strengthening for surgery

I know from past surgery experiences that the condition and attitude that you take into the procedure can affect the outcome and recovery time. I decided to do some focused strengthening of my legs and core to get into the best shape I could before going into the surgery and was something I would want to continue once I had finished my knee rehab and started to get back to regular activities and workouts.

I signed up for a Personal Training program offered by my health club. The best deal was to go for 30 sessions (bringing the per session price down around $60) and paying up front. I was glad I had been paid for my summer consulting work as it was a good sized chunk of cash.

I was very impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm of the trainer to whom I was introduced during my special introductory session. We began scheduling two weekly sessions together.

I have tried to keep my fitness level steady as I age and hurt from the knee. On my own I do a cardio routine several times per week and yoga as many as four times per week. I was swimming once per week and trying to bump that up to twice. Although it is not weight bearing, swimming is a great workout for me. I love being in the water, I love working on streamlining my stroke. I do primarily drills and change up the strokes, all but the butterfly.

As with all workouts these days, I need to pay close attention to keep from overworking my shoulders and my arthritic knee and avoid injury.

The first several sessions of PT were great. We talked about my upcoming surgery, my limitations, strengths and weaknesses. I got some good work for my shoulders and chest, core and arms and light work with legs. As we went on, the leg work climbed in resistance, repetition and rigor. I was interested in having strength in the muscles surrounding the knee.

Today I must declare "NO LEGS". The leg work recently has been extremely painful. Not necessarily at the time of the workout and that throws me off. When I can do it and not feel too much pain, I get the sense that it will be okay. But it is after the activity that the pain begins. This last workout on Monday left pain lurking through Thursday when I had some if it massaged out of my glut, my quad, my calf and my ankle. I cannot afford to be in pain for so many days following an activity.

anticipation

This week I have seen my hospitalist and my surgeon, had my blood drawn, changed my medications and started thinking very seriously about this upcoming event.

People are starting to ask me about the surgery because they know it is coming up soon. I am trying to provide enough info so that people will think to visit or get in touch but not the gory details.

I am quite enthusiastic about the outcome, to have a fully functioning knee. We took our bikes to our favorite biking place in Wisconsin last week and I (we) were confined to riding on the flat lands. The hill climbing was just too much strain on the knee and therefore too much pain and too much time icing afterward.

I told the doc this week that I wanted to be able to bicycle up hills and walk around for an hour or more. He said I could do all that and more. He advised not to jump out of airplanes and I stated that I was not planning to run again. I didn't really have any plans to jump out of an airplane and I never enjoyed running enough to continue that punishment. Biking is something that I love to do and want to do more of with a healthy knee.

I will be getting the Zimmer women's knee installed in my left leg replacing my arthritic knee joint that has no cartilage remaining on the lateral side. The bone grinding against bone is not only noisy but painful and really annoying.