I’m writing these blogs more for myself than for a viewers entertainment. I have been a little out of it since I had my knee reconstruction surgery. I stopped taking the prescribed pain meds 4 days after surgery. They were making me crazy. The effects of the anesthesia were still in my body for about a week post surgery. My brother was kind enough to drive me to and from the gym after my surgery. Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I was in the gym the day OF surgery. That’s right. I did a nice shoulder work out and it was awesome. I took 2 days off and went back and did a chest workout. I went to my BJJ gym and sit in on class and took notes. I didn’t grapple, I”m not stupid. It was great to get out of the house and see my gym peeps. Those people have become like a family to me.
I had my first day of physical therapy yesterday. It was one of the hardest days of my life. Not becuase of the pain but because the lady sat down and said I really need to NOT wrestle for a year and half and let me leg heal completely. She said that professional athletes we see on TV go back so soon after surgery because they have to, their time frame is limited. So I told her my time frame was limited too. I don’t take well to bad news. My brain has a misfire and I literally forget what ever crap nonsense is being said to me. I’ve always said I thought I had a bad memory but I’m realizing that my memory is just fine. I just have a great defense mechanism for forgetting crap I don’t like. 🙂
The exercises are tough. It’s tough to know what your body was capable of doing and not be able to do it. Over night everything changes. You’re walking one day, running, jumping and the next day you have to put all thought and effort into just bending your leg 2 degrees. That has been challenging. The first day after surgery was depressing and thank god the meds turned me into a zombie. I could not move my leg at all. The second day was a little better. I was actually walking with most my weight on my leg in a brace in the first 24 hours. I had full weight baring on it within 48 hours.
My doctor gave me the OK to stop wearing my brace only 2 weeks after surgery. My nurse was in shock. She said that the doctor usually makes people wear the brace for 4-6 weeks even if they are athletic. My PT confirmed that when I saw her the next day. She said I am weeks ahead of the curve and that scares her. She says she can tell I’m the type of person who will start feeling great and think I can go back into sports in the next few weeks. I assured her that I wll be smart about my recovery and listen to her. I have to listen to her, she’s like a dominatrix administering pain I’ve never known before. The exercises she has me doing to rehab my leg are torture. Bending the leg to a 110 degree is slightly annoying but getting it as straight as my non injured leg is mind blowing pain. My vision gets blurry when I have to do my rehab for straightening. I watch the clock and count every second of the 15 minutes ( 5 times a day) that I’m supposed to do these exercises. Today is day 2 of rehab and things seem 20% easier than they did yesterday. This a great news. I know my body and I know how it heals and responds. The first day is the worst. 2nd is better and every moment after 36 hours of starting something new is all easy.
I’m in a sticky situation right now. I got the job at kink.com. I have been living out in SF since late december. I flew back home to LA to have my surgery and I’ve been here 2 weeks to recover. I must now go back to SF. I have not found my own apartment yet. I’m going to have to hire movers to move all my crap from LA to SF. This is fine, that’s the issue. I’m going to have to switch my PT up to NOR CAl. For some reason my insurance separated northern california from souther california. I had to get an entirely new medical record for my nocal visits. I hope it’s a smooth transition and I can get the pT I need. I will have to keep coming down to so cal to see my surgeon. UGH So I’m looking at getting a hybrid car. I will be driving from SF to LA every weekend. My Chrysler 300c hemi just isn’t practical for that. Who can suggest a good hybrid?
