One year onwards!

  Lately I have been thinking that ever since my last blog entry in 2011 or something like that, I never continued my updates, which is really, really bad! The time when you are almost 100% and getting back to normality is the hardest part. How do you avoid being stuck in limbo? How do you get out of a plateau? Do you just learn to live with, "this will be good enough" or do you push on until you reach and excel your baseline?  

5 months post op I was able to go back to working bedside in the ICU. I was incredibly happy, but mostly shit scared. I underwent the gradual return to work program, which I throughly recommend. No gym in the world had a machine that gets you ready for being on your feet for 12 hours a day. It was tough, I tried to be tough, but you know what? If it hurts, stretch. Simple. 

Prior to going back to work I would try and catch up with my physio at least once a month and make sure I was back to my usual baseline activities, such as, being able to sit on my knees for 5 minutes while blow drying my hair, full squat to the ground in order to make sure I was stable enough to balance while emptying a urine bag from a patient, hopping backwards and side to side, like I do when playing with Gus (Kevin's nephew). These things might seem really odd but these are activities in my my life that require the use of bending and balancing on my knees. I need to be back to me. 

I also kept up seeing my massage therapist monthly. My hamstrings where all intertwined and now flowing straight, they where tangled really. Possibly unavoidable, it was odd to feel him run his hands on the bag of my legs and feel the tangles of my muscles. But I'm at that point of realising that everything is linked and somethings are not avoidable. So you just deal with the current situation as best as you can with a smile, and some strong positive thoughts. If I continued to dwell on that "bad things" going on with my body, well then I'd be a grumpy cow. And no one likes a grumpy cow. 

So before I went back to work, Kevin and I decided to do a climbing road trip through the rockies. Where am I with my activities?

• lead and top rope climbing. Thanks to pilates I came back stronger that pre op and was able to climb my first 11a lead outside! Woop! Wearing the brace with climbing and hiking to crags
• trail running in the local Squamish woods. No brace, given clearance by physio. Feeling rather stable and content.
• waiting impatiently for winter to see how the legs will hold for skiing. In the meantime, squats, squats, and squats. Keep those thighs burning to reduce my knees compensating and reduce any chances of swelling if on my feet for too long. 

Below are some photos from our Rockies trip...

 11a lead! 

 Most beautiful and long 5.9 climb ever: back of Lake Louise. 

 Skaha: hitting the chimneys and walls

 Look! No brace!! 

Come November 2011 I am back to full time work and we decide to hit Mt. Baker in Washington for opening day. I skied with the brace on for over half a day and although I was exhausted, I loved how confident, calm, and most importantly, how happy I felt. Oh, and I did get proposed to the day before (!!!!!!) so I was flying! 
The next day my knee didn't hurt, but my thighs burned so it was good to see that I had really worked those muscles and not relied on my knees. 


Exercises by November:

• Bouldering indoors...that's right. I'm right back at what I was doing when I injured myself. If you where injured in a car accident and you could go back to drive, would you? If it's your life, why stop? Kevin is my spotter at all times and for the mental aspect of falling, I need to learn to control my fear and anxiety because it is there and it will control my climbing life if I let it. 
• where am I with bouldering? Rocking the V3s! Holy hard core Batman, and I mean hard core! You want a flat stomach and obvious abs? Don't do 100 sit-ups, go bouldering for 2 hours 3 times a week. Add some interval or pyramid training to your sessions, then try some of those harder problems you've got your eye on and see the difference.
•  E.G. x4V0, X4V1, X3V2, X2V3, then climb back up. Or: 5 v0-v3, rest for 2 minutes, repeat 4 times, then a 15 minutes. Then repeat. 
• we are also getting ready for ice / mixed climbing season so bouldering is perfect for building power and learning how to climb static. Hence, we have also started pull ups and one arm hangs indoors with our ice tools 

 Ice climbing in Marble Canyon

 Tis a cold, cold day to be ice climbing...-20 without wind chill! 

 Come January 2012, it is a mild, mild winter in Squamish, so here we are bouldering! I call this, "crouching Sarah, hidden hold" 

We then hit the Rockies in March for a tour le ice and mixed climbing. A few shots of ice porn for your pleasure:

 Bear Spirit

 Walking back from Bear Spirit. 

