This week was full of mixed blessings. Work was exceptionally busy, thus hampering my at-home rehab (and, more importantly, my blogging). I didn’t make it to the gym, rode the exercise bike the bare minimum, and generally neglected my assortment of leg lifts and squats at home. Despite my inattentiveness, however, I made significant progress this week at PT. Shocking, huh?
At Monday’s session, my flexion improved slightly to 126 degrees. I also increased the number of reps for heel touches and single-leg squats. And I did them without the brace for the first time. Even better, my knee didn’t ache afterwards. I also began using Judy’s antiquated stair stepper, basically pumping away but never letting my knee bend further than 30 degrees. (That’s generally the point when the patella begins to bear weight, which I’m trying to minimize). This machine is straight out of a Suzanne Summers infomercial.
On Friday, I reached a new milestone – 130 degrees! Crossed a new threshold. Full flexion ranges from 135-150; it depends on your size and generally flexibility. My good knee can bend 145 degrees. I’ll gladly accept 140. Interestingly, I reached 130 without much assistance from Judy. Usually, she contorts my leg repeatedly, reducing me to tears, before she takes her measurement. This time, my knee “popped” during an abduction movement – from a seated position with my legs straight, I push outward and pull inward against Judy’s pressure. It sounded like somebody’s knuckle cracked. Although this loud sound freaked the bejesus outta Judy, it was only some excess scar tissue breaking apart. It didn’t hurt, and actually provided some relief. Somehow my knee was ready for Cirque du Soleil. Ok, that’s exaggerating things a bit, but you get the idea. Judy was surprised to see how much flexion my knee improved after the popping. Man, 130! And with no tears!
Reaching this target, of course, means karmas gonna demand some sort of setback. That’s how life works, right? Hopefully I won't get kicked by some angry 7-year old this weekend.
Finally, as my regular blog readers realized, this was the longest gap between posts – 8 days. My bad. That’s what happens when work gets in the way. Hopefully this was just an aberration. Another observation: it’s much harder now that it was 3 months ago to write funny material. Back in January when I was pissing in a urinal bottle? And pooping on a raised toilet seat? Like Frank Caliendo says, funny. Very funny. But increasing the number of reps on heel touches? Um, not so much. I never thought I'd be disappointed to leave behind a series of personal humiliations. To counter-balance the lack of embarrassing moments now I’m ambulatory again, I’ll try to weave in random, funny stuff from my world, even if it’s not directly related to my rehab. Hopefully it works. Definitely let me know.
Showing posts with label squats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label squats. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
12-Week Update
Almost 3 months have passed. Lots of ups and downs. Lots of changes. Reminds me of that Beatles’ song, A Long and Winding Road. Anyway, it appears I’ve reached that point in my recovery where progress happens glacially. Instead of celebrating accomplishments like driving a car or ditching my crutches, I have to be content with 2 degree increases in my flexion. That’s like winning the World Series one week, and then trying to get excited about playing in the old man softball league.
The other downside, of course, is that material for my blog is diminishing. It’s tough to fill an entire post about graduating to 4-inch step-ups from 2-inch ones. But I’ll keep trying. I’ll probably transition to brief, bullet-point updates like this one. As always, I’m playing these developments by ear.
• The knee generally feels ok. People keep asking me if it “hurts.” Not really, though the knee gets tired and achy if I don’t rest or ice it regularly. The osteotomy, however, bothers me. The two screws in the tibia are visible when I wear shorts. Seriously, you can see slight bulges, like speed-bumps, on my shin. I don’t expect people to stare at my legs, but they kinda stand out like a third eye. The lateral side (ie, the outside part of my knee, not to be confused with the medial, or inside, part of my knee) sometimes feels like it’s stretched so tight that it’s gonna pop through the skin. I hope that doesn’t happen. It would be really weird if metal screws burst from my leg in the middle of the grocery store aisle. Clean-up in aisle four might be a bit embarrassing.
• 1-legged step-ups and 1-legged mini-squats (no deeper than 45 degrees) are killing me. It’s as much mental as physical. I’m convinced my knee will shatter if I bend any further. But I also have to remember not to push it. The knee is still healing.
• You know how your body twitches slightly during a morning yawn? Well, my gimpy leg convulses like it went into epileptic shock. Very freaky, and not in a good, freaky way like an insane stripper.
