Post op- Day 6

Day 6

Another day of improvements. My ROM has increased yet again and I've managed to carry out all my usual exercises painlessly. So in terms of rehabbing, another successful day. But, another boring day. This has literally been my view:

So... bored.. I'm not a big movie person, so I've been watching old Metamoris fights on YouTube. I like little people Jiu Jitsu like Jeff Glover and Kristian Woodmansee. Those guys movement is soooo good. I've also been searching through Mackenzie Dern's Facebook and instagram, trying to work out when she had her patella tendon ACL replacement in an attempt to predict how soon I could be back on the matt. Stalker much? 

In additional all that excitement, I've been writing a diet plan. Here's an example of the sort of thing I have to look forward to if I'm to maintain/lose weight whilst I'm largely immobile:

Om nom nom

I get my diet/supplement advice from Crossfit Man (aka Chris Longley) from Crossfit Westcountry. Dude knows his stuff and I appreciate all the advice he gives to me, so I'll be following his advice on how I can maintain muscle mass and lose fat once I'm more mobile.

Exercises

3 x 15 knee flexion drills

3 x 5min knee hangs

3 x 10 straight leg raises

3 x 10 quad tensening drills

My phsyio sheet says to stop doing the straight leg raises when they become easy to do again, so I may do them tomorrow for the last time. Knee flexion was awesome again. I upped the 10 to 15 reps today, as they weren't causing me any issues. Knee hangs are feeling good, I need to remember to relax my glutes and my whole leg in order to really let me knee sink.

I attempted (ppfft, using that term real loosely) another exercise today. Lying on my front, and attempting to bend my leg back (ultimately so my feet can reach my butt). It was a foul experience. Super tight on my stitches. I'll have to ease slowly into that one, but I'm sure as hell not looking forward to it..

I've got my first Physio appointment and my GP checking my dressing booked for this Tuesday (6th May). Will be good to get some advice/recommendations regarding rehab exercises and what I need to do next.

Icing (30-40mins)

10am

12pm

3pm

7pm

Yeah, icing like crazy today. I think the reduction in swelling is what has made my knee flexion exercises easier, so I'm going to continue icing at least 4 times a day.

In terms on my walking progression; I'm still wobbly as hell. I'm a little gutted really, as I'd envisaged myself off crutches by day 7. Then again my nerve block didn't wear off until day 2. My walking technique is good (I'm not doing anything funky with my hip or relying on the crutches) but I still need them both. Weight bearing isn't painful, as I can stand still with no crutches with what feels like a 60:40 weight distribution just fine. But no such luck when it comes to walking. *Shrugs*. Might be a mental thing. I'll keep trying. Getting there slowly!

End.

Post op- Day 5

Day 5

So my tubey-grip tried to attack me last night. I woke up at 3am with my knee area hurting like hell, only to feel that my tubey grip had all rolled up and was digging in super right right above my knee. You know when you wear a pair of socks that are too tight around your ankle, and it digs in, and you get a good itch from it where it's gone all red? Well, it was like. Only, replace the satisfying itch with excruciating pain. I might start sleeping with it doubled over rather than tripled over. I fell back asleep again, s'all good.

I've taken some swelling pictures. I'm pretty impressed. There's not a lot of difference, from my biased perspective.

Swelling

I know, I know. You want a close up of these bad boys. Well here you go.

Still a bit squidgy

I am, however, legitimately concerned that I may have been beaten up by the surgeon and his team. My leg looks like a prop from The Walking Dead..

Corpse leg vs normal leg

EURGH. From this angle, my bad leg is definitely more swollen. Mainly in the calf and ankle though. It doesn't seem to bad looking down on it. On second thoughts, I have done such an unreliable photo. The picture of my bag leg was taken considerably closer to my leg than my right one. And I'm a freakin' scientist. How embarrassing. Anyway, I digress.. 

I've officially hit boredom today. The weather is too inconsistent to lie out in (I'm lying out in the sun for like, 7min intervals. It's hardly worth lowering myself into the sun lounger), my brother has just gone back to uni so I have nobody to bully, and I suck at PS3.

