Changing of the Seasons

Today is the first day of spring which is a good thing as it means the end of a long cold winter ... its 3 months today since the injury and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the worst winter of my life.

Steady improvement - keeping exercise logs is the key

But like the weather things are on the improve and life is returning to normality ... in the last week I've hit the rehab pretty hard and have managed to do the following ..

3 decent walks (2 around an hour + 1 walk to work), gradual improvement on the exercise bike (Sunday I couldnt really get the pedals all the way round to yesterday punching out 10ks in 20mins on 2nd lowest resistance), and plenty of rehab exercises and loads of upper body dumbbell workouts.

I've also managed to get from 105 to 120 degrees ROM this week and just this morning got up the stairs like a normal person (1 foot per stair) pumped!!

Current Rehab consists of ...

Seated Leg Extensions - no weight but extend leg to straight (3x12)

Glute Bridges - lay on ground, bent legs, thrust hips towards the sky (3x12)

Calf Raises - on stairs 2 legs up, bad leg down (3x15)

Hamstring Bridges - lay on ground, bad leg over chair, lift body to extension using bad hamstring (3x10)

Squats - no weight, squat to near sitting on chair (3x10)

Clams - laying on side, legs in bent sleeping position, open legs using hips (3x10)

Adductor - laying on side, legs straight, lift leg up and back (3x12)

Last day of Winter - in the rear view mirror

So I've been pretty busy ... unfortunately the byproduct has been a fair bit of soreness and swelling (you can see in the 12 week pic in the last blog). Lots of ice and massage required ... but the sun is shining, winter and the hard slog is behind us and I'm focussed on being able to get back out on the mountainbike under the beautiful blue sky. Springtime in Adelaide is magical time to get amongst it ...

On yer bike ... about f'ing time

Knees at 12 weeks - a lot of work to do

Big developments this weekend getting back on the bike in more ways than one ...



Went back to the scene of the crime yesterday 12 weeks to the day revisiting the Powerhouse/Dome/KneeDestroyer ... made it down the steps (carefully) and helped coach the Lady Reds to an excellent draw (v top team and they were missing there 2 best guards) to be honest they did all of the work.

Huge day - the bike is gonna push rehab into 2nd gear

And today got on the exercise bike for the first time - managed to do some full revolutions after a minute of back and forth half spins - ended up doing a very gentle 800m in about 5 mins.

That and some additional upper body weights with the new dumbells I bought and it was a very positive weekend

Massive thankyou to Kathleen for the use of the exercise bike - it will make such a difference to the rehab. Thanks so much x

Rehab Update - Week 11

With the Wire squarely in the rear view mirror this week was all about the final follow up with the Orthopaedic Surgeon.

It happened on Wednesday and Dr Begg was very happy with my progress, called me a fast healer and pretty much gave me the clearance to step up my rehab.

Rehab is going well I'm close to 105 degrees range of motion and can now sit fairly comfortably at a desk for extended periods. I can punch out leg lifts very easily and even have some slight amounts of muscle definition returning to my quads.

He also cleared me to start very gentle leg presses and can hit the stationary bike (which should arrive soon). I'll need to get to 110/120 to be able to get the pedals all the way around so that is the next target on the list

Were right on track and progress should really accelerate once I can get on the bike.

Back to the Physio next week to work on a modified program - that and an end to this long, wet, miserable winter has my spirits lifted. Lets DO THIS!!

.... also wanted to share this article - I've been saying for years the NBL should team up with the NBA as a farm out system for draft picks - finally it may start happening and would be huge for basketball in Oz  
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/james-ennis8217-signing-with-prth-has-prompted-the-nbl-to-look-at-developing-an-nba-relationship-to-lure-draft-choices-as-imports/story-fni2u9cl-1226695648025

Rehab Update - Week 10

Post Op Legs

Few firsts to celebrate this week ... its been 10 weeks which
is a long time to not do any of the below ...

Been a long time between baskets!!

First shower with no brace / plastic bag
First time down stairs (brace 1foot1step at a time)
First time outside on the balcony unassisted

and

First time back out at training and first shootaround

The simple pleasure of being on the court and watching a few go through the net was a huge boost it took me back to my humble beginnings http://oldredtiger.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/humble-beginnings.html

A week of firsts has me really pumped about the next couple of weeks!!!

Goals - Post 2nd Op

GOALS - setting them is pretty important in life and in sport (or rehab) its just the same - I mean otherwise what are we doing here right?

