Anne 的个人资料Keep On Keeping On照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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2007/11/27 Second Swimming LessonThe water was cold tonight when JY gave me my second swimming lesson.
Due to muscle ache, I couldn't get my arms straight and towards the back, behind my head. Triceps were aching from gym workout over the weekend. It wasn't a good idea when I haven't done gym in so long.
Gotta remember to kick from the thighs and let the rest of the legs follow through and not use the knees.
As I'm too un-coordinated to do the arms and head for freestyle so JY helped me work on a hybrid stroke where he corrected my arms for breaststroke so I could continue moving and come up for air, while legs did freestyle flutter kicks. Turns out I had been doing the arms freestyle for incorrectly, where I pulled down past my chest and my palms were not perpendicular to the bottom of the pool.
After a while JY said I was using too much of my upper body so he got me to move my arms less unless I needed to come up for air. Good point. I'm doing swimming as part of rehab to strengthen my knee, not my upper body.
Towards the end I gasped for air and swallowed some pool water and choked. Man, I suck at swimming.
JY is truly a patient and kind person to teach me. I felt bad when I saw him shivering when we got out of the water. I wasn't cold cos it takes a lot of energy for me to complete something simple as I'm simply not efficient in water.
2007/11/25 First Swim In AgesJY taught me how to do front crawl today. I think we were in the pool for about 40 minutes before it started to rain. Only managed to get the kicking action right. Need to work on the arm movement and co-ordinating arms with legs.
This is on top of all the walking we did today.
All in all, a good day. 2007/11/24 Self Concious at the GymNothing screams for attention at the gym quite like a walking around with a purple aluminium walking stick. It doesn't help my left leg stiffens a little when tired and adds to the already unnatural gait. I felt very self conscious. Everywhere I looked was either people's reflections looking at me or seeing them looking at me directly. I looked at the rubbery floor surface and made my way around trying to figure out which were the equivalent machines I could use based on my "ACL Rehabilitation - Strengthening Phase" worksheet from the hospital.
Two personal trainers approached me to offer their services. I'm fine. Really. I find the knowledge and expertise of most so-called personal trainers in SG a little suspect. Besides, Evil JoJo is irreplaceable. The first personal trainer was a bit hard-sell, as this particular gym is infamous for. The second personal trainer was much better and just helped me to look for a similar machine (as the gym didn't have the machine I was looking for) and showed me how to adjust it. Apparently he tore his ACL before during NS and told me to go easy and adjusted the weights to almost zero. I thanked him and put it back to 30 lbs for my left leg after he walked away.
JY commented that my gym is full of "posers". My response is: there are posers at every gym. It's easy to spot them, the machines are empty, the mirrors are full - the posers are hogging the mirrors. It doesn't matter to me cos I do my own thing and go. I don't even shower at the gym if I can help it.
Anyway, the rehab exercises are different now:
1. Stretches - I do these to warm up and warm down
2. Free Weights - I do these at home and strap on ankle weights
3. Standing Exercises - I do these at home and at gym
4. Weight Stacks - I need machines at gym to do these and set it to 30 lbs and only use left leg where possible
The funny thing about recovering from an injury is that I'm now exercising even more than prior to injury. I'm supposed to do the home set of strengthening exercises 3 times a week and the gym set 3 times a week, which means I'm working out 6 days a week with one day of rest.
So far I haven't been assigned any cardio, only strengthening. I'm not complaining. The sooner I can move around on my own without walking stick, the better.
2007/11/22 Good News and More Good NewsIt paid to push myself at home to do my rehab exercises homework.
Good News #1: This morning at the Orthopaedic specialist's office, he said I was good to go and the only thing stopping me is fear. Orthopaedic specialist asked if I had started on rehab and I replied I had started last week and I've been diligently doing the exercises at home and that the second session was after the appointment with him. He said to push the physio-therapist because they tend to be very gentle as the bulk of the people who go are about three times my age. He thinks I can do a lot more, like cycling, for example. Good News #2: It didn't hurt at all when the stitches were removed. I'm relieved. Good News #3: I asked about yoga and doc said it was OK. I'm so happy! Good News #4: At physio-theraphy, I regretted asking the physio-therapist to push me harder and not be so nice to me. I was moved to the section near the sports clinic and she put me on a combination of exercises where I used body weight as well as putting me on machines. It was pretty darn challenging. I asked for stretches I can do in the office and my homework now includes doing the exercises at home with ankle weights strapped on as well as going to the gym to use machines. At the end of the workout, the physio-therapist checked my knee and said I didn't need ice. Yes!
