Bike Ride, Leg Press and Encyclopedia

It's been a good week! I went for my first outdoor bike ride since last summer and certainly since my injury. I probably rode about 3 miles and loved every minute. It felt so great to be out in the sunshine, exercising and working up a sweat! And most importantly my knee felt good. Plenty more rides to come!

I'm continuing to build strength in my leg and really noticed a big improvement this past week. With the leg press I'm now able to do one leg @ 130 lbs (10 reps- twice), negatives @ 180 lbs (10 reps- twice) and two leg press @ 240 lbs (10 reps- twice). For the first time I've realized that pressing my body weight with just my surgery leg is possible. I'm not there yet, but getting close. By the end of August I know I'll be able to do it. Just a week ago that seemed like a stretch.

Starting Monday I'll be in the transition program at PT. I won't meet with a physical therapist, but will have a workout schedule planned for me and will be on my own to get it done. I'm excited about it. It'll give me the freedom to go in when I want (anytime between 7am-7pm) and not have to worry about scheduling appointments.

My only bummer this week (and in the scheme of things it's not a big deal) was an extra trip to the see the family doctor. About a month ago I started noticing some localized pain on the bottom of my left foot (surgery leg). The pain was just below my little toe toward the outside edge of my foot. At first I thought I may be walking differently to compensate for my knee and that in turn was aggravating muscles on the bottom of my foot. But I realized that wasn't the case. Walking barefoot on our hardwood floors became more painful and I noticed a small bump developing. I started to get worried and finally scheduled an appointment. My family doctor believes it's a ganglion cyst.

• A ganglion cyst, also known as a bible cyst, is a swelling that often appears on or around joints and tendons in the hand or foot. The size of the cyst can vary over time. It is most frequently located around the dorsum of wrist and on the fingers. The term "Bible bump" comes from a common urban legend that treatment in the past consisted of hitting the cyst with a Bible or another large book.[1] Wikipedia

• Ganglion cysts are idiopathic, but presumably reflect a variation in normal joint or tendon sheath function. Cysts near joints are connected to the joint and the leading theory is that a type of check valve forms that allows fluid out of the joint, but not back in. The cyst contains clear fluid similar to, but thicker than, normal synovial fluid. They are most often found around the wrist joint, especially at the scapho-lunate joint, which accounts for 80% of all ganglion cysts. Wikipedia

He hopes it will "pop" on its own. Gross. If it continues to get worse or isn't any better in a few weeks he gave me the phone number for a foot doctor. He said the foot doc may have a few recommendations including some assistance in popping it. Or maybe I could just use an encyclopedia or a dictionary!

Just Do It

As frustrating as the injury and recovery have been at times I seriously don't know where the time has gone. It's been almost 6 months since my injury and 10 weeks since surgery. January 2011 is my target for being back to full duty at work and back on the floor at taekwondo. It seems so far away right now, but if the first half of the year was any indication it'll be here before I know it!

PT is coming along and I'm continuing to build strength in my leg. I've mostly been focusing on getting the muscles back and working on full range of motion. I'm almost walking normal again. My knee just doesn't want to fully extend as I follow through with stepping. It'll get there. I just have to keep working at it. I'm excited about my progress with the leg press... 1 leg @ 120 lbs, negatives @ 150 lbs and two legs at 210 lbs. I can't remember what I was at prior to surgery, but to think that I'm already pressing 120 lbs with my surgery leg amazes me.

Last week my physical therapist was laying out the game plan for one session and finished by saying "if you still some left you can do the stairmaster for 10 minutes". I responded by telling her not to give me an option...just make me do it. If she thinks I can and it's not detrimental to my knee I'll get it done. I've always responded well to structure and I don't want to have an easy out. Just tell me it has to be done.

She listened. Today she threw in an extra level of blocks with my step-ups and for good measure handed me the 11 lb medicine ball (for straight arm raises over my head when doing the step ups and one knee raise). After the first set of 20 I asked her if she was trying to kill me. It was a good workout. Her response was "you want to get back to that thing you do right?". Taekwondo and yes I do in the worst way. Yes I do. So here's a shout out to my physical therapist. Thanks for pushing me! It was a good PT day.