Some progress....slowly.

It's been a good October! I am officially past the 6 month mark. I was supposed to see my surgeon on Friday, but he rescheduled for 11/7. I will be interested to hear what he has to say, but I think it will be positive. I am still running - and am signing up for my first race, a 5k to benefit cancer research on 11/5. So I am really hoping I don't do anything stupid at the race, because I don't want to hear it at the doctor's appointment. I am pretty much doing 50/50 splits, meaning I run and walk equal amounts. I usually just mark it by song on my iPod. When I first started going 1.2 miles was really hard, and now I am built up to 3-3.5. I go really slow and am not going to break any speed records but I am liking it. It's also a good excuse to buy cute running clothes. Totally justifiable.

My hamstring still is really lagging - we're still doing e-stim at physical therapy. I can definitely think of more fun things to do, but mentally it makes me feel better. It's nice to know it is still alive in there, just taking a little nap, I guess. I'm also surprised that I still have fluid in it after all this time - it puffs up all the time! I have been traveling a lot for work and after flying it's huge. I love ice.

Speaking of ice, I am currently icing something besides my knee right now - I pulled my adductor running this weekend, so I am resting up! I don't want to be down for long - my race is in a couple weeks and I am excited for it. 

Thank you for reading and hope you are having a fabulous fall!

Almost 6 months...what is new?

I really can't believe it's been almost 6 months. In some ways, it's flown by but in others, it's so slow. Overall, things are good and I am making progress, although it's slower than it was initially. I think I got spoiled by all the early progress - I was grateful for the quick healing! But the long run has been a lot harder.

The knee itself feels stable and the mobility is great. Meghan says that if I wasn't as active before as I was, I would probably be a lot happier! I have had it in my head since the beginning that in 6 months, I would be back to aerial (and totally normal). That isn't exactly the case. My medial hamstring (the gracious one that provided the graft) is not happy about being cut, and is really lagging. In muscle testing, the hamstring as a whole is strong, but that little section is barely responsive. I first noticed in my Pure Barre classes- the hamstring exercises have been getting harder, not easier. My calf has been pitching in to help, so it's cramping and pissed most of the time. Meghan used an electronic stimulator on it, to "shock" the muscle back into responding. It did twitch, so it's still alive in there, but it's just healing slower than I had thought. The other piece is, well, I'm not a kid anymore and don't heal as quickly.

I'm trying to find other activities that feel safe to stay active, and that is a very humbling experience! I am really trying to get better at running, and it's slow going. I am a pretty sucky runner, but at least I am moving! I am happy about that. I am also riding the stationary bike and taking lots of Pure Barre. So it's not so bad - I'm just impatient. Imagine that. I have also made friends with a girl that was a marathon runner until she got stress fractures in her hip! So she is building back into running - she has been a big inspiration to me. She completed a sprint triathlon this weekend and trains so carefully, with so much respect for her body and it's limits. What a concept! Maybe that is why I am going through all of this. Good lessons.

13 weeks and one day!

Well, I made it past the dreaded 12-week mark! I see my surgeon next week to get checked, but everything is going okay. My hamstring is still really weak but it is getting stronger - just still working on it every day.

I "graduated" from my formal physical therapy program today, so that was kind of exciting. I have really loved it -it's been so good to have goals to work towards to keep me moving. I celebrated by jumping on my post-op leg on the mini-trampoline, jumping on both legs as hard as I could, and (drumroll please!) sitting on my heels! I still have fluid in my knee that makes this really hard for me, but today was a good day and I was able to do it. It felt really good and I was super excited, especially for 6am.

Jeez, I look short in this picture.

So that's it for now! I probably won't update this too much unless there is something exciting to share, but I still have a ways to go! I will start tiny amounts of jogging in two weeks, and will see my PT once every other week. Thank you for reading - this has been and continues to be a journey for me!

11 Weeks!

Today is 11 weeks since my surgery! I can't believe it's been that long.

Right now, my main challenge is my IT band pain. This week it has stuck to my quad, and Meghan actually took a sink plunger (yes, you read that right) to it. She suctioned it onto my thigh and slid it around to get it to separate everything out. I can tell you that it did not feel that great, but it worked and so it was worth it. I'm still a little swollen and tender but it gets better each day! I'm still icing a lot too - that helps. I also got on the treadmill this week at PT - very exciting! I JOGGED for 2 30-second intervals and stayed on for 10 minutes total. It hurt to jog but it was bearable. I was so excited - you have no idea.

