desperate2run

Ok- just kidding –my husband would have a heart attack — plus I would be a pretty old new mom. I have hit the nine month mark. I think my knee is finally in better shape than it was before the surgery. I know this because I keep a work out log and have for the last couple of years. I can see by the workouts I did and the comments that my knee was swelling on the eliptical before surgery even with no resistance. Anyone trying to recover from this should keep a log so that you can show yourself the progress you have made. I can’t tell you the number of times I have looked back a few months to see what I was doing and it has made me feel better. Recovery sometimes feels like it moves at a glacial place – so it helps to keep me encouraged. I use the eliptical about 4 x per week – resistence 5 – usually 3 miles. I lift weights with my bad leg about 4 times a week – up to 8 minutes at 60 lbs with the bad leg. I try to bike on the weekend – hilly neighborhood – takes me about 1hour and 10 mins. to do 10 miles. So – I feel like I am getting better. Could I run at this point – no. My biggest problem is my gimpy quad muscle — but as you can tell I am working it. I do not have a lot of pain, just stiffness and I really do not have a limp at all  (unless I sit around too long and then I limp for a few minutes until it stretches out). I am back into very short heels (1 inch clunky heels) — but hey – it’s better than the grandma shoes I had to wear. My MRI is set for March 7 -at which point the doctor will give me a thumbs up or down on impact sports, i.e. running. I am back to my old self mentally – but I still have dreams at night that involve me running and wake up a bit bummed. I have not gained any weight thru this process, and in fact, have lost weight over the last year as a result, I think, of the upper body weight lifting.  All in all it could be worse.  It was a rough year.  I will be happy to start 2013 and hopefully sometime during that year run my first race since October, 2011 (a half marathon I ran on my birthday having no idea that a month later I would have to stop running altogether) That’s it. Merry Christmas!

I am more than seven months post surgery now. I have been doing PT on my own at home religiously and continue to exercise at least 5 x per week. I noticed yesterday that when I went on a 4 + mile walk with my daughter, that I did not need to ice my knee when I returned. This was a pretty good improvement from one month prior – when I took the same walk and was in pretty rough shape by the time I got home. My “bad” leg is still smaller than my good leg (the quad mainly). Stairs are still a challenge, but going down is getting more controlled. I have a lot of concern that when I get my MRI at the one year mark something will be wrong, but that is just me being concerned over things that I know nothing about. I have no sharp pains, just a lot of stiffness and some slight swelling at the end of the day – especially if I try to wear heels. I would say that I am about where I was before the surgery in terms of mobility. My hope is that over the next 4 1/2 months that I will get to the point where my knee will feel somewhat normal. I miss the days of running up the stairs to grab something from my kid’s room and not thinking of it as a journey. And, of course, I miss running. It has been 11 months since I went on my last run – I miss it just as much today as I did when this first happened. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to at least run reacreationally again. On the up side, I have not gained any weight over the last year, and in fact lost a few pounds. I have done a ton of upper body work that I would not have done otherwise, so I am not wasting away or turning into a blob. Mentally I would say I am not as good as I used to be on the happiness scale, but I am better than I was over the summer…. Here is hoping 2013 the “year of recovery” — even if we are at the “fiscal cliff”!

Well, I am better than I was at three months and can do the following: 1) elliptical 4 miles (minimal resistance); 3) walk three miles (hurts), 3) some weight lifting with my bad leg – but not full leg extensions. I “work out” daily and do pt 1x per week. I have no idea if this progress is normal. I am not limping to a huge degree- just slightly. Stairs are not a possibility yet- especially going down. I see the doctor in six weeks and I think he will order an MRI – which should tell me something. My spirits are like a ping pong ball. I do not have the release of running- so I can not regulate negative feelings as easily as running a quick 4 miler. Friends do not understand the situation in the slightest – even my former running pals….bright side if it works I’ll be trying to run again in seven months. I think I’ll feel somewhat better if my MRI looks okay. I’ll update after.