Knee Recovery

I’ll spare you the photos, but my knee/calf/leg still looks like it ran into a train.  I’m glad to say that the swelling is going down.  My biggest challenge now is a large hematoma on the front of the knee.  It’s making it hard to use stairs and bend without discomfort.  Except for that, the whole injury is a ton better than 8 days ago when the injury occurred.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty good an knee rehabilitation.  This is my 3rd significant injury.

The hardest part is my workout schedule.  I was finally back to solid long workouts just 2 weeks before this fall.  Now, I am starting over – again.

This week, I did go to the JCC on Monday or Tuesday since I had 3 extra kids while my friend had her baby.  It was probably good for me to take a rest.  On Wednesday, I did 30 minutes on a stationary bike.  It was slow and all about range of motion.  I kept the bike going just fast enough that the TV didn’t think I stopped.  It was about 40 RPM and didn’t make me sweat.  That being said, it felt good to stretch out my leg.

On Thursday, I went to the water aerobics class.  I wore a floatation belt to keep me from too much impact and only did 1/2 the class.  The water felt great, but I didn’t want to overdo it.

Today, I did another 30 minutes on the bike.  I don’t really think I over did it, but I’ve been crabby most of the day.  I think I just get frustrated with taking it easy.  It’s also hard to WANT to cook and clean when you have a bum knee.  With a fridge full of fresh vegetables, I want to use or preserve things before they go bad.

I’m encouraged that my knee will be better each day, but I’m also realistic in my thinking that it could take several weeks for the hematoma to absorb.  Meanwhile, I’m thankful that it’s not more serious and I’ll keep plugging along!