I'm going to Pure Barre 4 times a week at this point and that is going really well. They have lots of new hamstring exercises that they have rolled out (variations on the horrible one I described a couple of posts back) and they are doing those at every class. I wonder sometimes if Meghan is calling them and telling them to lay into the hamstrings. Seriously though, that is where I need to really build up for both of my legs, but expecially the post-op one. It is getting stronger and that's pretty exciting when I can feel some progress. I don't want to cry anymore in class during the hamstring section. I remember crying at doing simple heel slides after surgery. Wow. I really am so grateful for that class because for the 6 weeks or so before my surgery Pure Barre was really the only exercise that felt safe to me - and now as well. I can't say enough about the method or the wonderful instructors that have been so encouraging and kind to me.

My brace came in! It's really, really nice. I would say that even if I didn't know how much my insurance paid for it. It's very comfortable and has 6 straps! They are numbered so that you use them in the right order. It's super lightweight and I think it will be great as I start jogging. I don't think it will be so good for me at aerial or dance, but that's okay. I've got a long way to go before I can get back there anyways.

9 Week and 6 Days - ouch

I had a great weekend of walking, friends, good food, and Pure Barre! Everything felt great (beside the hamstring torture exercises) and one of my teachers even commented on how much more stable I am looking. Then yesterday happened. Aching on the outside of my thigh, near the femur hardware, that got progressively worse. By the end of the day it was really painful to go down the stairs and I was limping. Boo!

I went to PT this morning, and was grossed out at the verdict. Apparently, with my hardware being placed a little differently, it is irritating my IT band - which is responding by sticking to everything around it, including the scar tissue on the hardware. So my morning was spent having it separated from all of the surrounding tissue - apparently this may be an issue that will come up over and over again. It was absolutely as unpleasant as it sounds - I will need to be more vigilant (and apparently more aggressive!) in foam rolling that area.

But the good news is that my worst case scenario fears were not true - everything really is okay with the graft! So that is the most important thing, especially during the first 12 weeks when it's the weakest. We'll keep trucking!

9 Weeks, 2 Days. Dear Hamstring, Please come back. Love, Me

This week was good! Besides the encouraging news at the doctor, I had some good therapy sessions too. Today, the representative from the brace manufacturer came out to my work to measure my leg for the new brace! He showed me a picture of the brace and it looks pretty high tech! It's also very pricey - whew, am I glad to have insurance. It looks like something Darth Vader would wear. Apparently, according to the rep, this is the brace that pro football and basketball players wear and if I watch games, I will see them all the time. So if it's tough enough for the big boys, it should be fine for little old me.

Attractive, yet functional

I went to PureBarre this morning and got my ass kicked. Bad. There is a very intense hamstring exercise that is awesome, but to someone missing a piece of hamstring apparently it is not going to be a good time.

Looks innocent enough...

The exercise looks like the above picture, but we were squeezing a ball in the back of our knee as well. So you do tiny squeezes with the ball, while lifting the whole leg in tiny, tiny movements. I almost blacked out. I think my inner thighs felt sorry for my missing hamstring and decided to pitch in and try to help, because when I walk they feel like they are on fire. I love it and can't wait to recover so I can do it again. Quite possibly tomorrow, but I would skip any additional hamstring torture. I don't want to push too hard with them.

I really, really, really miss aerial. October seems like forever from now- but I will have to keep myself occupied in the meantime. I watch a ton of youtube and have lots of ideas for the trouble I can get into when I am ready. Can't wait!

Sweet, sweet freedom - just under 9 weeks.

See the round circle in the head of my femur?

So, long story short - I got out of the giant brace! I'll keep it handy in case I need it, but my doctor is having me fitted for a new brace this week, just for activity. I had to ask if the brace would let me go back to aerial early, but he said no. It never hurts to ask!

He said everything looked good - I will see him in about a month. I'm still in the most vulnerable time for the graft - until it has time to set and revascularize (so creepy, but cool at the same time) it is the most prone to rupture. It's also a dangerous time because you start feeling more normal and want to do normal things, and you can't yet. I am not taking any chances.

He said the pain I'm having is normal and that as long as it's not severe it's fine. I was a little obsessed with the xrays - it is so bizarre to see your bone with new accessories. He was all excited to tell me about it, especially how the washer (used to secure my pin since my bone is so small) was lined up just perfectly on my femur - not too far to the back, but not too much on the side. Looks like he did a good job! In the picture above, you can see a perfectly round circle in the head of my femur. That's the washer. I don't think you can see it in the picture here, but in the office if you looked carefully you could see the screws in my tibia. They will actually dissolve over time and will be replaced by bone. Medicine is so cool - I wish I was better at science in school. Or maybe had just paid more attention.

Onward and upward! Thanks for reading!