It's been a CRAZY two weeks!

I am now officially two weeks post-op.  I thought that I was going to be able to post almost every day in order to keep a running journal of how I felt and whatnot.  Obviously that didn't work out so well for me.  It was rough and to this point in the recovery process, I would NOT have done this if I had known how bad it was going to be. 
Today is the first day that my lower leg and foot haven't swollen to the point to where it cut off circulation to my toes every time I stood up.  Yesterday was also the first day that I was prescribed and wore TED hose.  They are a fashion statement, let me tell you what, but they have kept my swelling at bay and that's all that matters to me at this point.
On Saturday, 4 days post-op, my calf felt like I had a constant charlie horse that wouldn't go away.  It was absolutely miserable and so much worse than the pain from the surgery site itself.  I was told to go to the ER when I called on Sunday morning.  4 hours later, they tell me that a clot did not show up on the ultrasound, but that I wasn't necessarily in the clear and to come back if symptoms continued.  Well, symptoms did continue throughout the week and in fact, symptoms got worse.  My leg eventually not only hurt like the dickens, it then began to swell, and was hot to the touch.  At one point, I was running a fever of about 100  about a week post-op.  So, I was at the ER once, the nurse practitioner once, and then my surgeon once all in about a week and a half after surgery.  I was given muscle relaxers at one point and I couldn't tell that they did me any good.  I had to just live through the agony. 
I had a nerve block done that wore off about 30ish hours after surgery.  That made it nice because I didn't really feel much of any pain for almost 2 days after surgery.  Pain at the surgery site never really was that terribly bad, it was just my calf, and eventually, my quads having to swing my completely straight leg out in order to bare a little weight. 
I was able to bare weight about 5 or 6 days post-op.  I went to full weight-baring without crutches 2 days shy of 2 weeks. I probably could have done it beforehand, but it is freaking scary to trust your recently operated on knee to bare your full weight.  I was also able to bend my leg to 90 degrees within about 9 days.  The PT for me hasn't been bad at all.  The surgeon told me that at the level of sports I had been playing with as bad of a knee as I had, PT would be a breeze and thankfully, it has been to date.  I go again on Friday, so we'll see how that goes.
I'm not driving yet, but I will be today after work.  My brace was unlocked to where I can bend it to 90 degrees any time I want.  That is MUCH nicer when walking, trust me!  I'm still sleeping with the brace on and even unlocked, it still sucks.  I was exhausted yesterday from doing all kinds of things with the brace unlocked, but couldn't get comfortable.  I think I was able to sleep so easily for the first week and some change because I was so doped up on meds.  I was taking Percocets sometimes and Lortabs sometimes, Phenergan because it all upset my stomach terribly, Flexeril, stool softeners, baby aspirin, ibprofen, and heck, I don't even remember what else.  I was a walking pharmacy and with all that nonsence in my body, no wonder I slept peacefully.  I haven't taken a pain pill in about 4 days though and I am SO glad to be off of them.  I HATE taking pills with a passion. 
Anyway, in closing, I am doing well after getting past the calf swelling and pain that really no one knows what the exact cause was.  If you don't have that pain, recovery is a breeze.  With that, recovery is pure hell.  Like I said, at this point, I still wouldn't have had the surgey, but as every day goes on, my opinion starts to change a little.  Oh, and I'm finally back to work.  I was hoping to only take off 1 week, but because of the calf pain, it ended up being 2.  Things are okay today, but if you're laid up...find something aside from watching TV to do.  Also, have someone with you.  If my Mom hadn't stayed at my house the entire time, I couldn't have done it.  I went through a stage of what I may have considered depression, but it faded in a couple days.  That sucked too.  I don't know why I was so down and out, but man, your mind really starts playing tricks on you after being down and out for a couple weeks.  Today is a good day though and I'm happy to be back at work.  Hopefully I don't have any set-backs and I will continue to get better.  I almost fell today after getting out of the shower and putting my clothes on though...that could have potentially been REALLY bad.  Anyway, it is good in the hood today and when I drive to work tomorrow, it will be better.