Sunday 28 September 2014

14 of 40 ... a busy month! Some ups and some downs.

Yes! it has been a whole month since I last posted anything and a busy one it has been too!

Chris has been home to Edinburgh and returned, so had left me to my own devices for three weeks, fortunately being down to one crutch has made it easier to get around. With a bit of help from Anja when she came for her weekend visits, I was able to get most tasks completed!

In the middle of the month I had a return visit to the Consultant, after twelve weeks, I was pretty pleased with the progress, with one exception, with one particular movement I was getting an impingement in the hip, it was a little bit unusual as it was in the middle of the movement and not at the extremes.

The Registrar and the Consultant spent some time discussing the x-rays ... always worrying when this happens ...  so the outcome was that they had expected the bone to have fused together more than it had but this was quickly followed by the comment it is a long break so will take longer to fully fuse. It did leave me on a downer the next day, which I have few off, I suppose I had been basing the successful progress of the success we had been having with the mobility of the leg, which is around about 80 % of my good leg, the lack of pain and the ability to weight bearing to some degree.

They did answer some questions but you always think of other questions to ask after you leave.

So yes, the pin will be permanent the only time they remove it is if an infection occurs. Yes, it will set off the alarms in the airport. No, they did not know what was causing the impingement, but suggested to the Physio to cap my riding on the wind trainer to a max of 30 minutes a day and to do less work on mobilising the hip.

The other good outcome was I am allowed back to work ... it has been a while, since the 12th of June! So I have one full week back, although not a very big workload it was definitely tiring. Being back is good for me mentally as the social aspect of work is great, I have pretty much been spending the dya by myself and no doubt when have meet up with someone during the day have talked their ears off!
Secondly it will allow my brain to be engaged and to focus on something different.

Even though I am back at work, my rehab is the most important task, I still have a long way to go!

So how do I stay motivated? I want to get back riding my bikes, paddling my kayaks, walking in the hills, competing in events, basically to be active ... simple really!

Sure it is hard, especially sunny days and people are heading out for a ride or run.

What I have realised and have known for a while is it is the interaction with people, sharing adventures which makes these activities fun. Certainly there is a (and sometimes HUGE) sense of achievement with completing some of these activities!

I can still enjoy the after ride coffee with my friends!

We are lucky to have our garage set up to make it easy to train on the wind trainer and stretch, with carpet and underlay on the floor, a tv hook up to the sky recorder, maps on the walls for inspiration and I added two white boards ... one with the weeks recovery plan on and the second with my major goal of the Length of Aotearoa brevet in 2016 including other missons!




Also just like any training programme I have kept a record of my rehab sessions, to remind me of where I have come from. I just need to think during week one it took two people to help get out of and into my bed!

Monday 1 September 2014

10 of 40 - Wahoo! ... A quarter of the way there!

It has been ten weeks since I connected with a tree root in Rotorua, the last two weeks has been a mix of frustration and progress.

The frustration of struggling to get the basic tasks around the house completed satisfactorily, having spent eight weeks balanced on one leg and two crutches I have developed a lean, which isn't good for my back, meaning tasks that require rotation and bending (e.g. unloading the dish washer) are a pain in the back!

On the positive side, we have gone from about 100 degrees of leg flexion to 135 degrees, which means by passing the magical 120 figure I am able to get back on the bike (as it is set up on the wind trainer) this is a huge milestone! Ryan, my physio started me on two five minute session a day increasing by a minute a day.

While at the Physio we have been working on not just the leg flexion, but also the hip movement which has stiffened up over the last ten weeks, along with stretching the back out. The exercisers I have been given have started to change from simple stretches for individual muscles to include groups of muscle with some strength work. Every two weeks Ryan seems to push the limits, which does leave more sore for a day, but has the ability to push through to the next level of progress.

I like to have some goals as I find that it helps me stay focused, so I decided to form a team to enter the Rolf Lake Hood Half Ironman in November. A quick note of Facebook to find some team mates was answered within minutes, so Jo is racing bike leg and Tara is running, which means I will be leading the team on the first leg with the swim. This means I have been to the pool every second day and built up from 300 metres to 1500 metres over the last month, pretty pleased about that!

People ask how have I been fulling my days in, priority has been the Physio, massage, swimming and exercises. Certainly that doesn't full my whole day and as the Tour de France, the Commonwealth Games are finished, so it is a bit of reading, going to the movies, a wee bit of surfing the net ;-) and generally pottering around the house trying to sort out small jobs.

One of the books which I have read was Christophe Bassons biography of being the pro cyclist who spoke out against drugs in sport, a different and interesting view point, well worth the read. Makes a change from those who have been caught and are cashing in on the fame!

Oh well, better get back to watching Vuelta a Espana!