 And some rock porn...that's dry tooling porn...ok, rather lame but hey I'm new to this! 

Back of Grotto Mountain, where we dry tooled in "The Playground" 

We've had such a lovely spring, mild and occasionally wet for Vancouver standards, but it's been rather nice. We've been able to hit a few outdoor bouldering areas such as the fish hatchery down Paradise Valley road, and the Pemberton boulders. 

Trying to play air guitar on V4 mini crack...made it 3/4 up the darn thing! 

So it's been a rather interesting year. I'm stronger now then I have ever been, muscular, trimmer, still too darn short...I finally measured myself and I'm 4'11...that's rather pathetic since most 10 year olds are taller than me. However I do feel rather awesome when I can climb the same routes as Kevin and send them. 

Would I go through this again? If I do the other leg, I would. My lifestyle was temporarily stunted, but I was able to explore and learn new things about myself that I never knew. I learnt how to be patient and approach things in a more calm and systematic manner, and this is now being transitioned into my work practice, not just climbing. I'm still overly sensitive but that will never change. And I still procrastinate; that tool will not change! This is not a "life changing" experience....do those exist? Maybe if you are stuck in the dessert with your arm pinned under a rock then yes, that would change you. But bone surgery? This just made me stop and re-look at myself. Witness who I am from the outside and see what my priorities are. 

It'll make you learn things about your body that you really should know, such as, good pain and bad pain. When to push forward, and when to say, "I'm sore this week but I feel strong however, maybe I won't go ice climbing this week" You learn to control and put your ego aside and not let it run your life.  It's not wrong to take things slower and it's not right to not listen to your body. Being physically tough is easy, being mentally tough is not. 

It's now April and here is a link to my latest awesome exercise. I throughly recommend this to anyone who wants to especially improve their power, but also to those who love to get their heart rate up. The jumping has helped with my confidence, especially when it comes to jumping from a bouldering wall, or even if I fall off. I trust my knee 100% and I know it is rock solid because I made it that way. I showed this to my my physio Paulo (who, did I mention is God?), and he was totally impressed with the workout that he is now telling all his clients! 

These guys are amazing: check out irrationalfitness.com 

Jump training

My quads are super happy with this, and my feet land gracefully. I fell confident and powerful completing the hockey jumps and I love springing on my toes in the kitchen. Bring on the summer! 

xo

Run kiwi, run!

That's right, I am allowed to run. Well, apparently I could have started running 3 weeks ago but better late then never. I had enough of being stuck in the plateau. My climbing has really progressed and thankfully I am happy to say that I didn't fall back too much in my grades. In fact I'm back at the same level as I was prior to injuring myself, and am even getting back into hitting the 10d's. The aim with climbing is to just climb, get used to belaying Kevin as he is almost twice my weight and if he falls, I go ping! But when it came to the knee, I was not pushing on as fast I wanted to. 
What I mean by this is that I was struggling with bending it back past 139 degrees; it felt like there was something blocking it from moving any further. I trust my knee, but I don't trust my quad (right side) and that made me feel uneasy. So I ramped up the spinning (5 days a week for 30-40 mins) and took on extra quad strengthening exercises, but it still didn't feel right. Then I developed bursitis, which made me realise that something wasn't right.
So I turned to the ever faithful Paolo, God of all physios to help me ASAP. Thankfully he took my in within a weeks notice and confirmed that yes, I do have bursitis and that is due to poor quad strength...bingo! And yes I am not moving further with flexing because I need to strengthen my hamstrings more as they are too tight. 

Good news: he said that I am that 1% of ACL reconstruction population who do excellently post-op and will have no problems whatsoever post 100% healed. What I have been doing so far has taken a lot of self-will, stubbornness, determination, frustration, and perseverance and to not give it up. Because I am showing far more progress than a lot of his patients who at 2 months post op are still on crutches, have numbness in their leg (?) and are in a lot of pain. 

So I asked him: what can I do to ramp things up? Because I feel strong physically, but I need more of a mental push to believe again that my leg is not going to collapse on me. I've worked so hard to make it strong, and this was evident by both the surgeon and Paolo pulling the graft (knee) to see how much laxity there was. Good news again: it's a solidly strong graft with an even stronger support. So push Sarah, push it!

