January 22, 2010: Day 51, healing on track?

The past two weeks have been uneventful for the most part.  At 6 weeks we moved to walking around two blocks instead of just our own and Winston got more sore.  At first there wasn't a noticeable difference but the more we did it, the more he seemed to limp, so we've cut back to going just around our block again and he seems like he's doing better.  This is a marathon instead of a sprint so I don't mind if our progress is slow. 

What I see as progress:

• His leg looks good; there's no swelling anymore.  
• The little lump where the seroma was has gone down a lot and is pretty hard.  It doesn't feel like there's any fluid in there anymore (if there is, it's well hidden between the lumpy hard stuff).
• He's having an easier time standing up from a sitting or lying position.
• He's using the leg to step onto or off of the couch (it's a lateral move so there's no jumping involved).

The things that worry me:

• He's still not using his leg fully while we're in the house or when he's standing still.
• He's got a noticeable limp while walking.

His 8 week check with x-rays is scheduled for next Wednesday, so I'm hopeful that the bone will be fully healed and we'll be able to move onto some of the harder exercises that will force him to use his leg (lifting his other foot and walking in figure eights), but I won't do any of that until we know more.  It could be that he's just healing slower this time and we need to wait.