It's January 11, 2011. That means that I'm five days shy of being a month out of surgery. My knee's doing well, but recovery is a process and I'm not running and jumping around just yet.
About a week and a half after my surgery, I started physical therapy (PT). I went through physical therapy prior to having surgery, so I'm no stranger to the process. But going through PT after surgery is much different than it was before surgery.
Let me take a second to give the Orthopoedic Center of Central Virginia a shout-out. Because of vacation scheduling, I wasn't able to go back to the same therapist I saw prior to the surgery, but I've had fantastic experiences both times. Rachel really knew what she was doing, and it was fun to work with such an accomplished athlete. This time I'm working with Wanda, who is an incredibly positive person and makes showing up to do grueling, tedious exercises a joy. Thank you, ladies!
That said, I have a tendency to think of therapy as well... therapy. That's not really the case. As I mentioned in my last post, one of the two biggest reasons I ended up injured was because my hips and glutes were too weak to support the distances I was running, which caused strain on my IT band (this is really common in endurance runners). Both times the "therapy" I've been doing has been targeted at improving the strength of those muscles, as well as my other support muscles. I'm up to more than 20 exercises that I mostly do every day - it takes me about an hour and a half to get through everything. And let me tell you, these are not easy exercises!
Prior to getting injured, I pretty much had no interest or patience for laying on the floor to do strengthening exercises. I'm a goal-oriented person, and I'm also a big-picture person. I knew people said that core and strength training were important, but I didn't understand why so it wasn't a priority for me. Like everyone else, my time is limited. I chose to focus on running, not strengthening. I didn't understand the consequences of that decision.
And I also didn't really understand what that meant. Running was never something I knew much about. I thought it was easy - put on your shoes, go out the door, and start moving your feet. I started to lose weight. I kept going because I enjoyed the quiet time alone with my thoughts. I decided to run a marathon to prove to myself that I could do it. But I didn't know much about it.
Well, I can't run right now. That's frustrating. But I'm developing an appreciation for the time I spend on the floor very carefully and meticulously going through various exercises that push me to the point where I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to finish my set. I now understand that time isn't wasted. Just because I'm not running during that time doesn't mean I'm not becoming a better, stronger, healthier runner.
It's been an expensive, painful lesson, but I'm grateful for the knowledge I have now. I look forward to putting it to good use.
Showing posts with label IT band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IT band. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Under the Knife
I scheduled my surgery for December 16, 2010. It was about a month from my last doctor's appointment. As I left, Dr. Gondi assured me that they'd get me fixed up. I believed he was going to do everything he could, I just wasn't sure that it would work. The doctor had told me that he was usually able to resolve IT band problems with more conservative treatments, so I was already the exception. What if I was the exception after the surgery, too? I wanted to be optimistic, but I also wanted to be prepared for the worst.
That month was rough. I had gained about 12-15 pounds back over the last few months, and I was terrified that with the waiting period for my surgery and the recovery period afterwards, that would just continue to increase. I was mentally struggling to make good eating choices, and as half-hearted as my efforts were, I was at least trying to be reasonable. The other challenge was that this was all happening in the midst of the holiday eating season. Amazingly enough, though, I held steady at my 12 - 15 pound gain. I am very thankful it wasn't worse, but I also felt like I was at the brink of falling out of control and it was all I could do to hang on.
Surgery day arrived and it was cold and snowy, which isn't completely normal for my part of the country. But everything still ran on schedule. The highlight of the experience for me was the anesthesiologist. My mother had worn a Georgia Tech sweatshirt and it turned out that he was a University of Georgia grad. After some good-natured banter, I was wheeled into the operating room. He told me that since I went to GT, I should start counting down from 100 in prime numbers. I remember thinking that I couldn't count down from 100 in prime numbers because 100 wasn't a prime number itself, but I think all I articulated was that I couldn't count down from 100 in prime numbers. I'm sure that destroyed his opinion of GT grads!
I woke up feeling groggy and tired, but otherwise not too bad. I made it out to the car and into my parents' house without incident, despite the snow and ice. My knee ached, and I was very sleepy, but I was able to walk without crutches and my little dog, Abigail, stayed by my side the entire first day, so overall I was in pretty good shape.
Everything was looking good, but it was still just a matter of waiting to determine if the surgery would effectively resolve the problems I was having.
That month was rough. I had gained about 12-15 pounds back over the last few months, and I was terrified that with the waiting period for my surgery and the recovery period afterwards, that would just continue to increase. I was mentally struggling to make good eating choices, and as half-hearted as my efforts were, I was at least trying to be reasonable. The other challenge was that this was all happening in the midst of the holiday eating season. Amazingly enough, though, I held steady at my 12 - 15 pound gain. I am very thankful it wasn't worse, but I also felt like I was at the brink of falling out of control and it was all I could do to hang on.
Surgery day arrived and it was cold and snowy, which isn't completely normal for my part of the country. But everything still ran on schedule. The highlight of the experience for me was the anesthesiologist. My mother had worn a Georgia Tech sweatshirt and it turned out that he was a University of Georgia grad. After some good-natured banter, I was wheeled into the operating room. He told me that since I went to GT, I should start counting down from 100 in prime numbers. I remember thinking that I couldn't count down from 100 in prime numbers because 100 wasn't a prime number itself, but I think all I articulated was that I couldn't count down from 100 in prime numbers. I'm sure that destroyed his opinion of GT grads!
I woke up feeling groggy and tired, but otherwise not too bad. I made it out to the car and into my parents' house without incident, despite the snow and ice. My knee ached, and I was very sleepy, but I was able to walk without crutches and my little dog, Abigail, stayed by my side the entire first day, so overall I was in pretty good shape.
Everything was looking good, but it was still just a matter of waiting to determine if the surgery would effectively resolve the problems I was having.
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