Knee Update

So my knee has been killing me. Last week I finally had to call Dave, my physical therapist, because my knee was hurting so bad. Not only did I have to stop running, I was having trouble doing normal things, including just walking in my day-to-day life. Over the weekend I was in a wedding (look for another post on that!) and I finally heard back from Dave Monday.

Dave said he thinks I am getting tendinitis in my knee and having a problem with a sliding knee cap. That sounds about right. I've never had great knees. He said I needed to ice it and rest it. He reiterated to BACK OFF it, or it will NOT get better. I got it, loud and clear. He said no running while it's like this. He was not too happy about the elliptical either. He suggested biking and said that this would be best because I'm having this problem because my quad muscles are still too weak.

So I am following Dave's advice: backing off things like running and anything that generally hurts, icing and resting, and moving to biking, etc. to strengthen my quads, and really stretching my legs out. Man my legs are tight!!

Bahahaha! This cracked me up!

Progress (until last week)

I have been so excited about my fitness progress recently! I've continued working out at least weekly with my trainer and also added in cardio on days I don't work out with him. I started a "Couch to 5K" app so that  I could slowly build up to running again. It helps to do the intervals of walking and jogging. IT'S BEEN 20 MONTHS OF ACTIVITY RESTRICTIONS!!! Getting back in shape HURTS, but finally in a good way! 

I might be high on endorphins, but I love working out again. I love the challenge of working with my trainer. He also quotes movies and tells me funny stories that make me laugh when I'm working out. I love my couch to 5k plan. I'm loving getting back in the gym! I'm planning to get in the pool soon too! Everything was going great until last week. Here's what (I think) happened...

The whole right side of my body has been out of alignment since I got injured in March 2011. I was put in a walking boot and that tends to throw you off, because your feet are two different heights. Things got worse after the first surgery. Of course one side of my body had to get stronger since it was being used, while the other side atrophied while recovering. I also began to sleep with my foot up on a stack of pillows to get it above my heart after surgery. It was so weird to get used to at first. And I had to sleep on my back to keep it up there at first, which I hated! Eventually I got used to it. I have literally been sleeping with my right foot elevated on at least 2-3 pillows since September 2011. Eventually I could sleep on my stomach or my side with my foot still elevated. This has really been rough on my right hip. So recently I've noticed that standing for a while, like while at a swim meet, my hips and back hurt SO bad. Like SO BAD!! Then last week my right knee started acting up. Thanks a lot right knee. I don't need this!

Last week I told my trainer Mike about my knee and he had me back off some leg exercises. My arms got an extra workout that day! After a LONG swim meet Friday night, I spent the rest of the weekend resting my knee/ankle/hip. It felt like it was ready to go. Today I headed back to the gym to do a couch to 5k cardio workout. I could feel how bad my knee was when I was first warming up and walking. When it came time to jog I could not take the pain. I had to get off the treadmill and tried to use the elliptical, thinking it would be easier on my knee. It was easier, but I still had pain. So I got off that too and went home. I'm so bummed.

Tomorrow I will be putting in a call to my physical therapist to see what I should do. And next week I see my ortho surgeon again - it's supposed to finally be my last appointment! I thought I would have good news for him, but now I'll need to see what I should do to get back in alignment and stop having this crazy knee pain!

New Year, New Goals

It's amazing to me how different this year is from last year already. And how different my goals for myself and my ankle are... And then again how some things never change...

Last year at the holidays I was pretty proud of myself for wearing two tennis shoes. It was seriously a major milestone. I was still in physical therapy, and just inching along with my ankle progress. I remember that every single morning I woke up, put my feet on the ground, and felt searing pain. I wondered if I would ever step out of my bed in the morning and not feel pain, or at least not feel like I had a giant right foot.

Amazingly, I now get out of bed in the morning and (usually) my feet feel exactly the same as each other. I sometimes marvel at this. And if it's raining or really cold (as if that ever happens around here anymore) I can jog real quick from my car to the building. I seriously wondered if that would ever happen again. And I really thought that I would have to get used to a "new normal" where I couldn't work out or do some other things the way I wanted to. But guess what? I CAN NOW WORKOUT!! I got back into it slowly, but I can seriously do any exercise. Well, any exercise that my out-of-shape body and lack of endurance allow me to do. It's pretty exciting!

So my goals for 2013 are to get back in shape. To work out consistently, start swimming, and running. I need to get into shape and also lose this weight I've gained while I've been on activity restrictions for the past 20 months. And I really need to get my endurance and muscle mass back!