One thing to add as per Paolo that should be started early on in your program, as in, 2 weeks post op: WOBBLE BOARD! I really wish that I had started this earlier on (or was told that I could) as not only does it assist in bringing back stability to the knee and mentally prepares you for a later, more tougher regime, but mostly for keeping the ankle strong. My ankle is week, I'm worried that that will fail on me rather than the knee, despite doing your heel lifts and what not. So if you read this and you're about to have surgery, get a wobble board and talk to your physio (a good proactive one) about using it post op. 

Ok, so Paolo's program mixed with Sarah's workout for 2 months post op:

• gym 5-6 days a week
• indoor climbing 2-3 times a week
• pilates when you have the time: especially the core workouts. I notice a huge difference in my climbing and jogging (more relaxed and stable core) since starting pilates
• jogging on the treadmill as a start: 10mins a day on flat 
• to strengthen hamstrings: single leg band, sit and stand. Single leg curls
• leg press: different degrees for feet positioning and vary weight each time you're at the gym (to confuse quads and not condition a certain strand of muscle fibre)
• knee extensions (machine)
• step backwards onto steps with right leg leading, left leg to step down...this will humble you! You may be able to run, but stepping backwards up a step is hard! 
• pinch/massage vigorously that scar if you have nasty tight knots of scar tissue underneath. Why? Because where the scar is located it sits on a nerve that works on your quads. if that nerve is disrupted then so are your quads...
• calf raises
• balance board

Just when I thought I was pushing it ok, I am given more ammunition to push it even harder. Looking forward to it!

Hitting the outdoors

Hello,

Well is has been quite the week for me, even though I am writing this on a Wednesday. My weeks do not start on a Monday these days; they roll into each other and it is hard to sometimes distinguish what day is what and where it is on the calendar! I now go by how many weeks since I had surgery, and we are up to 7. My, does the time go by rather slowly. It might seem quick to others, that I only had surgery almost 2 months ago, which to some, it might seem like time has gone by rather quick. To me, not so much. My days are long, and yet not long enough. I keep busy with ICU research and shortly will be working full time, which is excellent as I am sick of living like a poor student. The day I can afford a haircut I will cry tears of happiness. The day I can get waxed and not have to resort to the "cheap" version, which is myself completing this rather difficult and daunting task, I will yelp in joy. 

Anyway, I hit the indoor climbing gym 3 times last week, as well as venturing outside with Kev and Mary to Chuk Chuk, a lovely crag put up a few years ago by a dude called Axel...wicked name, wicked climbs. But onto that shortly. I wanted to say that I have semi lied to you all....In the last blog entry I had stated that when I am climbing indoors I will stick to 5.9-10A routes...LIE! I have hit the 10C/D routes and am super surprised that I have strength! But only arm strength, but core and finger strength! My fingers hurt like hell typing this out due to hanging on to really teeny tiny holds and I am utterly amazed that I have this. Especially due to the fact that prior to this injury I had maybe hit 1 or 2 10Ds and today I climbed 3 and was able to pull through with minimum difficulty. Even Kevin was dumbfounded: 
"where the hell did you get this extra strength from?"
*me looking stunned* "duno!"


Maybe having a 4 month break from climbing was worth it. I have come back to the wall and have a new appreciation for movement, for the way you position your body on holds, and the amount of trust you can put on your body to just hang out. I feel smooth when climbing; I feel quiet...shhhh, let's not lose this!! 

So this girl is happy; Tired, and wishing she was more of a super human, but happy.

Chuk Chuk; up logging road, passed mile 25, Squamish Valley Road

Top rope haven

Scuffed up brace!

Ok, check out that hold that Kevin is about to grab...we call that one "pinchy!"

Mary and her happy high stepping thanks to yoga!

Am off for another physio catch up tomorrow and for one last visit to the surgeon's office on Friday. I can predict how this meeting will go:
"hey, you look great, how do you feel?
"am awesome, back biking, no worries"
"any questions?"
"nope"
"ok bye, good luck"
"thanks"

I guarantee that will be it!!

6 weeks!

