Crutch Free!!!

Happy Easter everyone!
Its been a good few months since i last updated my blog.
I am now walking around crutch free most of the time! In the evenings and  first thing in the morning i stll use the 1 crutch so that i can give my leg a break (excuse the pun), but other than that i am pretty mobile.
At work i am up and down ladders, carrying scaffolding around, etc, and seem to be managing ok!
I had pretty severe DOMS (muscle pain) last weekend, after a particularly physical week at work, but luckily these only lasted for half a day and when i woke up the next morning i felt fine again.
I can feel that my knee is pretty strong, and the muscles are certainly helping as they get stronger.
My quad is still a fair way from being as strong as i would like it, but i can feel that every week there are strength improvements.
I would say that at the moment i am around 40% of where i would like to be to be back to as close a normal lifestyle as possible, but i am already walking, so this can only be a good thing right?
I dont think i will be having the rod removed when i go back for a check-up in June.
The pain i have felt in my knee for most of the last 3 years, is seldom a problem now, and only after a lot of physical exertion do i feel it anymore.
The only thing that i am noticing now, is a bit of lower back pain.
I suppose this is to be expected when 1 leg is almost 10cm shorter than the other!
Now that i am walking it is putting a lot more stress on my lower back, and this is a little worrying for the long term prognosis.
I have looked online and found that the human body can compensate for around 2cm of difference, and anything over 5cm, the specialists recommend surgery.
The options are not great though....
1. Lengthen the shorter leg, whcih involves removal of the nail, a bre-break, external fixation, and then every 34 days they pull the bone apart a cm so that it can regrow the space and lengthen the leg. This process for my difference in length, would take around 8-10 months, and then another 6-8 months after that to fully heal after the metal is removed!
2. Shorten the good leg! Basically, they surgically cut the femur, remove 8cm of bone, and then put you back together like they would a broken leg! Possibly a nail in the femur as well! At least this would balance me up though! The recovery is around 3 months on crutches again, and 8 months to fully recover.
Option 2 is certainly the preferred method for me, but i would need to be strong enough to walk and rest and stand on only my left leg for almost the entire period of my recovery, so that is still a fair way off!
I think that when the time is right, i will enquire about having this operation done.
It in't the most pleasant thing making the decision to cut a piece out of a perfectly good leg, but i think that this is certainly the better of the 2 options.
If i were to leave it, i would end up with serious back problems in the not too distant future.
But, for the moment, i am very happy with just walking, and enjoying not having to use the crutches all the time.
As soon as i can find the time, i think i would like to join the gym again and start doing sum serious strengthening exercises, as what i am capable of doing at home is very little compared to a gym with all its equipment.
Here's to the next 3 months being as rewarding as the last 3.
Til next time, chin up and keep positive...
8)