I recently got in two decent weeks of rehab finally! Looking back at my spreadsheet, I really haven't had two decent consecutive weeks since early June (I'm talking ~6-7 sessions with a rest day every other day). Lots of reasons why: LIFE. I don't think I've ever said, "I don't feel like going, I'll just stay home tonight and drink wine." If I can't go there is usually a good reason like I'm not home or I'm very sore!
Things are busy this week, and I'm trying to not let it derail my rehab plans. We have 5 house guests coming, house cleaning (house is always a mess) and cooking (despite keeping it simple). Fri/Sat my husband will be competing in a 100 mile mountain trail race and I'll be his crew. I hope I can rehab Sunday but that may depend on the sleep factor. House guests are all here for the same race. It's pretty exciting! Last weekend I had a pretty functional weekend. Note: not the same as a "good" knee weekend. Still waiting for that. Functional as in I hiked downhill for the first time without poles! I previously used poles like mini crutches taking a bit of my body weight off on that downhill step. I did two hikes without poles and a decent downhill descent! One involved trail work, so I am pleased that I held up for that much activity (like 4.5 hours). I had a normal gait, so it appeared I was walking normally! This is pretty big news for me! My friend asked, "So did it feel good?" I'm like no it hurt the whole time! Hahaha! But the point is I could do it, and I couldn't before, and there was enough strength to walk an even gait down hills. Taping the knee was essential. Baby steps... Another big update besides walking downhill - I did my longest mountain bike ride (maybe ever???)! There are 5 potential weekends left before the White Rim trip where I can get in some long rides. I wanted to try a "big" ride but with not a ton of climbing, but also on trail or dirt roads. I managed a 27 mile mountain bike ride, 3300 feet of climbing, in about 4 hours - almost all on single track. I was quite tuckered by the end! The pedaling was pretty moderate, not a ton of steep sections, some places I did hike the uphill. I decided to cut it short (original plan was more like 30 miles) because the last hour my knee cap felt like it was lined with sandpaper. Very irritating and annoying despite the fairly moderate spinning. However, no major joint swelling and no flare ups! That was a big three day knee weekend! Despite some of these recent improvements, I REALLY have so much further to go. *SIGH* It looms over me everyday like a dark cloud. Need to stay in the moment, focus on the now. Otherwise, one can go crazy. No one likes to guess times for me, but if I had pain for 11 months, one very rough guesstimate I heard is 11 months at a minimum of proximal muscle rehabilitation to get some normalcy. 11 months would be like another 2+ months. Hmm, I don't think anything magical is going to happen in the next two months honestly. Gauging by how consistent my pain is and how slowly this is going, maybe I should guess another 8-10 months on top of what I've done so far. Just a guess. Whenever the pain and swell fests go down, and I'm stronger, then I can start running/jumping/agility. At least I know the order of how things will go! Summary: 19+ months post op, <9 months into new rehab. Some photos from my 27 mile ride. I started from the front door!
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AuthorA 45 year old active female who tore her ACL in January 2017 (at the age of 40). Reconstructive surgery in February 2017 with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Archives
November 2022
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