My, oh how life taken a nice little turn for the better this past week. Since I was given the green flag to start climbing again I have already been 3 times this week, spending approx 4 hours at the gym, climbing grades of 5.9 to 10a/b (top rope for now), on about 6-7 routes. Things that have resolved since re-climbing:

• right hip pain *tick*
• right hip stiffness and locking *tick*
• knee pain *tick* 
• mood swings and throwing tantrums in attempt to hold Kevin back from going out and having fun without me *tick*

Things that have improved since climbing:

• forearm strength. Its amazing how quickly they re-conditioned to the effort imposed on them whilst hanging with one hand and balancing on a foot trying to undo un-clip from the rope 
• happiness: my cheekbones hurt daily from smiling
• right quad strength, most notable when I am "high stepping" and can slowly but confidently push my body upwards from stepping up high 
• personal relationship: yes, the competitive aspect of our relationship can restart 

I have especially noticed that my scapular muscles and hip flexors are more open and relaxed, which makes you walk with good alignment and feeling tight throughout the body. What else....did I mention that I just feel fantastic? My spirits are happy, my mood is calm, I don't burst into random tears with "can't live if living is without you" screaming in the back of my head when looking down at my pudgy knee; and I have my stamina back, which is highly evident from now beng able to work a 8 hour day in the office, go climbing for 4 hours, and come home for some "adult cuddling" that doesn't last for 3 seconds (I'm being careful what I say here because I think my mum and dad still look at this blog).

Photo time:

No I am not naked but I bet you wish I was...

See? I'm wearing high 70's looking running pants although I'm not allowed to run...

Slight bruising but otherwise ok

Physio program at 6 week mark for the knee:

• 30 min, 5-6 days a week, spin bike with resistance. I listen to my ipod and run my own spin class depending on the tune. Slow tune = turn up resistance and bike up the hill; fast tune with heavy runs, = sprints. I used to take spin classes when I was in uni so this exercise is so much fun for me. Plus, the knee feels amazing when I am standing up on the bike peddling up the hill
• indoor rock climbing on top rope, 5.9-10a/b 6-7 routes. Some overhung with juggy holds, but mainly climb to get mileage 

Stretches:

• hip flexors: warrior with exercise ball in between legs to balance
• hamstrings, quads, and calves with yoga strap
• foam roll: I lie over the foam and roll my hips and quads over. Amazing self massage for my quad

Strength:

• physio ball wall squats with "push press" using medicine ball: 3x10-20 reps 
• leg squat/press: 3 sets x10-20 reps with heavier weight (right now I am at 75lb)
• calf and toe raises
• using aerobic steps, step ups/downs: 2x8-10 reps. Bad foot leads up. I am now balancing on the right foot and squating on it...if that makes sense. 
• physio ball hamstring curls: 3x10-20 reps

And don't forget upper body; I'm sticking with my negative resistance training to re-condition my climbing muscles, however I am very happy to say that they really hadn't left me after 4 months off climbing. The little girl muscles are still there, and are out and proud when climbing. It really did make a difference with negative resistance training during the "prehab" state. To tell you the truth, I feel quite light-footed climbing up those walls, and free in the mind...yes, I think of nothing when climbing and ain't that the best, especially after a mentally exhausting day in the workplace? 

Go climb people! 

The secret to remaining slim and fit looking is...

Hey all,

Well, I've been given the ok by my physio in regards to my climbing program! I also had a really good chat with her as I feel as though I have hit a plateau with my rehab and this is where things can go down hill, in terms of becoming lazy.
My pain is under control, swelling obviously increases with movement but as per the physio and other sport professionals, it's going to swell up and down every time I increase my movements or increase the amount I stand for, and it's going to be like this for approx 4-5 months. 
However, I can not let this hold me back, which is not really my concern. The frustration is that I want to move more, yet the swelling gets in the way and that is what makes me get angry. I voiced my concern with Maggie who was incredibly sympathetic, and sees that I have become quite strong, have worked well on strengthening my core, and so now it is time to use it to balance out the rest of the workout. I need to now work on endurance and work on strength exercises, mainly targeting the quads. 

She was quite impressed with my own program I have designed when it comes down to climbing and I think we both trust myself that I will NOT push the boundaries. I have worked too hard, and have finally got myself well disciplined to ruin this.

Here comes the gloating and the answer to the title: I have lost weight since the injury...15 pounds to be exact. But I am happy with this for many reasons as listed below. However, the reason I am blurting out this information is because of a few "run-ins" I have had at work when I've gone in to do some research work. I won't go into it too much but here is the jist:
"Oh Sarah you're back, and you look so thin! You aren't eating are you? You must be so hungry. Kevin must not be looking after you at all...you poor thing!"
Am actally I have a great appetite, and I feel better than pre surgery! In fact, I have so much energy I feel like I'm 16 again and I am very happy...oh and I look after Kevin, and I feed him well thank you very much!"


