A Continuous Passive Movement (CPM) machine is what the doctors called it, but I knew it mostly as a sound, not a name. I was so familiar with the soft hum of the equipment that held my left knee in place as it slowly, slowly, slowly moved my leg from straight to ever so slightly bent, I could almost drift off to sleep in the middle of a session, as if I was listening to the ocean. The eight-inch incision drawn from my quad to my shin was still fresh and painful, and so was the movement of my knee. But every physical therapist and doctor I had ever worked with—through eight knee surgeries, and, by this point, years’ worth of physical therapy— had told me the same thing: you can’t let the scar tissue win.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to let me tell you to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.