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MACI Procedure Recovery - Day 4

June 25, 2018

I was finally able to sleep through the night and I woke up feeling pretty great in terms of morale. My calf is still on fire and when I first get up to go pee I double over in pain. I pop two pills immediately and wince my way over to the bathroom. If I've learned one thing so far is that no matter how tough you are this procedure will humble you many times and all you can do is learn to roll with the punches because the pain while severe at times is fleeting. I just keep reminding myself that I almost couldn't walk anymore and that with this procedure I'll be able to keep up with my two kids. I stay focused on that when the pain creeps up and use it.

Back to bed and into the CPM. The wife bring me a cup of coffee while watching the news and not fifteen minutes go by when I get these incredible stomach cramps. I know what's about to happen and tell for my wife to unstrap me from the CPM. I hobble back to the bathroom and with extreme difficulty and pain manage to sit down on the toilet. I knew this would be difficult but trying to bear down on one leg while the other is in a locked brace makes the whole experience far more challenging than I could have anticipated. Nevertheless, I claim victory and head back to bed and into the CPM once more. Ten minutes later and the cramps start again and I repeat the whole dance. When I come back to bed I decide to just stay off the CPM which turns out to be a smart choice given five more trips to the bathroom.

After I'm confident that I am done, I ask my wife to help me get showered. She sets up my bath chair and helps me get over the threshold. I reassure her that I can shower myself and with everything in easy reach I am able to do so.

I feel like a new man. There is absolutely no way to describe just how great I feel after having been able to relieve myself and then getting showered. My pain is almost negligible at this point.

I get dressed and finish out the day with two more pills and another six hours on my CPM.

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