Yes, I have lost weight but I have realised that this was excess fat I had stored on me. And no I didn't reduce my carb intake or increase my cardio workouts as for the last 4 months I have not been able to do a full high impact cardio workout. I'm living fact that you do not have to complete hard core activities to have abs that stick out, especially the upper ones that are really hard to develop, to be able to cock out your biceps like Arnie does in the movies, and just because you are "sick and injured" does not mean you have to look it! 


People love sucess stories, but when it happens too close to home it scares them and their reaction is to put you down. Why? Because they want to be sympathetic with you; "oh, well you put on weight because you're not as active as you normally are...but don't worry, you will lose it once you're back to normal"
They don't want to see you looking even better than pre surgery because you're supposed to look tired, fatigued un-happy. Instead, you bounce into the unit even more perkier than usual (and guess who once got told off to be less happy because it made others uncomfortable...I told them to shove that notion up their ass...with a smile on my face), looking healthy, with your long, glossy, curly, flowing hair, all happy. Oh, can you see the pissed off faces? So what do girls do to each other when this happens? They become mean girls and say that you look "pale, and tired...you must be hungry, right?"

Um, fact number one that I am not looking sickly or too thin: My boyfriend thinks I look super, super, super hot. He is so proud of my little girl muscles, my strength, my determination and stubbornness to keep plodding on, and yet look good. And you know what, because of this, I feel proud of myself and confident. And for the first time in 28 years, I love walking around the house naked! Now if you are going to pop my confidence bubble then I don't want to know you because I am using this extra, new found strength to not get lazy with my rehab program, and to keep plodding on. 


So, here is Sarah's stuff:

1. It is much harder to lose excess fat gained weight from an injury/ilness post recovery than to put it back on. After your rehab period, whether it is 3 months or 9 months the last thing you want to do is start another program to loose that excess fat. You want to get life back on track, get back to your usual activities, and not worry about it. And you can see that I am saying "excess fat" not weight. Obesity is not just weight gain; its accumulation of excess body fat. My weight is made up of water, fat, muscle and structural content (bones, tendons). So right now I am ideal body weight for my height and ethnicity: before hand, I just had excess fat that was sitting there not being used. So, get rid of it!
2. I have my abdominal muscles back (especially the upper 2) and am so happy to have a strong core again. This is especially beneficial with bedside nursing (lots of pulling, pushing, lifting, turning, squats, etc...)
3. I know what fuel my body needs and doesn't to maintain adequte calories that gets used properly. No I am not calorie counting, I don't have time for that. But I haven't had a proper sweaty cardio workout for 4 months and the amount of food I normally eat for energy would be sitting there and turned into fat if I didn't reduce my portions. So yes, I am being careful with how much I eat but this is how you don't gain extra fat.
4. There is no miracle, no hard core workout to lose excess fat: remember, I may have lost weight, but I have gained toned muscle and I am barely 5'0, Asian ethnicity, and my weight is right in the middle of the normal range, and I have done this with barely completing a sweaty cardio workout in 4 months.
5. I have also removed excess body fat that I really didn't need. How do I know this? Well, despite having a bung knee I am more energetic, my skin is clearer (I ditched the foundation months ago), I sleep better at night (even pre surgery), I am more focused on goals of life...shall I go on more?
6. Eating fat does not make you fat, nor does eating carbohydrates. I still eat them, I love multi grains, I love fresh bread with butter. Plus we need fats. It's your body's response to excess carbs that makes you fat. We only have a limited capacity to store carbs, so the excess stuff gets converted into excess fat.  
7. I haven't increased my protein to carb ratio. Too much protein in a diet is bad for you: you will loose muscle mass and that is not good. My usual intake per meal: 40% carbs, 30% fats, 30% proteins. Balance and enjoy cooking your meals.
8. I didn't put myself on a diet. Kevin and I have always eaten healthy and well because nothing tastes better than fresh produce and meals you have made from scratch. I just reduced my portions and obviously, I was eating too much for what I needed before as I lost 15 pounds in 4 months with no hard core cardio, boot camp workout to back up the loss. My workouts have been low resistance weight and exercise band training, pilates, and stationary bike riding. Nothing flash or expensive. No hard core personal trainer making me sweat. Just me doing an hour and a half of some form of exercise 6 days a week, backed with reduced portions. Simple!

