post #200

I hate this text editor. I changed the text to small, and now I can't change it back to normal.

So this is my 200th post. I wish I had something to say worthy of the occasion, but I don't really.

I saw my physical therapist and athletic trainer today, and they were surprised that my knee is still so swollen. I told them it's been more sore than usual this past week, even though I've been trying to cut back on activity and not be on my feet for long periods of time. I asked them if I could try going without my knee brace sometimes, since I think it might be irritating my knee. To my surprise, they said that might be a good idea. Then they did some kneecap mobilization, which basically means my therapist pushed my kneecap back and forth for a while until I couldn't stand it anymore. It hurt so much - kind of like a sharp nerve pain on the side of my kneecap. I think he singlehandedly found the one most painful spot in my knee. After he stopped, the pain in that spot went away, but it's slowly coming back now. Good thing I have painkillers.

I went to the practice rooms earlier tonight, and it was the first time since ACL surgery that I left the house without a brace on. It was liberating, but it made me realize how incredibly weak my leg is. I have a sort of love-hate relationship with my brace. It hurts my knee/leg when I wear it, but it makes it easier to walk. My knee itself seems to be pretty strong, so I'm not worried about instability, but for some reason my leg gets really tired after walking even short distances without the brace on.

In other news, I've been missing G a lot lately. I'm working on some pretty sweet percussion lit, and I know he'd love it. I miss talking with him about percussion geeky stuff.

Earlier this week I found out that one of my friends from high school (well, more of a friend-of-a-friend) is battling a pretty serious form of cancer. It was really sad to hear, and I guess it puts everything in perspective. I hope everything turns out okay.

Well, I guess that' s about all I have to say for post #200.

okay blogger, you win


Blogger switched me over to the new version. Okay, whatever.

I haven't updated in a while, but there's not a whole lot going on. I'm trying to stay on top of my school work, which is surprisingly hard this semester. I had a bad cold last week and suddenly I found myself behind in everything. After working my butt off, I'm pretty much caught up. This is the first semester in a while that I've been a full-time student, so I'm still trying to adjust to that. I'm also pretty busy helping out with Menomonie's winter drumline.

Physically, there isn't much news to report since my last post. My knee is still swollen all the time, and my physical therapist and athletic trainer are still advising me to avoid any unnecessary activity (including stairs and excessive walking). I am going stir-crazy. Before the accident I was fairly active - I went to the gym or went for bike rides several times a week. If I had my choice, that's the level of activity that I would have right now. I feel like I'm missing something because I can't go to the gym and work out or hop on my bike or whatever. Working out is a good stress reliever, and I miss that. A few months ago I was just starting to be able to do light workouts, and then I started having all this trouble with my IT band. I'm willing to take it easy for a little bit if it means my knee will calm down, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. I'm frustrated because my therapists and I are doing pretty much everything we can at this point - stretches, heat, ice, massage, elevating it, and using ultrasound, anti-inflammatories and steroids... and it still hurts like crazy. I had my brace specialist guy take a look at my knee brace, thinking that the side was irritating my knee. He said it looked okay and took a pad out. I haven't noticed much difference yet, but hopefully that will help.

I've noticed my knee swells up whenever I'm on my feet for more than like 15 minutes at a time. This is a problem because, as a percussion major, I have to stand when I practice. And I can't really afford to cut back on my practice time. I'm going to try and eliminate all other factors, and if that doesn't seem to help my knee, I guess maybe I'll have to take a week off from practicing or something. Which is really frustrating. Actually, it seems like my knee swells up whenever it's not elevated. I've been trying to spend more time resting and keeping it elevated, so hopefully that will help.

Sorry my posts aren't too interesting lately. I don't have a whole lot going on right now other than school, teaching at Menomonie, and trying to rest & get my knee sorted out. My social life is sort of non-existant right now. I'm still trying to find a good balance between work and play - made even more difficult by the need to temporarily cut "unnecessary activity" out of my life. So... I think that's all I've got for now.

random

random

I saw my knee doc today and he was happy with my progress. He said my knee is stable, and my range of motion is good. He noticed that my leg muscles are still pretty atrophied, but he said that's normal and it will take a while for it to look like the other leg. He said it will take six months or longer to re-build that strength, since I'm recovering from a lot of injuries in addition to the ACL reconstruction. It was kind of good (maybe that's not the word... refreshing?) to hear him acknowledge all the stuff I've been through, since doctors/physical therapists sometimes treat me like the ACL is the only issue I'm having. They're all very familiar with my history, but I think sometimes they just get in the routine of post-ACL reconstruction stuff.

I had physical therapy today too, and had some weird steroid treatment done on my knee to hopefully reduce swelling in my IT band. That seemed to make it feel a little better. My therapist and athletic trainer told me I need to rest more and stop doing any unnecessary activity until the swelling/irritation in my knee gets a little better. I'm getting pretty frustrated at this point because I can't stick to an exercise routine. I have the time, motivation, and means to exercise, but everything I do irritates my knee. I feel like I'm losing some of the strength & endurance I've gained. I've been feeling really weak and fatigued lately, despite eating healthy foods and getting plenty of sleep. I think I'd feel better if I could get into an exercise routine, but there's nothing I can really do about it right now.

It's cold. Luckily cats = cheap heat.