Good News #5: Physio-therapist has cleared me for swimming. Good News #6: Initially I thought I had to cancel my Yoga club membership and now I don't have to. I called the contact from the membership department and she was so nice to suspend my membership for 3 months and was so nice and concerned to ask if that was enough time for me. The club is really nice. I'm suspending my membership from now 'til 1 Mar '08. The club is letting me suspend for 3 months and giving me 3 extra months on my 2-year membership. It's been good news after good news. Mom wanted to monitor the stock market today so I drove myself to hospital and was there from 9:55 a.m. and reached home at 2 p.m. Had to wait at Orthopaedics, wait at Physio then wait at Pharmacy to fill prescription. To those who ask me if I'm bored out of my mind while on medical leave, the answer is - No, I spend a lot of that time waiting. It's all worth it though, to be able to start exercising again. For weeks I haven't been able to do something I really enjoy. And now, I can! 2007/11/21 Motivation, Part IITo strengthen leg so that I can walk well enough to enjoy my holiday and explore Tokyo with mom over Chinese New Year next year, Feb '08.
Motivation, Part IJY got me an early Christmas present in the form of 2 TYR lap suits and a mesh tote bag yesterday. The gift came with an offer for swimming lessons to learn front crawl. Currently I only know breaststroke and have been advised against breaststroke by my running coach, orthopaedic specialist and physio therapist.
I like the colour and cutting of the swim suits and like how each suit is double layer so it compresses my fats well.
I'm looking forward to when physio therapist gives me the all-clear to go swimming.  Exercises Since Torn ACL RemovedFri, 16 Nov '07
Struggled through first physio theraphy session at hospital:
- Stretches:
- Strengthening Exercises:
- Ice on knee:
- Homework:
- Did another set of stretching and strengthening at home later in the afternoon
Sat, 17 Nov '07
- Stretches: 2 times/day
- Strengthening: 2 times/day, 1 set x 10 secs x 10 reps
- Ice: 3 times/day, 15 mins
Sun, 18 Nov '07
- Stretches: 2 times/day
- Strengthening: 2 times/day, 1 set x 10 secs x 10 reps
- Ice: 3 times/day, 15 mins
Mon, 19 Nov '07
- Stretches: 2 times/day
- Strengthening: 2 times/day, 2 sets x 10 secs x 10 reps
- Ice: 3 times/day, 15 mins
Tues, 20 Nov '07
- Stretches: 2 times/day
- Strengthening:
- Ice: 3 times/day, 15 mins
Wed, 21 Nov '07
- Stretches: 3 times/day
- Strengthening: 2 times/day, 3 sets x 10 secs x 10 reps
- Ice: 3 times/day, 15 mins Chronology of a Knee InjurySat, 27 Oct '07
- Company futsal (indoor football) tournament
- Felt something flip in and out in left knee and popping sounds "crick crick" during a game
- Could still limp my way around but knee keep swelling
- Went to see family doctor after the game (cos company doc not open during weekend) and got painkillers
- Family doctor suspects fusion of medial menicus but could not confirm due to swelling
Mon, 29 Oct '07
- Went to see company doctor who referred me to hospital accident and emergency department for urgent treatment
- Company doctor suspected something to do with the menicus but also could not confirm due to swelling
- Accident and emergency department at hospital gave me one working week's medical leave
- Doctor at accident and emergency department could not give diagnosis due to heavy swelling
- Earliest appointment with Orthopaedics department was 19 Nov '07
Mon, 29 Oct - Sun, 4 Nov '07
- Stayed at home and limped around
- Left leg hurts and pain wakes me up around 5 in the morning daily
- Knee locks when I walk hence I developed a strange gait to keep left leg bent to prevent locking
Mon, 5 Nov '07
- Went back to office
- Went to see family doctor after work (company doctor's clinic only open during office hours) for more painkiller
Wed, 7 Nov '07
- Went to see company doctor again for second opinion because 19 Nov '07 appointment was just too far away
- Company doctor apologised profusely as he thought referral to accident and emergency meant immediate treatment
- Company doctor gets counter staff to call Orthopaedics directly to get earlier appointment - Fri, 9 Nov
Thurs, 8 Nov '07
- Deepavali public holiday
Fri, 9 Nov '07
- Morning: Orthopaedic specialist examined knee and said I had tear in ACL and it was bad
- Scheduled as first surgery, in less than 24 hours, on Sat, 10 Nov '07
- Rest of the day was spent lining up at different clinics doing blood work and other pre-admission procedures
- I was feeling a bit scared as I had never had surgery before (apart from dental surgery for wisdom teeth)
Sat, 10 Nov '07
- Reported at hospital admissions at 7 a.m.
