"We'll Get There When We Get There!" Mr Incr3dible's journal (comments definitely welcome)

[Mr_Incr3dible]

DW got her first knee replaced this morning. So far so good. It was amazing that they had her on her feet and doing stairs before we left. Modern medical science is incredible.

I saw my surgeon yesterday, at near the 3 month mark. He’s pleased with the progress. He says finish out this month’s PT and then start ramping back up to where I’m doing regular training runs at the end of March.
And, bless him, he deemed my 10:30 - 11:00 minute pace to be fast.
So I went home and celebrated with a 1 mile walk (20 minute pace) since it was so warm and sunny.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

DW is surprisingly mobile already on her new knee. It is becoming more and more apparent the timing of my own injury and surgery was fortuitous in that I'm healed enough to be able to help her. She just did her first trip upstairs to get a shower and be feeling more human again after her surgery, and I'm sitting on an ice pack, feeling the effort of lending weight-bearing support. Not complaining, just noting it.
We are now back in the recliners, starting a day of being couch potatoes and watching a lot of football. In fact, I have a second TV set up in the den so we can watch the Chiefs and the CFP farce at the same time. (I love the idea of a playoff, just not in the manner in which the teams and brackets have been set up to pick and choose likely winners, and how the selection criteria this year seems to be rather different than it was last year. No, I don't have any dogs in this fight, just hate seeing things done poorly or with bias.) But I digress.
Oh, I also got in a chilly mile walk this morning at a 19:23 pace, so that is also factoring in what I'm feeling.
Again, not complaining. I'm ecstatic that my wife is on her way to being pain free in her knees.

 

[The Expert]

So glad to hear your wife's recovery is going well and that you're feeling good enough to help her. And yeah -- the CFB playoff is a joke! I'm an NFL fan and don't normally pay a lot of attention to college ball, but it's hard to ignore the train wreck they've created this year.

p.s. Go Chiefs!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

This time last year, we were in KC, ringing in the New Year at a Top Golf after the Chiefs game. This year is a bit more sedate.
DW is 12 days past her knee replacement and is already walking short distances without the walker. Wow. Even better has been a minimum of the strong pain meds, which will make it easier for her to schedule the second knee this spring.
As for yours truly, I’ve had a few days recently where I was really feeling my hamstring, likely from bending over while assisting the DW and stretching it a bit much. Ice packs and taking care not to move wrong has me back feeling better. I managed to put in 12k steps yesterday and another 13k today.
PT guy also liked my ramp-up plan. I’ll be walking for the next 5-6 weeks, slowly increasing the distance and pace.
I ran about ten steps today, chasing after something, much to the surprise of my son who noted it. Small amounts of progress.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

As mentioned, earlier in the week, I spent several days really feeling my hamstring and wondering if I had done something bad. I think the pain was from stretching it while bending over for the wife (stifle yourselves; You know who you are) while tending to her. After sitting on ice packs and being very careful with some of my motion, I'm feeling better again, to the point of two walks yesterday for a total of about 2 miles, not to mention feeling rather normal going up and down flights of stairs.
So while everyone else is tapering off this week, I'll be tapering up, albeit slowly, and doing multiple walks as weather permits along with my at-home PT to build back up. Onward and upward!
Thanks for reading.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

The backside is feeling pretty good, well enough that I did 2 miles yesterday and 2 miles again today. Both times were in the 20-21 min/mile range. The half mile walks I've done until today have been just up and down the short street I live on. For my walk yesterday, I went out of my small section of neighborhood and onto my usual "neighborhood" course (as opposed to going to the greenway...). I drive right by there several times a week, and ever since the injury in August, it has been with the thought of "I used to run along here" or "One day I'll run here again". I know, maudlin and silly, but those were my thoughts. So yesterday was my first time back on those sidewalks and crossing that bridge and ascending/descending those hills; it felt good to be back out there. Today's walk was in part on the golf course cart path since the greens are covered due to the pending weather. Temps dropped 15-20 degrees just since this morning and it's now just above freezing and with wind chill (up to 37 mph gusts) in the teens as this front comes in. Brrr. Just not what this southern guy is used to.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Slight setback over the weekend. Took DD2 on a food run. The roads were mostly clear and dry and what was on the ground was melting. Yet I managed to pull into the parking space that looked clear, but had black ice on the driver's side. I stepped out and as I put weight on my left foot, it went sideways with me grabbing onto the steering wheel and door with my right (damaged) leg still in the car (small SUV). I wound up on my back, half under the car, but had managed to hold onto things enough that it was a slow fall and no smacking of the head or anything else on the pavement. But, having the two legs going in different directions pulled on that right hamstring, so I'm feeling it and back to sitting on ice packs and back to slower, shorter walks. Just dang.
Otherwise, things are going well for my recovery, and the DW is getting around without the walker on her new knee. In fact, instead of being completely peg-leg in her walking, she's starting to bend the new knee a bit as she walks. Remarkable progress for less than 4 weeks after the surgery.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

After taking it easy for a week, I've resumed normal activity and have gone back to longer walks. The polar vortex brought sub-freezing weather to the whole southeast, but the snow went below and around us. What this means is that the roads have been dry and the golf cart paths clear and I've been walking 2 - 2.5 miles each afternoon as part of ramping back up to running.
The DW is now walking as well and as fast as she did before surgery, at least for short distances, and has resumed driving, again for short distances. IMHO, remarkable considering she is right at 5 weeks post-surgery. Wow.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Quick update since a couple of hours ago: just did a 2.62 mile walk at 19:02 min/mile pace.
And for full rD immersion, done while listening to the latest R&R podcast…