I'm about to write a diet plan so I a) avoid turning into a super fatty and b) can return to Jiu Jitsu just sucky, not fat and sucky. I eat pretty good on the whole (too many treats recently) but I know what works well for my body and how to lose the weight properly (I've lost about 40lbs since starting Jiu Jitsu). I'll have to keep doing bits and pieces like that to keep myself busy. I'm really hoping I'll be able too do a small upper body workout maybe tomorrow or the next day. I've bee feeling good today, so we'll see.

Exercises

3 x 10 Knee Flexion

3 x 5 mins knee hangs

3 x 10 straight leg raises

3 x 10 quad tensening thingies

My exercise regime has yet to change, as I'm following my rehab notes given to me when I was discharged from hospital. It says to do this stuff from day 1 to day 14. I'm booking a Physio appointment tomorrow sometime, so I guess I'll be doing the same thing until then. 

It's good because I can tell I'm getting better at them. I don't have to shout "Up! UP!" at my leg when doing straight leg raises anymore, and I only swear a little bit when I do the knee flexion drills (again, they felt really good today, maybe even reached a 110 bend)

I've been slacking on strengthening my quads. Which is stupid because one of the things I was worried about was having one hench leg and one chicken leg, yet I'm doing nothing about it. The exercise is to literally tense your quad. When I do that, I feel it over my entire knee cap. I just did it then, as I typed this. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes. It's foul. No thanks.

I'm waiting until I can weight bare better, then I've read that they start getting you to do baby squats. Maybe I should just man up and do the tensening drills though..

Knee hangs are fine again. Feeling like I can relax more, and really sink into them. Weeeee.

Here's a video of my knee flexion drills. I reckon I'm close to 110 degrees on them:

Icing (20-30mins)

10am

1pm

3pm

6pm

9pm

My best friend (the cryocuff) is serving me well still. Oh, that reminds me. I lied yesterday. I said I took no pain killers. It got to about 7pm and I felt really achey so I was persuaded to take them. Today I took some ibuprofen late morning, it's 4:30 as I type, so I may take some more at dinner. I guess they're antiinflammatory too. Bonus.

Technically today has been another success, I'm just feeling a little deflated. It's one thing being off work, but if I can't train/go to the gym/paddleboard/DOANYTHINGILIKE then what's the point? Man, I can't even carry anything anywhere. I roll my bottle of juice down the hallway as I make my way to the lounge. Winner.

Post op- Day 4

Day 4-

Woke up at 5am. Not in pain or anything, but that was the time my body decided to wake up, and I was wiiiide awake. 

Not much to report today, other than I've stopped taking painkillers. I figured I'm not actually in "pain" much, it's just a dull ache. And I figured I could (wo)man-up enough to not take any pills anymore.

Exercises:

3 x 10 knee flexion

3 x 5 min knee hangs

3 x 10 straight leg raises

3 x 10 hamstring strengthening contractions

 I'm putting it down to the lack of painkillers, as today has been tougher than yesterday. I'm not so naive to believe that every single day is going to be an improvement on the last, as today has proven. I couldn't manage any more flexion in my knee, but I'm still managing the 95-100 degrees which I'm happy about.

I've focused a a lot more on knee extensions today. One of the common side effects of not following rehab thoroughly, is be the long-term inability to fully straighten the leg. I can't afford to not be able to lock out my leg, so I've been making sure I do my knee hangs. Where possible, I've been 'hanging" my good leg too, for comparison. The pictures don't show it very well (at all) but I was very close to full extension today. It's a case of really really relaxing. Any tense muscles and it prevents your knee sinking into the hang.

Knee hangs- comparing good and bad knee

 The suns been out lots today so I've taken the opportunity to lie out in the sun in a reclining sun lounger whilst resting.

Icing (20-30mins)

10am

1pm

2pm

6pm

Side note; my Mum/Brother freakin hates me for asking them for ice so much. Haaaaaa. Love.

That's all for today really. Not much to report, but I guess there will be days like this. 

In terms of general exercise, I decided before my operation that I'd give myself 5-7 days to fully rest. I figured my body needs to spend time healing before I try and do anything (which will primarily be upper body stuff for a while). 

