The new exercise I was assigned for knee rehab last week was to place a balance ball (Swiss ball) against a wall and a soccer ball between my knees. With my back against the balance ball, I squat down pressing my knees together to hold the soccer ball in place. Thank goodness I only have 40 reps to do per day at the moment because I can barely stand when it’s over! And that’s after breaking the 40 into two groups of 20 per the doc’s recommendation.
The remaining exercises are other stretches that aren’t too difficult to manage. Perhaps because I have walls to hold on to in order to balance.
The one rehab exercise I’m really having trouble with is standing on one foot for 2 minutes at a time. Sadly, I must report that I can manage about 30 seconds on my good leg and only 12 on my bad leg. My ankles seem to be all wibbly wobbly and I become so afraid of falling that I end up putting my other foot down to support me. I have a feeling the doc will have me doing this exercise for eons.
Walking is still a bit of a challenge. Doc has given her ok to a max of 15 minutes (continuous) walking per day. For the first few days I was suprised I could barely manage 8 mins. Not even a half mile. Was a bit of an eye opener for someone who was used to routinely doing 2 mi (3.2 km) on a lazy day (weight lifting days) or 4 mi (6.4 km) in an hour on a non-weights day.
I did manage the full 15 minutes last night but my pace was pretty slow. I only managed 0.9 mi (1.44 km). No wonder she set limits.
Of course, it’s much easier to walk than it is to try to manage the stairs or run. I’m pretty much at the end of my abilities after a single set of stairs these days. And of course, managing going downstairs is far more difficult than going up.
Ice is still my friend. Doc says that there’s still a lot of swelling and water on the knee. Managing mostly without painkillers or anti-inflammatories now. With a few odd exceptions, my knee has settled into a dull ache as opposed to sharp, throbbing pain.
All in all, I’m actually pretty impressed with me. I’m actually doing my assigned exercises and not trying to rush back in to the fray. Almost completely out of character for me. Perhaps it was the doc’s “worst case scenario” pronouncement of knee surgery being required in 10 years that has made me pull back and try to do everything she says. If I can strengthen the muscles around the patella enough, she’s suggested that I may be able to put off the knee surgery (according to doc it will happen, it’s just a question of when) for an extra 20-30 years.
Obviously the weight loss train has slowed down a bit. Other than my rehab exercises and arm/back/shoulder/abs weight lifting work, my exercise routine is next to non-existent. I’m still managing about a 1lb loss a week, down from 2lb, so I’ve had to re-adjust my gifts to me presents time goal markers to accommodate this change. My bank account is probably extremely happy with this turn of events since it means I won’t need to buy knew clothes as frequently. Still on track to be a healthy weight by Christmas.
Here’s hoping I can keep up the weight loss at a steady pace while my knee rehabs. I’d like to get from obese to overweight by the end of July (-8lbs) and to a healthy weight range by Christmas (an additional loss of 30lbs). Pretty much everything after that will be vanity directed.