• My flexion continues to increase slowly. It reached 125 degrees on Wednesday. I hit 121-122 degrees with no problem, but Judy crunched my leg another 3 degrees. One of these days I’m gonna start crying. Or punch Judy in the face really hard. Not sure which.
The other downside, of course, is that material for my blog is diminishing. It’s tough to fill an entire post about graduating to 4-inch step-ups from 2-inch ones. But I’ll keep trying. I’ll probably transition to brief, bullet-point updates like this one. As always, I’m playing these developments by ear.
• The knee generally feels ok. People keep asking me if it “hurts.” Not really, though the knee gets tired and achy if I don’t rest or ice it regularly. The osteotomy, however, bothers me. The two screws in the tibia are visible when I wear shorts. Seriously, you can see slight bulges, like speed-bumps, on my shin. I don’t expect people to stare at my legs, but they kinda stand out like a third eye. The lateral side (ie, the outside part of my knee, not to be confused with the medial, or inside, part of my knee) sometimes feels like it’s stretched so tight that it’s gonna pop through the skin. I hope that doesn’t happen. It would be really weird if metal screws burst from my leg in the middle of the grocery store aisle. Clean-up in aisle four might be a bit embarrassing.
• 1-legged step-ups and 1-legged mini-squats (no deeper than 45 degrees) are killing me. It’s as much mental as physical. I’m convinced my knee will shatter if I bend any further. But I also have to remember not to push it. The knee is still healing.
• You know how your body twitches slightly during a morning yawn? Well, my gimpy leg convulses like it went into epileptic shock. Very freaky, and not in a good, freaky way like an insane stripper.
• My flexion continues to increase slowly. It reached 125 degrees on Wednesday. I hit 121-122 degrees with no problem, but Judy crunched my leg another 3 degrees. One of these days I’m gonna start crying. Or punch Judy in the face really hard. Not sure which.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
OS Follow-Up #3 -- 8-Week Update and Other Developments
Some good news, some “ehh” news. Or to be more philosophical, two steps forward, one step backwards. Seems like the story of my recovery.
Ok, the good news first. The surgeon says the knee looks good. I’m on track with my recovery. Flexion’s good (at least 116 degrees). Leg strength is good. The patella’s a bit tight, but the rest of the area around the knee feels fine. The swelling is minimal, and the knee hasn’t gotten swollen after any activities. I got a good report, apparently, from my PT. I say “apparently” because I didn’t see the actual report. But I don’t think Turgeon would make that up. That would be a dick move by a doctor. Anyway, at that point of my visit I was thinking to myself, “Man, this is sounding good.” Turgeon even announced he was ready to open the knee brace to 90 degrees, and noted I was close to ditching the brace.
But then Turgeon pressed down pretty hard on the top of the osteotomy, right below the kneecap where the bone wedge was inserted. I winced. He took another x-ray and determined it still needed to heal further before he was ready to let go of the reins. Instead of rocketing to 90 degrees, he scaled back to 60 degrees, a modest 10 degree increase, though I remained free to increase it 10 degrees/week. That wasn’t the killer. It appears I’m still on track to ditch the brace at the next visit. However, Turgeon told me he wanted to see me back in 3 or 4 weeks, not our usual 2-week interval. Whoa, big fella. Why the extra week? That sucks. So, it turns out I’ll be wearing the brace at least one more week than anticipated. Everything’s fine, but, man, 11 weeks in a brace. Some people switch cars faster than that. And, of course, there’s no guarantee the brace comes off at the next visit. As my New Jersey friends would say, oy vey.
I stepped up things this week in PT, which brought mixed blessings. I’m happy that my recovery is progressing sufficiently that I’m capable of doing more, but somewhat skittish about how my knee handles the increased workload. I added some very minor 1-legged “squats” and step-ups to my usual routine of isometric leg raises. I put quotes around “squats” because my stooping was imperceptible to the naked eye. They don’t make protractors small enough to measure how far I squatted. I still made the requisite grunting and facial expressions of gym meatheads hoisting 600 pounds, but I really looked more like an old person squeezing out a big turd. Sorry for that visual. It was the first thing that came to mind.
