The Road To Recovery - Knee Rehabilitaion Onward!!

Well, I had my first workout that I would truly consider as the step forward in my rehabilitation of my knee.
I walked on the treadmill as a warm up five minutes, then rolled out my tendons around my knee cap. This is vital in my recovery, because of the scar tissue build up and adhesions that can limit my ROM and cause extra pain as I slowly build back up. Important to most knee recovery is rebuilding or strengthening the Medial Muscle of the Quads. I did a focus on that by putting a versa disc/balance disc between my knees helping my neurons remember to fire up in that area.
In this picture, I am doing the leg press with out any weight - the sled alone is 45lbs and we absolutely need to be smart in any recovery we do!! Along with the disc between my knees.

I also did basic bridges with the disc in between my knees. Accomplishing three things, stretching out my ligaments/tendons and the muscles of my quads, working my glutes n hammies, and building up that medial muscle. I am all about multi-tasking!!

Simple soup the final product

All in all the soup turned out great! When we got hm from the day, we thru the noodles into the pot and I shredded up the chicken while the noodles softened.
The only thing I found was that it could have used more salt. However, I wanted to lower the sodium content. The kids loved it extra salt or not!
So healthier eating without the extras it the goal! we accomplished that.

It's so easy a 6 year old can make it!

My daughter Reagan and I embarked on a new adventure in the kitchen.
 As a simple cook, and a mom with an eager child we settled on a Chicken Noodle Soup - Crock Pot is the way to go!

As you will see, in the days ahead, I am about easy clean up - making in the pan, pot or serving dish that you will be using.
 
 The recipe is simple: a garlic bulb, 1 small onion, chicken breasts, salt, pepper, carrots and celery. It called for 2 bouillon cubes, but I improvised with chicken broth and Mrs. Dash to lessen the sodium content.

We were having fun!

We threw it all into the crockpot as we went along. It cooked for 5hrs and then we added in noodles and let them soften.

Below in the 1st video Reagan talks about the ingredients.

Here I explain the easy stuff!!

Finished product to be posted!!

My Recovery from Reconstructive Knee Surgery

I am right on track and progressing well from my reconstructive knee surgery.

I had a Fulkersons Procedure (distal realignment) where they cut the bone and move it over to realign my patella tendon (Tibial Tubercle). The surgery involves a few other procedures including a lateral release, repositioning of the knee cap and a so called "re-grooving" of the pathway the knee cap follows.

My Q-angle which is the angle of the patella tendon in relation to the knee cap and hip (a basic explanation) was 21 degrees.

Whats great about this pic above on the LF is the comparison to my right leg - you can see the thickness of the bone from the surgery that I had 20 years ago to realign my RT patella tendon.

Below is a picture of some of the bruising a few days after. Gradually the colors got a beautiful array from yellow, green, blue and purple. My leg was tender from hip thru foot! As the days progressed post surgery more bruising appeared.

Notice my upper leg and lower leg are as thick as each other from the swelling, ha ha!!




Here I am working with my PTA Julie from University Orthopaedics. She is measuring how far "we" can bend my knee! Look closely, the swelling in my calf from the surgery to my bone is spilling over my compression hose, and I am comfortably drugged!

At this point I had not lost any muscle mass so my quad looks solid.

2012 is here! With every New Year comes fresh starts! I just wanted to highlight some of last years big moment - quickly.....

I recovered from a Hysterectomy and Hernia Surgery, as well as Wrist Surgery and Major Reconstructive Knee Surgery. I am still in recovery from my knee surgery and have a long way to go. I will focus the first third of this year on my rehab, rebuilding the muscle that I have lost! It is amazing how quickly it disappears - I have lost 10lbs of muscle. I have a lot of work to do!!! My leg is a slim, flabby foreign object that I just don't recognize. I will post pictures as I continue to work thru that part of my life.

I am please to announce that I have had 4 Exceptional Ladies Compete this year. All for the first time. Each with different goals! I will be bragging about each of them in the days to come!

Whooa Nellie!!!

