Bad news: knee still has issues.
Good news: am off crutches.
I spent last week on crutches and it was brutal. I seriously got winded walking from the porch to my car. At least I could drive!
I went to an orthopedic surgeon on Friday. I got xrays of my knees, a new brace made of neoprene, and a prescription for physical therapy. My appointment is tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.
Yesterday was my first full day with the new brace and I decided to go swimming (arms only). I did 10 laps and felt pretty good. Today I did 40 laps. Dennis said that maybe I will come out of this a better swimmer. Could be nice.
It is definitely weird not being able to bend my left knee when I walk--I kinda feel like Kevin Spacey as Caiser Sozee (sp?) on The Usual Suspects. It is definitely weird not being able to walk fast through the grocery store. But, it was nice being able to go grocery shopping and even get ready to make dinner tonight.
I am hoping for a good prognosis tomorrow---like, with enough physical therapy I can do the aquabike at vineman in August.
We shall see...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
are you serious?
So...I am stuck on the couch again...on Thursday night I was making some chocolate chip cookies for Dennis' company picnic and as I was rushing to the refrigerator I smacked right into an open cupboard. Unfortunately, it was at the right angle to smack my kneecap out of place. The same knee I had surgery on 16 years ago.
Luckily I landed on my opposite side and not my head or anything. I heard Dennis say from the living room, "That didn't sound good" and then I started yelling at him "Dennis call 911! I dislocated my knee! Call 911 NOWWWW!"
I used my right arm to prop myseld up and my left hand had a tight clench on my pant legs to keep my leg from moving. I knew from experience that any movement of my leg would cause my knee to seize up. Dennis came around and saw my the outline of my knee cap poking through my cargo pants and said, "Ooh yeah. That doesn't belong there."
Suddenly there were 5 paramedics in my kitchen asking what was going on. One took a look at the kitchen and said, "Looks like someone was making cookies."
I told them what happened and they asked for all my information and took my blood pressure, checked my heart rate.
(Side note: after they took my heart rate they asked if I was an athlete because it was so low! How awesome is that?)
They used this metal gurney thing and gradually rotated me on it and put me in the ambulance. The nice EMT asked me if I needed morphine. I was actually feeling ok, and not in a lot of pain and said I would wait until we got to the hospital and they would pop it back in.
Then my adrenaline wore off and we kept hitting all these bumpy potholes in the ambulance drive over and I was moving around, in pain.
"Yeah, I will take the happy juice."
He tried to find a vein for the iv in my left arm, but I always have issues with people finindg a vein for a needle. The ambulance was nice enough to stop to pull over for him to put it in my right arm. The pain subsided a bit and finally we got to the hospital. I waited around in a room, the nurses came and took my blood pressure. The doctor came in and took a look at my knee. I was really not looking forward to him popping it back in because I remembered the pain from the first time. They gave me a nice cocktail of pain medicine and an anti-anxiety drug.
Dennis came to the room and I guess I was saying some silly things to him. This is sorta what I remember:
"Do you have a hair tie in my purse---I need to pull it up because it is going to look big."
"I just ordered a bikini ---looks like getting into shape won't be happening too soon. I wonder if I can return it...no it was super cheap so it is fine to keep it."
The doctor came back to try to pop it back in place. It wasn't going in that easily so he had someone take an x-ray. Turns out not only did it move to the left side, it also shifted up." Dennis gave me his hand to squeeze and I braced myself for the uncomfort of placing the kneecap back in its place.
Then they put this removable brace on me that goes from my upper thigh to my ankle. They gave me cruches and I tried to hobble around but the meds made me a little loopy and unstable. They put me in a wheelchair and Dennis went to go get his car. Somehow we managed to get both me and my crutches in the front seat of his tiny boxter.
So...this pretty much sucks. It is day two and I can't put weight on my foot. Poor Dennis has to be at my beck and call ("can I have some water?" "I need a kleenex." "Can you help me condition my hair."). Going up the stairs is always fun because I basically scoot up each stair on my butt.
I have an appointment with an ortho doc next week. Not sure what this will mean for my training and the rest of the race season. I got pretty upset this morning because I just can't do anything that I want to do. My friends are all facebooking about their workouts and I am just green with envy. It is interesting to compare this time around with when it first happened 17 years ago. My training has helped me immensely with getting around. I don't feel super unstable putting all my weight on one leg because it is actually pretty strong from my crazy workouts. The Thursday morning core workouts also helped with me using those muscles to help me scoot up the stairs.
So, here is where I am...I am bored and going stir crazy, but hopefully the recovery period will be short and I can get back to moving...
