11 week Mark

T.G.I.F

Fridays have become my new favorite day. Friday is how I mark another completion of a full week of recovery. Fridays have become milestones for me.

I have to say the cliche thing now--The weeks have NOW been going by fast. I can't believe its already been 11 weeks and I'm feeling this good. 

I returned back to work last week under full supervision of the amazing PT staff at HSS.

                                Not that I'm trying, but I can't get away with anything! :)

I work with a brilliant team of physical therapists who have gotten to know my personality the last year and a half to know what I should and shouldn't be doing. I am not allowed to carry more than 5 lbs, so that means my clients have to work a little harder than they did before!

It has been physically challenging to be back in the swing of things. I have created this awful habit of taking a cab to work (10 blocks...I know don't yell at me). I was advised to do this from my Dr. In all honesty, she said to not walk that much....so I figure its okay. :) My hours start at 6 am and end at 2 pm. Talk about a large switch from sleeping in unit 10 am everyday. Its like I'm living another life...trust me, it isn't a bad one!

My right single leg squats will knock your socks off

The best part of these last few weeks has been the ability to progress into a smaller more mobile brace. Not only is it lighter and allows for more mobility, but its also silver and bad ass. Something like daft punk meets terminator. Its a conversation starter for sure. I even met a new friend at the gym to workout with, we met over conversation about our crutches and knee braces. We have since put together some workouts we can do with only one good working leg. Fun fact: during out workout yesterday I burned 5000 fuel points on my NIKE FuelBand. My arms are fried today.

Knee Braces bring everyone together.

I  have slowly progressed to walking, riding a bike, hip exercises, core exercises, retrograde treadmill walking, therapy pool sessions and balancing. Next week starts the fun life of learning how to walk up and down stairs. I have noticed my deficits in strength and balance. My neuromuscular control needs a kick in the ass, and my quad needs to get SOME definition back. Straight from my clients mouth: my legs are my best asset! One 'step' at a time. Literally. 

The leg press for me has been the hardest. I mean lets get serious, I've done harder things including flipping tires and squatting 2x my body weight. I have done the entire stack on the leg press (I don't even know the last time I used this machine). 

My therapist put me on the fabulous body master beast of a machine, placed the weight at 50# and said to push with both legs.

I looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Jess, I was doing the whole stack before this." I said. She didn't say anything and just told me to do it. After the 2nd repetition, my quads and glutes were shaking so much that I had to take a break in-between my sets. How could this have happened!? My patella was tracking all sorts of directions and I was so scared to feel a shift of weight back on the left leg again. I had to slow down, connect my brain with my body again and control every little movement. 3x10 at 50# bilateral. Work has started. As my quad regains its strength, I have been able to progress to more weight and now taking control of my patella...showing it who's boss. 

I've learned a lot about myself, my body, and my limits these last 12 weeks. I've also learned not to sweat the small stuff and to not take anything for granted. Rehab is hard, no doubt about it. I have a new perspective of how and why I do my job not only for my own rehab, but for others as well.

 

Chapter 4: The healing Continues...both mind and body!

Check it out: I started walking again! After a 7 weeks of intense relaxation and recovery...my left foot touched the ground again. Woohoo! No, this doesn't mean I'm training for a triathlon, crossfit, or even summer. It just means that I'm officially putting weight on my left leg and learning how to walk normally again. Its the small things in life that make it all worth while. 

My 6 week follow up with Dr. Shubin Stein went great. She was impressed about how I was doing and how strong my leg was after 6 weeks of shutting it down. This picture below to me looks so sad about how atrophied my quads have become, but have no fear because they are still firing! I was instructed to start putting a certain amount of pressure every two days to eventually return to weight bearing with the brace and crutches as support. So far so good: I just take 4x as long to get places. Just when I had the left leg swing non weight bearing gate down, I now have to change it all up! I was actually getting so good that I would walk as quickly as my friends...on my mobilegs. Not normal. 

The last thing I'll say about returning my left foot back to earth is this; I had this revelation that I grew taller. No, really I had to raise my crutches up another notch because my posture had changed! I'm back to the 5'3 I always was! 

6 week check up: check out THOSE screws!

 Along with my physical rehab, I had to mentally check in as well. I went to Baltimore/DC/State College to visit my sisters and Parents. Met up with a few friends along the way. Even had a taste of old bay and Natty Bo in the 410. 

My younger sister has a heart of gold and gets to hang out with this little munchkin all day. How I wish I was 4 years old again...laughing, doing hair and nails all day, and hanging out with my sister...this girl lives the life! Melli and Emily took care of my 'boo- boo' on my leg for a couple days while we made mac and cheese, played princesses and waited for our princes to arrive. Even though they didn't come, we realized that all we needed was each other to be happy!

I then went to Penn State to hang with my parents for a couple days. I'm still rehabbing and taking care of my leg by seeing Saz in the training room at PSU. Home away from home...but this time I'm on the other side of the table...being treated not treating. Penn State will always be a part of me. Sitting outside in 65 degree weather watching the Men's Lax game with my Dad...these days I feel pretty blessed. 

I woke up this morning to the smell of freshly cut grass, sunshine and my Mom! I'm back off to the training room to do rehab...I actually got on the bike yesterday for 20 minutes. besides being out of breath after the first 10, It felt amazing!

Something about taking care of yourself mentally while going through changes physically makes these times a little easier. Thanks to the people in my life and where I've been....who knows where I'll go next!

(no worries NYC...I'm still coming back!)