Heading into 2013 I had a few life goals which are on track ... I wanted to

...move back into the city (rejoin a community)
...transition into new career (trading/finance)
...save & prepare for big 2014 adventure inc taking Mum on her first OS travels

and in Sport I wanted to 

...play Reserves BBall with the Tigers lads
...win a 6th straight A Grade Church title
...dunk the basketball again 

On this list I ticked the first one off playing some pretty reasonable basketball over the summer and gutted out some tough games early in the winter season through a bunch of injuries. I will remember the Sunday/Monday double header for a long time - we were missing a few guys and I played F/C for 50 odd minutes over the 2 games helping us to 2 wins - I had a serious ankle injury but toughed it out playing in the most pain I have ever experienced. 

The lads are 16 & 6 http://www.sportingpulse.com/comp_info.cgi?c=1-3-0-254697-0&pool=-1&round=0&a=LADDER and missing the finals with these guys will fucking kill me.

MJ still dunking at 50 ... so there is hope

4 years seems like a long time ago

and well as for Church and Dunking (a combination that led to my demise) I didn't get to finish either of these also ... I did some leg weights (first time ever) and jump program over the summer and will never know if this contributed to my injury or if it was just my time.

Anyway I've just had my 2nd knee surgery (last Wednesday) and it went really well. Already I have ditched the crutches completely and am even brace free around the house. The knee sans-wire feels 
much better and I've been hitting the rehab pretty hard

but I'll never forget how good it felt

So with the improvement curve starting to steepen its that time to set some GOALS for the next month or 2

Rehab Short Term Goals

... Get knee bend to 110 degrees (90 now) ... so I can ride a stationary bike
... exercise twice per day (1 upper / 1 rehab) ... walk normally and pain free

I have many more but lets get these GOALS in the done column first

Rehab Update - Week 9 (pre 2nd op)

Quick status update before I go under the knife for hopefully the last time in a long time

Biggest development is around the house I have ditched the crutches and just wear the brace. My walk is still a stiff legged hobble but no crutches is fine by me.

Loss of Upper Quad bulk and definition around the Knee

I can punch out quite a few straight leg lifts but I feel like the Wire is the main reason for any pain during exercising.

Major thing I have added this week is some upper body weights. As I can stand without crutches I've added a bunch of simple dumbbell exercises (2 x 2.5kg) to the routine and am doing 2 sessions a day

Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions, Shoulder Presses, Cross Body Hammer Curls, Lateral Raises etc etc

The Upper Body has a bit of work to do but Post 2nd Op if you look at the picture you'll see where the focus will be

Wish me luck ...

Mettle v Metal

met·tle  
/ˈmetl/
Noun
A person's ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way.

I like that word ... it sums up situations in a tough basketball game or say pre-season training, obstacles in a basketball career or even day to day life and in my current case ... serious injury.

I like the meaning even more ... facing a demanding situation with spirit and resilience ... that I hope is me to a T.

This is a big week for me as my metal friend (enemy) pictured to the right is finally removed tomorrow. After getting through the initial pain of surgery and adjusting to lack of mobility / crutches etc the no1 problem imho of my RPT is the Wire.

It may be a necessary evil helping to protect the tendon and in my case hold the avulsed piece of kneecap in place but especially over the last month it has driven me fucking insane.

So after tomorrow my wiry little friend I hope to see you on the outside, no more stabbing pains through my tibia, no more nagging tightness everywhere, you tested my mettle but you were no match for me.

I had a request for a picture of my pre-op xray so here it is ... in pink I have attempted to draw where the kneecap should have been sitting (with no patella tendon it is free to drift up into the thigh) and in the white square if you look really close you can see the fragment of kneecap floating around (attached to the end of the ruptured tendon)

This is the reason for the wire, it circles the kneecap whilst healing and holds the bone fragment in place. After tomorrow the bone should be fully healed and the tendon strong enough to go it alone...


                        ... Mettle 1, Metal 0

Rehab Update - Week 8

This week has been tough - rehab has moved to a crawl as the wire is causing a lot of pain at the insertion point in the Tibia.  Although I'm a lot more mobile and am able to even walk some without any crutches (just brace) in general rehab has been slow going...

Although I have managed to do 3-4 straight leg lifts (about a foot off ground whilst laying) on a few occasions ... 

And am able to sit at a desk for an hour at a time with foot flat on floor and knee at 90 degrees ... that has at least allowed me to move my office back into the office from the sofa

So I spose on reflection its been a week of small victories ... before next weeks major battle (2nd surgery / wire removal) DDay - Wed 2pm!!

Some BBall Links for the week


Remembering the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Reggie Lewis 
http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/id/9510589/remembering-reggie-lewis-20-years-tragic-death

Reggie Highlights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQTFpXgEVw0

Which makes me also remember the Basketball Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgPpTvX86n8

and Paul Pierce cant dunk (but Vince can) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNUsoxjaecA