three IT band things thursday
1. I went to the ortho on Tuesday for my first post-op. The "what can I do?" conversation was hilarious.
Dr. P: I'll see you in 2 weeks. No exercise.
Me: *face falls*
Dr. P: Well, you can swim. With a pull buoy. But not a lot. And that's it, nothing else.
Me: Aquajog? Cycling?
Dr. P: No. Well. I guess you can lift weights. Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, all fine. But no cycling.
Me: Okay.
Dr. P: You know what - you can swim without the pull buoy. That's fine.
Me: Well, maybe at first with it.
Dr. P: No, it's fine, just swim.
Me: Okay. Sounds good.
Dr. P: Well, actually, I guess you can cycle. If you wake up and it feels good.
Me: But it feels good now!
Dr. P: When you can walk without a limp. Then you can cycle. But only indoors.
Me: That makes sense. I've had a few crashes this year.
Dr. P: I guess you can go outside. But be careful. We'll talk about running in 2 weeks.
I wonder if I had sat there for another 10 minutes if we would have gotten all the way to "Go ahead, try some running."
He gave me a compression bandage as I still have the steri-strips on holding the wound closed. It felt okay until Tuesday night, when, at 4am, my quad cramped HARD from the compression. The cramp caused everything around it to seize up - IT band included - which means I woke up the house shrieking. And because of my stitches, I couldn't even massage (i.e. pound on) my leg to try and loosen the cramp. I just had to wait it out. Ouch. Which means I didn't get much more sleep and felt weak and worn-out most of the day.
2. However, I did my full upper-body lifting circuit yesterday, and only have to leave out one exercise (low back row - squats are NOT happening). It felt great to sweat again, but whew, was I tired! This morning I went to the gym and did a very modified legs circuit, but was surprised at how much I was able to do without pain and minor discomfort. I think I'm going to attempt a swim tonight and see how it goes. I'm definitely still limping hard, but I'm hoping maybe early next week to try a gentle cycle. We'll see.
3. Back to the ortho visit. His parting shot? "Start signing up for things." It's like he can read my mind. I'm going to keep a close eye on the Jingle All The Way 10K in case a "we're almost sold out" warning goes up. The Turkey Trot I've always signed up for on the day of, so I'm not worried about it selling out. Like some of my oft-injured, cautious friends, I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on a race until I'm right on top of it.
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Dr. P: I'll see you in 2 weeks. No exercise.
Me: *face falls*
Dr. P: Well, you can swim. With a pull buoy. But not a lot. And that's it, nothing else.
Me: Aquajog? Cycling?
Dr. P: No. Well. I guess you can lift weights. Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, all fine. But no cycling.
Me: Okay.
Dr. P: You know what - you can swim without the pull buoy. That's fine.
Me: Well, maybe at first with it.
Dr. P: No, it's fine, just swim.
Me: Okay. Sounds good.
Dr. P: Well, actually, I guess you can cycle. If you wake up and it feels good.
Me: But it feels good now!
Dr. P: When you can walk without a limp. Then you can cycle. But only indoors.
Me: That makes sense. I've had a few crashes this year.
Dr. P: I guess you can go outside. But be careful. We'll talk about running in 2 weeks.
I wonder if I had sat there for another 10 minutes if we would have gotten all the way to "Go ahead, try some running."
He gave me a compression bandage as I still have the steri-strips on holding the wound closed. It felt okay until Tuesday night, when, at 4am, my quad cramped HARD from the compression. The cramp caused everything around it to seize up - IT band included - which means I woke up the house shrieking. And because of my stitches, I couldn't even massage (i.e. pound on) my leg to try and loosen the cramp. I just had to wait it out. Ouch. Which means I didn't get much more sleep and felt weak and worn-out most of the day.
2. However, I did my full upper-body lifting circuit yesterday, and only have to leave out one exercise (low back row - squats are NOT happening). It felt great to sweat again, but whew, was I tired! This morning I went to the gym and did a very modified legs circuit, but was surprised at how much I was able to do without pain and minor discomfort. I think I'm going to attempt a swim tonight and see how it goes. I'm definitely still limping hard, but I'm hoping maybe early next week to try a gentle cycle. We'll see.
3. Back to the ortho visit. His parting shot? "Start signing up for things." It's like he can read my mind. I'm going to keep a close eye on the Jingle All The Way 10K in case a "we're almost sold out" warning goes up. The Turkey Trot I've always signed up for on the day of, so I'm not worried about it selling out. Like some of my oft-injured, cautious friends, I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on a race until I'm right on top of it.
Happy Thursday, everyone!