Tried some walking today. Not much, because I'm a bit achey. My ankle and calf are still a little swollen, maybe a little less than yesterday though.

Yawn, bit of a boring one today. Hopefully more to report tomorrow.

End.

Post op- Day 3

Day 3- 

Pretty impressed that this gammy leg hasn't interrupted my sleeping. I've been taking some co-codamol before bed, and not had to take anything else until late morning so far. Today I've had some Ibuprofen at 11am, and that's it (it's.... just gone 6pm now). Sweeeeet.

Knee swelling is still the same, but overall pain is minimal today. Lots of bruising and swelling around my (c)ankle. Eww.

Really good day today. Real productive. It's looked like this;

Exercises

10 x 3 Knee flexion drills

5 x 10 Straight leg raises

2 x 10 Hamstring strengthening contractions

3 x 5 min Knee hangs

Felt reeeeal good doing the exercises today. Especially the knee flexion drills. I wasn't wimpering in pain and it didn't feel super tight over the stitches like yeseterday. I managed a 95/100 degree bend which I'm super happy with (as it can take up to 14 days to achieve this).

Knee flexion comparisons

Day 2- approx 90 degrees

Since surgery, I have been using a dinner tray to reduce friction along the carpet, and help slide my leg more easily.

As mentioned before, doing this exercise yesterday was immensely uncomfortable. 

Day 3- approx 100 degrees

I managed about 3 sets of 5 throughout the day, and hated every minute of it. 

Compare that to today...

Where I managed a much larger degree of bend. About 100 degrees.

 It felt much easier to achieve (even without the tray). I could pull it in, in one smooth motion, compared to the jolting I was only capable of yesterday. WIN.

Icing (for 20-30mins)

9:30am

11am

3pm

5pm

9pm

Trying to get rid of my swollen cankle

It may well be the use of the cryocuff all of yesterday that had helped me achieve so well in the exercises. It really is incredible, and I'd encourage anyone who experiences frequent knee injuries/soreness to invest in one.

Inbetween icing today, I have been practicing my walking. I even managed to tackle some stairs today without injury/death. Weight bearing has been much easier today, and as mentioned above, I have managed to hobble a little without crutches- something I won't attempt again until I am a little more balanced. The main point I'm trying to make is I'm not experiencing any pain when putting weight through the leg (something which is fairly common).

It's still super early days, but if I keep progressing as I have been, I'll be a happy Shebeast.

End.

Post op- Day 2

Day 2-

Another good night of sleep. Lying around and playing Mortal Kombat must be exhausting me..

I took of my tubey grip and had a nosey at the state of my knee today. Mainly because I'm a rebel, but also because, as mentioned yesterday, I couldn't feel the cold of the ice getting through to my knee. 

Side note: My iodine stained leg looks freeeeakin' nasty still. Despite having a shower this morning, I swear. Oh yeah, the shower was interesting. I decided I'd stand (because only old ladies sit down in the shower), which made for a terrifying ordeal. I reckon I'm about 70:30 in terms of weight distribution. But I thought I might trip and die. But I didn't. Hooray for me.

Post tubey grip wrinkle-age

Today has largely been a day of rehab exercises and icing like crazy.

Exercises:

2 x 10 knee flexion (aka holycrapthisistortureflexion)

5 x 10 minute holds of passive knee stretch

3 x 10 straight leg raises 

I've focused more on hyperextending my knee today. I've read so much literature before the surgery, and the fastest recoveries followed the regime of; get the swelling down with heaps of ice (check) and reduce swelling ASAP in order to be able to regain full ROM faster.

Despite what mummybeast says, I don't think the swelling is as bad as I had envisaged;

Thin (ish) vs. Fatty

However, the front of my knee has felt very tight today. I've managed to get a 90 degree bend again, but it was more challenging than yesterday. I feel like I'm about to blow out all the stitches when I try to get a 90 degree bend. Not an enjoyable experience. So I did them, but not as many as I did yesterday.

