criteria as well.
We never thought this would apply to us. Well... not at our current age. But, we've applied and successfully gotten a Class 2 Disabled Parking Label. With his crutches, Louis definitely needs more space to get in and out of the car. Proximity to entrances is also necessary as it can be taxing to use the crutches and walk for long distances.
We currently applied for Class 2 Parking Label as either myself or my FIL will now drive the car. When Louis is better able to drive, we'll change the label to a Class 1, which means the vehicle is driven by the ones with disability or mobility issues.
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