Injury Anxiety
Moving into my fourth week since the patella fracture, I’ve become increasingly anxious due to my lack of mobility. A few people that have been following my recent posts have noted the positive spin that I’ve been placing on the recovery process. It’s true that I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to keep a positive outlook while I’m rehabilitating my knee, but I’ll admit that my sunny disposition has become slightly overcast.
Despite the change in forecast, a few rays of sunshine have recently poked through via the acquisition of a cane. I’m not really sure if I’m supposed to be walking without my crutches, but using the cane has been making it much easier to get around. It’s not causing me any pain so I guess that’s a good sign. I haven’t had a chance to consult with my physical therapist about my new walking stick because the holiday weekend derailed my therapy schedule. Since I wasn’t able to get an appointment over the weekend I’ve been doing my exercising at home. Most of the stretching, bending, and flexing in my routine are easily replicated using a yoga strap and a little ingenuity. Thanks to the exercise my quad has started to regain some of it’s ability to do some real flexing and my range-of-motion seems to be improving steadily. I’m still wearing my knee immobilizer when I’m not doing the therapy to prevent my newly found mobility from injuring me further. Although, when I’m sitting on the couch enjoying a beer I do let the knee get a little air.
Adding to my mobility anxiety, the first few stages of the Tour have been nothing short of amazing. Armstrong, Contador and the rest of the Astana team had an amazing team time trial this morning (er I guess this afternoon in France). They now have five guys in the top ten with Armstrong tied for time (with the exception of a few tenths) with the leader Fabian Cancellara. I’m still pushing for my goal of riding somewhere to watch the final stage of the Tour, but if the racing maintains this intensity it’s going to feel like an eternity before I’m back in the saddle. I think I’ll set up a bike on the rollers tonight and give it a light spin, per the doctors orders of course!
IN OTHER NEWS:
My youngest sister Kelsey passed her NCLEX last week making her an official RN! Congratulations Kelsey!
07 Jul 2009 Justin