Day 29 (Wednesday, May 25th)

Whoa, I forgot to do PT last night.  Well, strictly speaking I did remember about it but not ‘til I was already in bed and quite tired.  That wasn’t the first time that I didn’t do PT but it was the first time that it wasn’t a conscious decision not to do it.  This AM I was feeling pretty good though and I added some more weight to the leg-lifts in the form of a heavy shoe; I also added more height to the step-downs bringing it up to 4”.  Thankfully, the discomfort I was feeling last night is gone.  I think it was due mostly to swelling, and I think the swelling was from standing (not walking) too much yesterday.  I’ll ask during my PT appointment at 9.

My PT appointment went well as usual.  Adam introduced a new exercise he called the single-leg dead-lift.  This exercise replaces the standing balance that I’d progressed on pretty well to the point that I could do it eyes-closed for over 45 seconds.  The single-leg dead-lift works like this: You balance on your affected leg and then bend forward extending your leg backward as counterweight.  Ideally you keep bending forward until your fingertips touch the floor, then you return to a standing position, still balanced on the one knee.  Work up to 10 reps.  Adam also modified my step-downs to be full height steps, but no step up.  Basically it’s walking down steps which I do on our actual steps now.  The other things stayed the same, continue working toward 20 single legged knee bends (I’m up to 6 or so out of twenty); Step ups stay the same for now.  Continue leg raises with weight (a heavy shoe); Knee bends, Hamstring stretches, Passive extension.

Also, today, I walked from my office to Chipotle for lunch.  It’s a 1.2 mile round-trip which I accomplished nearly at normal walking speed.  It felt a bit uncomfortable but I was able to do it with very little to no limping.  Felt good, really, and it definitely tasted good!

Day 30 (Thursday, May 26th)

Stay the course!

Day 31 (Friday, May 27th)

Physical therapy is a commitment.  On a daily basis you have to choose it.  You have to look ahead and decide to do it instead of whatever else you have going on.  There will be times when it doesn’t fit in.  There will be times where it only fits in because you make extra effort to do so.  Today was one of those days for me where I realized early enough in the day that I had to take the opportunity right when it presented itself.

That said, it went well; my PT is becoming more strength-oriented and less flexibility-oriented.  The exercise are actually leaving my muscles sore, I’m starting to do the exercises with my ‘uninvolved’ leg to make sure that it really is stronger than my ‘involved’ leg.  I really do want to come out of this raring to go for the ski season…don’t want to end up with an injured leg that’s better than the uninjured leg!

Day 32 (Saturday, May 28th)

It’s funny that the day after a post where I state that physical therapy is a commitment, I can’t manage to do any physical therapy at all.  That said, I predicted it’d go this way, and I DID spend a significant portion of the day on my feet, going up and down stairs, hauling things.  Heck, I even trimmed the hedge and picked up the trimmings.  I spent about 2 hrs at the barbecue grill.  Strangely, my leg did not swell up horribly.  Knowing what I was getting into, I wore a Tubi-grip today for the first time in a week to help with it.  Actually, now that I’m typing that I didn’t get any PT in…maybe I’ll actually do it.

Day 33 (Sunday, May 29th)

Stay the course!

Day 34 (Monday, May 30th)

Stay the course!

Day 35 (Tuesday, May 31st)

I woke up today feeling like my knee had made another jump forward in its healing process!  Sleeping last night was less tedious; that is, my knee tolerated more positions.  This is a good day!

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Posted by Greg on July 26th, 2011 :: Filed under ACL Files
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