February 2014 – The Fat Guy

On The Bike

On Friday, five weeks after my surgery, I rode the bike to work. It wasn’t planned. Diane was working. I overslept and missed the bus. It was the latest bus for another 50 minutes. So I grabbed my rSogn and rode.

I was wearing the boot. I was very cautious about stopping and starting. I had no issues but I was quite slow. Diane met me at work at the end of the day (on her bike) and we rode out to Apocalypse for beer. I had eight miles for the day. I was a little sore.

Saturday, I joined Tim for a short coffee ride. Then Diane and I went out for food and drinks – on bikes. I got 16 miles in. I wasn’t as sore as I had been Friday.

Today my ankle feels really good. I haven’t left the house yet, or even gotten dressed, so I haven’t had the boot on. My ankle feels almost normal. I still have no strength to push forward with my toes, but I’m walking differently to compensate.

Yes, I’m drinking beer again. I’d like to blame Diane for bringing beer back after a week without it, but the responsibility falls with me. I still have some decisions to make about all that.

I intend to continue riding to work. The injury took away my freedom now I feel I have it back. I just need to continue to be careful so I don’t re-injure myself.

Baby Steps, Beer, and Bikes

My last post was pretty negative. I was having a bad day. Today is much different.

I had a good day yesterday, but last night was rough. I had drank too much and eaten some questionable food. I had trouble sleeping with an upset stomach and a headache. I also had muscle aches that are probably due to dehydration due to alcohol consumption.

Getting up for work this morning was hard. I made it in to work a bit later than intended, but still before 9:00am. Work was a busy blur. I can’t complain – I was productive and time flew by.

Before I even made it to work, I’ve decided to quit drinking. I seem to have an issue with moderation. I’m also not going to lay around like a lump until my leg heals. I’m borrowing a trainer so I can use my recumbent bike as a stationary bike. I’ll pedal one-legged with my SPD shoe until I’m cleared to use both legs. I’ll have the trainer tomorrow.

Two days ago when I complained about lack of progress with my leg, things got better. I can walk now. I’m not supposed to, and I rarely do, but if I need to get up some stairs without a rail, I can. I only walk slowly taking very small steps. It’s almost a shuffle. I can’t “push off” with my right foot, but it’ll hold me up. There’s no pain when doing this either. I only do this when wearing the boot to support my ankle.

I’m still using the Knee Scooter. I hate the crutches and the walker. I don’t need the wheelchair.

Now I just need some exercise.

When Will I Notice Progress?

This is frustrating. I have good days and bad days. Today is firmly a bad day. I haven’t left the house and have no plans to until tomorrow.

After my post-surgery follow-up doctor visit, I was given a boot to wear. They removed the sutures and sent me on my way. I’m still not weight-bearing, so I’ve been enjoying the new Knee Rover.

The knee rover does well for most things, but is actually a bit awkward in tight spots – like at home. I managed to fall while trying to negotiate the kitchen. I hadn’t put my boot on yet, and I put my foot down to attempt to stop the fall. It was excruciating pain. It felt like I re-ruptured the tendon.

I went back to the surgeon, where he tells me that I probably didn’t rupture it again, but even if I did, there isn’t anything else to do until I heal more.

Since then, I’ve been more careful (and leave the boot on more). I’m paranoid as hell that the two ends of the tendon aren’t going to heal, and that I’ll be gimpy from now on.

I know I have weeks left to heal before I can even think about physical therapy or weight-bearing. The wait is killing me. I want to ride a bike again. I want to walk normally. Instead I can simply scoot around.

Diane takes me to work when she can. When she can’t, I take the bus. The recent weather has made that challenging at times.

I work on the second floor of a building without an elevator. Luckily, there’s a chair lift, so I take that up to my office – with my “scooter” in my lap.

I know I’m being pretty negative. On the positive side, the Knee Rover works well for me. I can walk (scoot) around outdoors without worrying too much about cracks in the pavement. I can do the occasional step (although more than two in a row is a challenge).

The Knee Rover was poorly assembled when it arrived. I’m glad I checked it over. After a few minutes with a wrench, it wasn’t ready to spontaneously disassemble anymore. Other than that, it’s a neat product. I like the basket – it’s hard to carry things otherwise. I put bicycle lights on it – for those night trips to the bar.