The step-ups were even more humbling. Normally, you see folks stepping onto benches 2- and 3- feet high, often holding dumbbells in each hand. Not me. I placed my right leg atop a phone book – yes, a phone book. Remember the Yellow Pages before the internet? – and slowly lowered my left leg a whopping 1 ½ inches to the floor until my heel touched down. Repeat 25 times. And this tired out my leg. Please hug me the next time you see me.
I also waded into the pool for the first time. After a decent 25-minute workout lifting weights – I’m actually proud to report I’m slowly regaining my strength – I cooled down with some pool walking.
24 Hour Fitness offers three, 25-meter swimming lanes. Actually, I’m guessing they’re 25 meters long. I’ve never swum before, and I don’t do the Metric System.
Each lane is about 2-arms’ lengths wide, with a line down the middle creating 2 mini-lanes within a lane. When I arrived, 4 serious swimmers occupied the pool. One of the girls actually wore a New Zealand swim cap. I notice things like this. I also noticed her ridiculous body when she got out of the pool. I tried to disguise my ogling from Christina (who had accompanied me) by commenting on the aerodynamic texture of her swimsuit. I don’t think I fooled her.
Anyway, after removing my brace I dangled my legs over the edge of a pool lane used by a Serious Swimmer. If you’ve seen swimmers at the gym, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I’m not knocking them. All of the Serious Swimmers seemed far more friendly than the typical gym-goer. In fact, after seeing my predicament, Serious Swimmer simply nodded to me during one of his flip-turns and moved over to the far half of the swim lane. When have you have ever seen a meathead offer to share any of the 15 dummbells he hogged?
I slowly lowered myself into the pool, landing on my good leg. My gimpy leg touched down a moment later, as I gingerly placed weight onto right leg for the first time in 8 weeks without the aid of a brace. I realized the water’s buoyancy would alleviate the stress placed on my knee, but part of me still feared that it would buckle underwater. Didn’t happen. After a few steps to gather my balance, I glided down the length of the pool. As the water levels rose from 3 feet to 4 ½ feet, the resistance increased and I was forced to concentrate a bit more to walk normally. Yes, I needed to concentrate just to walk normally. Humbling, I know. The pool actually is 5 feet deep at the far end, but I stopped at the 4 ½ foot marker, about 15 feet, er, I mean 5 meters from the wall. Touching the far wall and turning around seemed inappropriate. I wasn’t walking fast enough to justify simulating a normal race. Plus I was wearing floaties on my arms. You know, just in case.
I walked up-and-down the swim lane about 5 times, getting lapped repeatedly by Serious Swimmer. Show off. I made sure the water got real choppy every time he passed me.
Pool-walking actually felt good, even if I felt dorky with my slow motion pace. It eliminated, or at least, severely reduced, my normal limp. Now that I can drive, I plan on pool-walking more often.
Surprisingly, getting out of the pool wasn’t tricky. With my back to the wall and palms pressing down, I lifted myself out of the water, basically doing an exercise called, a dip. I immediately swung my legs over the wall onto a pre-positioned towel. It took a little longer than normal to dry off because I was seated the entire time, but I managed to avoid injuring myself. The only unusual thing was how the chlorine turned my scar a freakish purple. Other than the plum-colored knee, I thought things worked out well.
Ok, the good news first. The surgeon says the knee looks good. I’m on track with my recovery. Flexion’s good (at least 116 degrees). Leg strength is good. The patella’s a bit tight, but the rest of the area around the knee feels fine. The swelling is minimal, and the knee hasn’t gotten swollen after any activities. I got a good report, apparently, from my PT. I say “apparently” because I didn’t see the actual report. But I don’t think Turgeon would make that up. That would be a dick move by a doctor. Anyway, at that point of my visit I was thinking to myself, “Man, this is sounding good.” Turgeon even announced he was ready to open the knee brace to 90 degrees, and noted I was close to ditching the brace.
But then Turgeon pressed down pretty hard on the top of the osteotomy, right below the kneecap where the bone wedge was inserted. I winced. He took another x-ray and determined it still needed to heal further before he was ready to let go of the reins. Instead of rocketing to 90 degrees, he scaled back to 60 degrees, a modest 10 degree increase, though I remained free to increase it 10 degrees/week. That wasn’t the killer. It appears I’m still on track to ditch the brace at the next visit. However, Turgeon told me he wanted to see me back in 3 or 4 weeks, not our usual 2-week interval. Whoa, big fella. Why the extra week? That sucks. So, it turns out I’ll be wearing the brace at least one more week than anticipated. Everything’s fine, but, man, 11 weeks in a brace. Some people switch cars faster than that. And, of course, there’s no guarantee the brace comes off at the next visit. As my New Jersey friends would say, oy vey.