At three weeks, I am doing much better!
Things don't feel the same, that will take 6-8 months. To me my tummy feels bruised, numb and like jelly when I touch it. The Dr. gave me a go ahead to be walking on the treadmill.... so, here is a picture of me just before I left to go spend some time -no more than 15mins, on cardio.

I also figured in that I would try a few things out, and "test the waters" on what I could get away with and not. Don't get me wrong, as a trainer, I practice what I preach!! Meaning, if it is safe for me to do, then I will. If it is wrong, and detrimental, then I won't. It is not worth it to end up doing more damage then good. I fully believe this and certainly make sure my clients do the same!!

Here is what is hiding under my workout clothes....a very hot contraption to protect and keep my abs safe.

I do have to say - courtesy of a dear friend - "it was like being a kid in the candy store!" I had to use great restraint and prayer to stick to my guns and properly care and rehab my body from both the surgeries. Not
an easy task for someone who has a hard time sitting still.

I was safely able to accomplish a little shoulder work - sitting down with back support, and even a little bit of chest on a highly Inclined bench. Later in the week, I added in biceps and triceps.


In this picture, you can see how swollen I am by the indentations of the "Super Suit". My abs are "gone" because of how swollen they are from all the work done to them. You can still see dark bruising all through my midsection as well.

I did receive my new pair of Sketchers Shape Ups and since I got my "walking" papers from the dr, Have been wearing them non stop. Be sure to add that extra butt squeeze while you are walking.

Not For The Squeemish!!

I am coming out of the fog from the anesthetic and drugs once again. This time I have had other complications. My surgery - though tough he said, went well. He had a hard time pulling my over developed ab muscles back together. "They kept coming apart", he said when I went for my 2 day post surgery follow up. As I lay on the table and he looked at everything I asked if my "Six Pack" would come back. He said he is not in the habit of taking "Six Packs away".
Fewwie, what a relief.
At this point I am really wondering when everything will look and feel normal.

This has been quite an experience. As aware as I am of my muscles and how they interact with my body as a whole, it is not until something is rendered totally helpless that you realize how amazing God's creation of the body truly is. For example, I never gave a second thought to the fact that breathing is a little more difficult, and talking - well, I cannot "call out" for my kids or talk very loud at all! (Okay - yes, the whole family is happy about that!)

I have had some complications along the way. Somewhere, at some point parts of my neck, back, shoulder and ribs got misaligned. It caused pain that was excruciating to me. I couldn't breath in or out, lay flat, upright or otherwise, and even my eyesight was affected in one eye. The resulting headache was nauseating. After a visit from a chiropractor friend, he alleviated the neck pain, and is working on the chest/back shoulder pain. I can truly say, this all really sucks!!

I know that each day will get better and better and less hurtful then the day before. I look forward to taking off the compression suit that is causing my skin to be irritated. Supposedly that lasts for 4 -6 weeks. I really am praying that won't be the case for me. I have resorted this evening to putting a tank underneath it to hopefully better protect my skin. I wish I thought of that sooner!

So here is a picture after I showered this morning. You can see the drainage tube that is just under my skin. It wraps up one end of my belly and down and out the other. It is the smaller "horseshoe around my new belly button. I am hoping the tube will be removed tomorrow.

The larger horseshoe or iron -like mark is left over from the compression foam that is also under my compression suit, up against my tummy holding everything in. Although uncomfortable, I am grateful for the extra support it has provided.

You can also see bruising and left over pen marks that have not yet washed away. And I included the lower horizontal incision scar - it is almost cut off in the picture - because you don't get to see what is below it!

The drainage tube (seen in the first picture) has been my time passer, sliding the blood along the tube down into the bulb til it's time to dump it out! Yes, super gross!! My hubby has been in charge of the dumping and logging of my ml's of fluid.

He was also kind enough to say that he could still see my abs! Ha, really? I was "holding my tummy in" for the pic. I am so swollen, I should have taken a side pic....

It will take months most likely til my tummy is flat like before. This is a lot more than I signed up for!! Well, I knew it was a tough journey. One week tomorrow....many more ahead.