Luckily I landed on my opposite side and not my head or anything. I heard Dennis say from the living room, "That didn't sound good" and then I started yelling at him "Dennis call 911! I dislocated my knee! Call 911 NOWWWW!"
I used my right arm to prop myseld up and my left hand had a tight clench on my pant legs to keep my leg from moving. I knew from experience that any movement of my leg would cause my knee to seize up. Dennis came around and saw my the outline of my knee cap poking through my cargo pants and said, "Ooh yeah. That doesn't belong there."
Suddenly there were 5 paramedics in my kitchen asking what was going on. One took a look at the kitchen and said, "Looks like someone was making cookies."
I told them what happened and they asked for all my information and took my blood pressure, checked my heart rate.
(Side note: after they took my heart rate they asked if I was an athlete because it was so low! How awesome is that?)
They used this metal gurney thing and gradually rotated me on it and put me in the ambulance. The nice EMT asked me if I needed morphine. I was actually feeling ok, and not in a lot of pain and said I would wait until we got to the hospital and they would pop it back in.
Then my adrenaline wore off and we kept hitting all these bumpy potholes in the ambulance drive over and I was moving around, in pain.
"Yeah, I will take the happy juice."
He tried to find a vein for the iv in my left arm, but I always have issues with people finindg a vein for a needle. The ambulance was nice enough to stop to pull over for him to put it in my right arm. The pain subsided a bit and finally we got to the hospital. I waited around in a room, the nurses came and took my blood pressure. The doctor came in and took a look at my knee. I was really not looking forward to him popping it back in because I remembered the pain from the first time. They gave me a nice cocktail of pain medicine and an anti-anxiety drug.
Dennis came to the room and I guess I was saying some silly things to him. This is sorta what I remember:
"Do you have a hair tie in my purse---I need to pull it up because it is going to look big."
"I just ordered a bikini ---looks like getting into shape won't be happening too soon. I wonder if I can return it...no it was super cheap so it is fine to keep it."
The doctor came back to try to pop it back in place. It wasn't going in that easily so he had someone take an x-ray. Turns out not only did it move to the left side, it also shifted up." Dennis gave me his hand to squeeze and I braced myself for the uncomfort of placing the kneecap back in its place.
Then they put this removable brace on me that goes from my upper thigh to my ankle. They gave me cruches and I tried to hobble around but the meds made me a little loopy and unstable. They put me in a wheelchair and Dennis went to go get his car. Somehow we managed to get both me and my crutches in the front seat of his tiny boxter.
So...this pretty much sucks. It is day two and I can't put weight on my foot. Poor Dennis has to be at my beck and call ("can I have some water?" "I need a kleenex." "Can you help me condition my hair."). Going up the stairs is always fun because I basically scoot up each stair on my butt.
I have an appointment with an ortho doc next week. Not sure what this will mean for my training and the rest of the race season. I got pretty upset this morning because I just can't do anything that I want to do. My friends are all facebooking about their workouts and I am just green with envy. It is interesting to compare this time around with when it first happened 17 years ago. My training has helped me immensely with getting around. I don't feel super unstable putting all my weight on one leg because it is actually pretty strong from my crazy workouts. The Thursday morning core workouts also helped with me using those muscles to help me scoot up the stairs.
So, here is where I am...I am bored and going stir crazy, but hopefully the recovery period will be short and I can get back to moving...
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Workout Diary Day 1
I have decided to write a daily recap of my workouts going forward. The point of this is to see if I can gauge improvements, pinpoint mistakes, and truly get on the right track for Barb's domination. I am starting with yesterday.
8 am ran a 10k fundraiser for work in Santa Rosa. It was very hilly and I took it easy as I was meeting a friend for long bike ride after. The run didn't feel great and my time was a very blah 1:06.
10:45 biked the Wine Country Century Course with my friend. It sucked. I still need to get my bike fitted after having to replace my seat and handlebars. My form was out of whack and I was getting a weird side stitch from pressing down on my tummy. The ride took forever, and my legs we tired from running 6 miles. Less than 3 months till Barb's. I need to get better on the bike. Ugh.
Today is a rest day. I may do a short run with my niece (1 mile max).
8 am ran a 10k fundraiser for work in Santa Rosa. It was very hilly and I took it easy as I was meeting a friend for long bike ride after. The run didn't feel great and my time was a very blah 1:06.
10:45 biked the Wine Country Century Course with my friend. It sucked. I still need to get my bike fitted after having to replace my seat and handlebars. My form was out of whack and I was getting a weird side stitch from pressing down on my tummy. The ride took forever, and my legs we tired from running 6 miles. Less than 3 months till Barb's. I need to get better on the bike. Ugh.
Today is a rest day. I may do a short run with my niece (1 mile max).
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