I stepped up things this week in PT, which brought mixed blessings. I’m happy that my recovery is progressing sufficiently that I’m capable of doing more, but somewhat skittish about how my knee handles the increased workload. I added some very minor 1-legged “squats” and step-ups to my usual routine of isometric leg raises. I put quotes around “squats” because my stooping was imperceptible to the naked eye. They don’t make protractors small enough to measure how far I squatted. I still made the requisite grunting and facial expressions of gym meatheads hoisting 600 pounds, but I really looked more like an old person squeezing out a big turd. Sorry for that visual. It was the first thing that came to mind.
The step-ups were even more humbling. Normally, you see folks stepping onto benches 2- and 3- feet high, often holding dumbbells in each hand. Not me. I placed my right leg atop a phone book – yes, a phone book. Remember the Yellow Pages before the internet? – and slowly lowered my left leg a whopping 1 ½ inches to the floor until my heel touched down. Repeat 25 times. And this tired out my leg. Please hug me the next time you see me.
I also waded into the pool for the first time. After a decent 25-minute workout lifting weights – I’m actually proud to report I’m slowly regaining my strength – I cooled down with some pool walking.
24 Hour Fitness offers three, 25-meter swimming lanes. Actually, I’m guessing they’re 25 meters long. I’ve never swum before, and I don’t do the Metric System.
Each lane is about 2-arms’ lengths wide, with a line down the middle creating 2 mini-lanes within a lane. When I arrived, 4 serious swimmers occupied the pool. One of the girls actually wore a New Zealand swim cap. I notice things like this. I also noticed her ridiculous body when she got out of the pool. I tried to disguise my ogling from Christina (who had accompanied me) by commenting on the aerodynamic texture of her swimsuit. I don’t think I fooled her.
Anyway, after removing my brace I dangled my legs over the edge of a pool lane used by a Serious Swimmer. If you’ve seen swimmers at the gym, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I’m not knocking them. All of the Serious Swimmers seemed far more friendly than the typical gym-goer. In fact, after seeing my predicament, Serious Swimmer simply nodded to me during one of his flip-turns and moved over to the far half of the swim lane. When have you have ever seen a meathead offer to share any of the 15 dummbells he hogged?
I slowly lowered myself into the pool, landing on my good leg. My gimpy leg touched down a moment later, as I gingerly placed weight onto right leg for the first time in 8 weeks without the aid of a brace. I realized the water’s buoyancy would alleviate the stress placed on my knee, but part of me still feared that it would buckle underwater. Didn’t happen. After a few steps to gather my balance, I glided down the length of the pool. As the water levels rose from 3 feet to 4 ½ feet, the resistance increased and I was forced to concentrate a bit more to walk normally. Yes, I needed to concentrate just to walk normally. Humbling, I know. The pool actually is 5 feet deep at the far end, but I stopped at the 4 ½ foot marker, about 15 feet, er, I mean 5 meters from the wall. Touching the far wall and turning around seemed inappropriate. I wasn’t walking fast enough to justify simulating a normal race. Plus I was wearing floaties on my arms. You know, just in case.
I walked up-and-down the swim lane about 5 times, getting lapped repeatedly by Serious Swimmer. Show off. I made sure the water got real choppy every time he passed me.
Pool-walking actually felt good, even if I felt dorky with my slow motion pace. It eliminated, or at least, severely reduced, my normal limp. Now that I can drive, I plan on pool-walking more often.
Surprisingly, getting out of the pool wasn’t tricky. With my back to the wall and palms pressing down, I lifted myself out of the water, basically doing an exercise called, a dip. I immediately swung my legs over the wall onto a pre-positioned towel. It took a little longer than normal to dry off because I was seated the entire time, but I managed to avoid injuring myself. The only unusual thing was how the chlorine turned my scar a freakish purple. Other than the plum-colored knee, I thought things worked out well.
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