So there is my take on staying fit and healthy despite totally reducing your workouts due to injury. It's doable, you have the time to do it, so stick with it and you will be reap the rewards!

BRACE!

And now we can begin the real rehab! Range of motion is pretty darn good and I am almost too confident walking on flat at a semi brisk walk..that's right granny, I'm not that far behind you!
After getting my final fitting at the Dr.'s office on Wednesday I came home to show off my brand new shiny CTI OTI Ossur brace that cost far too much...$1400 to be exact (post discount). So of course I had to go and test it out by pulling some weeds and then hitting the gym.

I was quite happy to see my trainer at the gym and very proudly showed off my knee, it's minimal swelling, and my range of motion. Unfortunately, when I am on the stationary bike the side of the brace (the little label) hits the inner portion of the bike making a nice clunk sound every time my leg moved past it. So I decided to hop back on the spin bike after 1 month of being off it and it went great! Not only was the resistance very low, but the motion was a lot smoother than the stationary bike, so I think we will stick with spinning from now on.

Ready for action!

One thing I don't like about it (and this is purely a girls point of view) is that it bunches up my leg too much, making it look like you have a podgy leg, when really I don't think I do (see above, thigh bulges). Apart from that, I like the fact I feel more relaxed with movement, even walking. Before I was constantly on guard, my thigh and butt muscles where always tense, in protection mode. And due to that, I have some nasty knots in those regions that will require some heavy duty kneading out.

Now, just to add some contreversy, I went indoor climbing with Kevin yesterday (Friday)...and before you all stand up and yell, scream, and throw your best, "why I aught too" or, "you're throwing away all your hard work for nothing!", here is what I did:

* 20 minute warm up period
* 6 routes on the short wall (20 feet) within a 4 hour play period
* Approx 15 minutes rest in between with leg elevated, and stretching that includes calves, hamstring, and heel bends
* Routes were 5.8 and 5.9 with juggy holds that also made for great break spots
* Top rope climbing ONLY 
* A belay (Kevin) who knows your injury well, keeps the rope firm on your way up and lowers you to the ground very, very slowly and smoothly
* Brace worn at all times climbing. Taken off only when stretching 
* No bouldering!! And not for at least 6 months...
* 20 minute warm down period

And guess what? I felt safe, I trusted my body, I felt that I was not pushing any boundaries, and I knew what I could and could not do. There was no pain, nor increase in pain or swelling, and if there was, I would have stopped. Common sense prevailed and although Kevin said that I was strong enough to take the bigger wall I said no. This was my first day back and I am going to be sensible and boring. 
You can get a good work out completing 5.9's (not a cardio workout by the way), just work on your footwork and body positions. I played the game of when you touch a hold then that is your hold until you move up. You can not touch another hold unless you are moving up. But you can not move your hands around the holds, but work with what you have. This I find slows me down a little bit more, as before I chose my hold I think of the following 5 moves and if I grab that hold, how is it going to impact the rest of the movement. Kind of like playing climbing chess. It makes you think well in advance: where is my next rest position? how can I grab that hold that will be best for my body dynamics and position?

Of course I know that I am not going to be able to do any knee bends, heel hooks, or match hands to feet on holds. Nor can I do any dynamic leg thrusts up to the next hold. Instead, this was more of a "find the right angle and hold for a perfect feet placement" exercise.This was also more of a upper body and core exercise. And because my core was strong, my balance was perfect, and not much energy or power pulls was required from my lower or upper body (if that makes sense). Plus, if you have ever seen my climb, then you will know that I moved up those routes pretty slowly humming along the way!

But the best part was that for 4 hours, my mind was at peace. It was quiet, I was at rest and calm. I tuned out all the stress for 4 hours and my body was very grateful for that. My back muscles relaxed, my hip flexors got an excellent stretch and opened up, which reduced pain in the right hip. My scapular muscles lengthened and tension reduced from my upper back and neck. But mostly, for the first time in 4 months, I was perfectly happy. I can not put into words just how happy I was and that I was so proud of my body for staying strong and being able to come together to look after me and allow me to gently climb again. I had the best nights sleep too! I was exhausted by 8.30pm and had such a solid sleep. I woke up this morning and I didn't feel sore or like I had pushed it too much.


