Moving Forward in Slow Motion

You give me an inch and I'm going to take a mile.

I made contact with Mitch Thrower with Triathlete Magazine a few weeks ago in response to a piece that he wrote. I shared a little about what I'm going through now and he graciously responded with kind words of encouragement. He also told me to make sure I record my journey.

This past weekend was a rough one for whatever reason. While most were enjoying an extra day off from work on Memorial Day, I was on the couch barely able to lift my head. I have no idea exactly what happened, but I finally felt how I thought I was supposed to feel all along. On Saturday, we had breakfast with the Stanfords and then Shawn and I took a day trip to Schulenburg, Texas to admire the "Painted Churches" in the area. We capped it off with a semi-meal at Senglemann Dance Hall.  I woke up Sunday and felt perfectly fine. Stephanie picked me up and I headed down to Auditorium Shores to watch some friends take part in the annual "Doggy Du!"  OK--it was hilarious to watch some of these dogs jump in the water, swim 10 feet and then turn around like, "Hell No I'm not doing this!" After breakfast at Galaxy Cafe, I went home to take my place on the couch with the leg CPM Machine. Within an hour, I had a wave a nausea, headache and fatigue that went on for the next 24 hours. It was like I ran smack into a brick wall. Every time I would try to sit up, I felt dizzy and sick. Even my leg was acting up and producing new sharp pains. Crazy and awful...I felt miserable and lethargic all day Monday as well. I tried to find the energy to get off the couch and just sit outside, but I couldn't do it.  To this minute, I'm not sure if it was a touch a food poisoning, my body's reaction to too much activity, or a reaction to the anti-inflammatories. It passed on Tuesday and I've been relatively back to normal since my post-op appointment on Tuesday.

Either way, I'm so relieved to finally beginning a normal existence again. I'm allowed to drive, which is huge. I'm also allowed to do a little weight bearing while still using the crutches as an aid. I drove myself to my first official post-op physical therapy appointment this morning. For the first two weeks, my PT consisted of sitting my ever-expanding ass in the CPM machine and watching my leg move up and down from 0 degrees to 90 degrees for 6+ hours a day. Today, it was great to finally get out and GO SOMEWHERE. This appointment consisted mostly of taking measurements of my flexibility and formulating my timeline.

Right now, my external hip rotation is at 36 degrees (It was 44 degrees pre-op). She wants to see me close to 50 degrees.  Also, my hip extension is at a measly 5 degrees and she wants it to be somewhere in the 10-20 degree range. I was already able to lift my knee to my chest (lying down) up to 107 degrees. (Thank you CPM machine) and I can also put all the weight on my bad leg with no pain. I'll be seeing her 3 times per week for two weeks and then 2 times per week after that. My long range goal is to be starting to run again within 8 weeks. Now, it will be light and easy running, but running nonetheless. None of that will happen, however, until my core and glute region is strengthened enough to do proper single leg squats multiple times.  Until then, I've been give some clearance to MOVE!!! 15 minutes of pool walking and swimming with pull buoy. I'm also able to get on my bike and do specific pedal stroke practice for 10 minutes 3x per day. I also have some core work to do to fill up my day because, frankly, I'm getting tired of Oprah and Dr. Oz.

I haven't even made progress yet and I felt like a proud graduate today. It was as if I passed my first two weeks of post-op recovery with flying colors and I can now move on to the good stuff. I finished my appetizer and am headed straight to the buffet line...

In my case, the buffet line is Lifetime Fitness. I left the PT office and headed straight to the pool because, of course, I was carrying my goggles and suit "just in case" she said it was ok....