- Drifted in and out of consciousness and didn't really notice the time until I woke up again in the ward about 11-ish a.m.
- JY suddenly appeared in doorway and I called his name and waved - he had asked information counter
- I asked JY to call my mom
- Orthopaedic surgeon appeared a few hours later and forced me to get up and walk around to use knee as soon as possible
- Felt nauseous so they put me on a drip for a while and kept me overnight at the hospital
Sun, 11 Nov '07
- Discharged from hospital and medical staff pushed me in wheelchair from hospital bed to car pick up point
- Went home on Sunday morning with 2 months' worth of painkiller and anti-inflamation meds
- Did not feel any pain at hospital as they had put localised painkiller around knee and I had taken hospital meds
- Started to really feel the pain when hospital meds wore off
- Had to use crutches to get around
Thurs, 15 Nov '07
- Went for wound inspection at the hospital - wound was dry - healing well
- Switched from crutches to walking stick
- Still walked with strange limping gait because I had gotten used to it
- The orthopedic specialist said if I promised no more contact sports and no more sports with sudden pivoting movements (e.g. tennis) then I don't need ligament reconstruction surgery in my knee - best news I've heard in a long time
Fri, 16 Nov '07
- Went for first physio theraphy session at the hospital
- Physio therapist said left leg muscles had atrophied and the difference in muscle tone between legs was very visible
- Physio therapist and an assistant guided me through stretches and strengthening exercises
- It was a struggle to those simple exercises
- I couldn't believe I could ever do weights training because I could barely lift my left leg
- Determined to push and did second set of stretches and exercises later in the day at home 2007/11/1 A little hope can make one's day.The track we normally train at is closed for renovation work 'til Feb next year. The ladies were training at a stadium just down the road from where I live and I couldn't resist dropping by to say hello. JY picked me up after work and brought me there so we could have dinner after.
It was so nice to see the ladies. Seeing them run made me miss running so much. JY commented how there was practically no sound when they ran. I unwrapped the knee guard for my coach to have a look and asked if half marathon next Feb was still possible. She said to get clearance from Orthopaedics first (which will only happen on 19 Nov) and she could write up a programme for me, for example, I could do interval training in a swimming pool and work from there and get back on land to train. She asked if my aim for half marathon was "completion" and I nodded. If it's completion she said she could also work with me on a programme to run and walk to complete the half marathon. She repeated, "Get clearance first!". When I mentioned swimming breaststroke (the only one I know), coach said it might hurt and suggested front crawl instead. This is where JY comes in as a certified swimming instructor and lifeguard. Between running coach and JY, I am in good hands when I can start exercising again.
Today I walked the most since the trip to the clinic and the hospital on Monday. There isn't much pain and the swelling has gone down; I can start to see my knee cap. I still can't straighten my leg fully nor bend it as I normally can but I feel stronger. I'm starting to feel more confident about putting weight on my left knee as I go up stairs. I have to anyway, my medical leave is only for this week and I need to go back to commuting and to work next week. Life is to short to give up when a setback is encountered. I'm feeling a lot more positive after talking with my coach. No one says I have to run the entire half marathon. If it hurts then I'll just walk slowly to the finish line. |
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