So for the next 6 months I will only top rope climb. I will stick to 5.9 routes for the next couple of months to (a), get the feeling of climbing again and re-condition those climbing muscles, and (b) to just have fun! Oh, another great part of that day? I got to hang out with my best friend again. We hadn't properly hung out and had fun with something that we both love for 4 months and I was so grateful to be able to do this again with him. While I rested, I watched Kevin boulder as well as chatting to other boulders. The great part of climbing, especially bouldering, is the social aspect. Climbers are chatty and fun to hang out with. So it was great socialising with people again, which, I dearly, dearly miss. 
What a great long weekend; life is good!

One month post-op

Hey...those are some sexy knees...again, which knee got drilled?

So I caught up with physio Maggie on Monday and here is where I stand and what shenanigans I am up to! 

Flexorama:

• 139 degree flexion...oh yea baby. I am 2 Sarah fist sizes away from my foot touching my bum
• -5 degree extension, meaning 5 degree hyperflexion

The smile speaks for itself...

Bruising: meh...

 Yup, that ankle is still bruised and more coming out on the outer side of the ankle...Any takes on what that surgeon did to me? I mean it's been a month since the surgery and there is still obvious bruising on the inner part of the ankle and now it's coming out around the outer side and it hurts to wear socks that sit above my ankle! Anyway, enough of the winging Sarah!

I really should by standing staight in the camera by now shouldn't I? Oh, new thing I learnt about myself...no in fact 2:

1. I naturally stand in hyperflexion, which is kind of bad as it is pushes my right hip forward, the hip joint locks, and then I hurt... bad Sarah, bad! So Maggie will work her manipulation magic on me to assist in decreasing the amount of  locking the joint, while I have to learn to stand straight
2. Ryan Kesler and I have the same brace...

EXERCISE PROGRAM AS OF DATE:

Warm up (each morning):

• toe/heel lifts
• heel slides
• physio ball on wall slides
• stretch with person (preferably hot boyfriend) or yoga strap to stretch calf, hamstring, and peroneals, toe pointed inwards...this last stretch is due to the fact that although I walk with no limp and with heel and toe action, my right foot ever so slightly flicks inwards, which is secondary to initial limping and the bruising/soreness of ankle

The harder stuff:

• bike, 15-20 minutes per day, stationary bike with a tad of resistance
• pilates: morning 20 minute warm up, evening core-aholic 20 minute work out
• seated leg press at THE GYM! bend only to 30 degrees, 2 sets x 10-15 reps. Weight: 20-30 pounds
• hamstring ball curls: step 1 is hips on the ground and curl in and out. Step 2 with hips off the ground in a almost plank formation
• clamshells: 2 sets x 15 reps++ and isolate that leg from the hip socket!

Drugs:

• Ibufrofen 200mg every 4 hours. at 2200 400mg to last 8 hours over night (always with food). Also recommend gel capsules due to quicker onset of action and longer half life
• Tylenol 650mg every 4 hours

In saying this, yesterday it got till 2pm when I realised that I hadn't taken any pain relief and I wasn't feeling the need to all day...progress!!

Alright guys so we are getting there. Slow, slow progress and I am on a count down: 2 more months until I am allowed to start climbing again. Top rope only and on nice juggy 5.6 - 5.9 but the goal is in sight. Post 6 months then we will look into getting back to lead climbing, but I don't want to think that far ahead otherwise I might cry and stomp my foot (good foot). 

I have to say, I still am not very good at this whole sitting at a desk to do my work. I find that ever half hour or so I still need to get up, and stretch. And I don't mean by flexing the leg from straight to bent, but I have to sit down, and do some heel slides, heel raises, etc...so thankfully I can still work from home. It's not the pain that bothers me, its the uncomfortable feeling of not moving and the pressure put on my hamstrings. The knee gets puffy in the back, it becomes stiff, and I just get annoyed and grump like a little kid who just got told that she has to go to bed at 8, not 9 like she was promised. Yup, I am that inpatient.
Lesson learnt? Move Sarah, move (like I didn't already know that...)