Despite hands on my hips, my face is more like "AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOHHGODDDDDD"

So yeah, hyper-extensions and leg raises today. I should probably mention that when I'm not doing the exercises, I look like this;

Looking down on leg, but I swear it's raised to chest level with more height under the ankle

Icing regime (each for 20mins):

11am

2pm

6pm- Introduced cryocuff (see below)

9pm

At about 5:30 I sent some minions over to collect a cryocuff from my coach Darren. It is the most incredible, beautiful, thoughtful creation in existence. Ram some ice in the top, a little cold water, pump it up and let the coolness flow round. It's lusssshhhhhh.

I approve

In addition to the exercises, I've also been practicing my walking- whilst wearing the sexy brace. Post ACL surgery you're encouraged to fully weight bare as soon as possible. As I can stand up unassisted, I figured I'd be walking pretty soon. However, putting all my weight on the operated leg feels horrrrrrrible. Not painful or anything, just, weird. I'll be taking it super steady, but I'll be practicing 4 or 5 times a day.

I'm trying to avoid developing any bad habits in reference to using the crutches too. I'm walking super slow, and making sure I bend my knee, and placing my foot down heel-toe.

My brother (she..bro?) had an MCL reconstruction in December last year, so has some experience in how to get back to walking properly. He's my walking guru.

He has more holes in his leg though.

Extra side note; Whilst we have had different ligaments reconstructed, his involved a hamstring graft, and mine is a patella graft. It will be interesting to compare when we are both fully healed, as I've heard conflicting opinions on each graft. 

Ah, I've also remembered I've bought some supplements to help fix me. Along with my usual whey protein (that I usually drink post workout, but am currently drinking pre bed time) I've bought this stuff:

Ta-dahhhh!

So ligaments are made of collagen, collagen is in this lemon bon bon flavoured thing, so I've had a serving today and may start having a couple of servings a day.

Pain has been on and off today. Yesterday I alternated ibuprofen with co-codamol and felt fine. I've tried to ease off today and I've only had one serving of each. I am feeling it though. Again, not so much in my knee, but the stitches and actual wound hurts (probably from the compression of the tubey grip and the painful-bending-death exercises).

Pain-o-meter- probably a 4 or 5. Most painful thing today has been accidentally dropping a bag of frozen peas on my knee, and having a trapped nerve in my bum when standing up earlier on.

All in all, an improvement on yesterday, even if only a little.

End.

I'm doing this from my phone..

Alriiiight.. I'm intrigued as to how this turns out.

I'm also going to keep this as the briefest blog ever, as my auto correct is already driving me mad..

Updates:

I am getting back into photography. Well, attempting to. More specifically, fighting photography. The last set of serious pictures I took were at ADCC in Nottingham a couple of years ago (see blog entitled ADCC). But now, I'm trying to do it on a more regular basis. Here are some shots I've taken recently at training at Fightworx Academy: ok, I've attached pictures but have no idea where they will appear. Whatever. There are also some pictures of some Forca Luta t shirts. It's a new and upcoming MMA brand owned by one of guys I train with. So check them ooouuut.

/>
Second update. After some (polite) nagging about the lack of women's bjj stuff in UK mag Jiu Jitsu Style, I currently find myself in the process if writing an article about women's jiu jitsu in the UK and world scene. It will be in the next issue of Jiu Jitsu Style, so keep your eyes peeled! />


And finally, both my sponsors have some amaaazing stuff due out really soon. Scramble are in the final stages of releasing their much anticipated Vale Tudo shorts which look siiiiiiiick. They have also found a good quality bjj belt manufacturer and so they aim to start producing scramble belts very soon (they've been talking about this for a while,and have received a few samples from other companies, but the quality wasn't up to scramble standards- so you know these will be the sheeeeet- see sample pic I've attached, somewhere).

And, Pony Club Grappling Gear are looking to release 3 different t shirt designs along with their funky yellow and black spats, all at the same time (see pic). The t shirt designs include statements like "No bullshido, hespect", as well as glittery gold "I heart jiu jitsu". Ny favourite, which I'm VERY excited about is the Genki Sudo T shirt. Face it. Who wouldn't want one of those?

Oh, and superfinally- I'm on instagram. Find me. I'm "shebeastbjj".

Right, that's it. I have mobile-phone-texting-hand-cramp.

End.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9