January 23, 2008

Don’t Call it a Comeback

I fully expected to be tortured today at physical therapy. I worked so hard on my bike yesterday that this morning, I was hurting. The back of my knee was just killing me and when I tried to work on flexion this morning, it was a lost cause.

I walked into PT with the weight of the world on my shoulders and it was obvious to my PT. On the table beside me, sat the college rugby player who had ACL reconstruction seven weeks before me. He was the one who warned me three days before my surgery that it was awful. He gave me this huge smile and asked me how I’ve been. We spent our table time discussing our recoveries. He asked me where my flexion was and when I told him I was at 129 last week, his eyes got wide.

"Girl! That’s good," he said. "I didn’t hit 130 until nine weeks!"

He went on to tell me that he had a lot of problems with swelling and that it wasn’t until his 8th week that he got to ride the bike. He was shocked that I was riding already, let alone two weeks ago. That made me feel awesome. All along, I’ve been feeling sorry for myself thinking that I’m not a world class athlete and I’m not young like a lot of people who have this surgery. It’s just going to take me longer. According to him, I’m way ahead of the game.

For your listening pleasure, some tunes to match my mood for the day with particular emphasis on the following lyrics. Just substitute "knee" for "land" and "PT room" for "itty bitty world":

"I’m gonna rock this land
I’m gonna take this itty bitty world by storm
And I’m just gettin warm"

My ACL friend went on to walk backwards on the treadmill and work on some lateral movement exercises and I started working on my flexion. My PT came over and started bending my leg a bit. I told him I was going to have a lousy day, that my flexion had been horrible this morning. . . and then he measured me at 133 degrees and it didn’t even really hurt all that much. I was shocked.

He put me on the bike for 15 minutes with a tension level of three and I managed to ride over four and a half miles in that time. I also broke a sweat and got a good work out. When I felt like I couldn’t pedal any faster, I imagined my beach bod this summer. I truly will be in the best shape of my life by then. Slacking off is not a choice with this recovery, so I’m hoping that I can continue the working out trend once I’m healed completely.

After the bike, it was on to the leg press machine, where we added another 10 pounds and another set (up to four now). When I was finished with all my exercises, my PT told me how awesome I’m doing and gave me a high five. He does not distribute high five’s for just anyone or any accomplishment. In fact, I’ve only ever seen him give them to me. Uh-huh, that’s right.

Then he watched me walk with the brace unlocked. The grin spread across his face and he told me I can keep it unlocked. "You’re walking GREAT!" he told me. He was genuinely excited and so was I. It feels weird walking without it locked, but having the freedom to walk normally again feels AMAZING. I’m guessing that in another week or two, this brace will be officially gone.

What was going to be my birthday party/black belt party may instead be my "crutches and brace are gone" party. (Did I happen to mention that the crutches are gone as of last week?) And yes, there will be music by LL Cool J at my party, and you better believe I’ll be chair dancing my butt off.

***Make sure to check out The BBM Review today. We’re letting you know about exciting contests and have three prizes to give away next week!"